The frequency to blogging seems to be increasing[1], as I am forcing myself to write down some of the things that I keep thinking about. Just to keep a diary of what I was thinking at a point in my life, if for nothing else.
So here goes, my list of 20 best movie albums of the maestro. To keep this exercise manageable, I have only included his Hindi movie albums, as barring Thiruda thiruda, I haven't heard any of his work solely (not redone/ dubbed in Hindi) in southern Indian languages. And I am not sure if he has done more English language movie albums apart from Slumdog millionaire, Couples' retreat, and 127 hours.[2]
20. One two ka four: Osaka Moraiya was the first time I became aware of the base guitar. Udit Narayan was so refreshing in "Sona nahin na sahin" and the title song was another gem. Overrated: "Khamoshiyaan gun guna ne lagi"
19. Netaji Subahshchandra Bose: Two of Sonu Nigam's best songs form the crux of this album. The heights Sonu reached singing "Ekla chalo" and "Des ki mitti", he came close to only with the title song of "Saathiya" and "Abhi mujh me" from "Agneepath".
18. Guru: Rahman is unquestionably at his best while composing ballads. Some of the ballad from albums even higher in the list ("Nahin samne", "Kahin to hogi woh") cannot beat the 2 masterclasses here. For some inexplicable reason, maybe Gulzar's words, the accordian sound and Hariharan's voice, "Aye Hairathe" conveys a matured love of the middle age, as much as "Tere bina" conveys the longing of much younger times. And though "Maiya maiya" and "Jaage hain" are not at the top of my list, I had never heard their sound in Bollywood before.
17. Pukaar: The album has one of the many times when Rahman has discovered Udit, through the extremely innovative, "Humrahi jab ho". The accordian sound and the symphonies just rock. Madhuri deserves as much credit for making "Kay sera sera" so lovable. "Kismat se", "Ek tu hi bharosa" make up the rest of the soundscape, along with the one that I don't like - "Sunta hain", a dumbed down retake of "Chanda re" from "Sapney".
16. Bombay: I wasn't much impressed by "Kuchi kuchi rakma", or "Din hua hai deewana" more due to their awkwardly dubbed lyrics (which in reality might be a reason for a lot of his early songs to get noticed, and become hits). But "Kehna hi kya" had a magic moment, prior to the first antara, while he is singing the sargam, there is a rhythm/ base guitar note, which got me hooked on. The harmonium sound was a precursor for many more of his gems of the quawwali genre.
15. Meenaxi: The reason why this album is up here and not some others like "Thakshak" or "Zubeida" is once again a Sonu Nigam song. The string section of "Do kadam" is quite epic. So is "Yeh Rishta" and the till then unheard sound of "Chinnamma Chilakamma". "Noor un allah" is as badass as a qawwali can get.
14. Humse hain muqabla: Talking about awkwardly dubbed lyrics, this album comes close to beating Hindustani. But what a magnificent soundscape it has! The obnoxiously penned "Premika ne Pyaar se" has that Udit rediscovery moment again. A review of this album is incomplete without mentioning the many poetic masterclasses (btw this is sarcasm if you are Sheldon Cooper) such as "Kaluraam bhi hain theek pyaar me" and "jo mithai ek rupaiyya tune mooh laga ke mujhko di", "picasso ki painting etc", all of "Urvashi Urvashi". The flute in "Sun ri sakhi" deserves a mention as well.
13. Jaane tu ya jaane na: "Kahin to hogi wo" is again that Rahman territory, the kind of song that he will spin out in his sleep. But it's the incomparable "Tu bole" that makes the album special. I am sure he worked with some hardcore jazz artists to make this happen. His retake on MTV unplugged was even better than the original from the film. The soundtrack was a major reason why I loved the film. Well that is true about most films that I like. If I am asked to compile a list of best Hindi films released in my time, a lot of the films in this list would make it.
12. Saathiya: The title song is enough to make you fall in love with this album. It's Sonu again, and although I still have an argument with friends about whether Gulzar really meant "Sabz-e-lawn", lawn being an English word cunningly fitted in, the rest of the lyrics are silky smooth. The term "farvari ki sardiyo ki dhoop me" got me hooked onto "Chupke se". But my favorite from this album is "Jhoot kapat" for that extremely minute oft repeating base guitar note. What got me going on this song was a beautiful rendition by a friend, at one of our casual singing night outs, during my college days.
11. Swades: I love this album for what's on it, as well as a lot of things that are not on it, i.e. the background score of the movie. There are a couple of cinematic magic moments, one while SRK's plane is about to land at Delhi for the first time and the camera pans from outside the plane window. And the other on his way back on a small sailboat from the village, just prior to the iconic "Paani lo paani" scene. And Rahman's contribution to both is massive. Nobody played the string section in a Hindi movie like that sailboat scene. Alka Yagnik is in top gear in "Saawariya saawariya", which has a really catchy guitar like interlude prior to the second antara. And a special mention for Udit, who owns the top 2 songs.
10. Yuva: "Dhakka laga bukka" wow! There is a base guitar piece, which is played like a melody line during the "hat ja hat ja re" of the second interlude. That's a change that Rahman brought through many of his songs, i.e. playing the base as a melody line rather than just as part of the rhythm section. I am sure his presence in "kabhi neem neem" was composed completely organically, where he just started shouting a free form melody during one of the takes. The best one is "fanaa" though, sargams were never heard in a dance floor song. And also a special mention for "dol the dol paape"!
9. Delhi 6: The album where Rahman met Mohit Chauhan! I remember watching the very first teaser of this movie, with just an aalap by Mohit Chauhan from the incomparable "Masakkali". And I couldn't believe it was Mohit (I am fairly good at recognizing singers), and equal credit must go to Rahman's recording crew. I doubt whether it's all Mohit though, I get the feeling that Rahman mixes his own voice with Mohit to create a unique sound, a technique that I am sure he has used for some of Rockstar's songs. I fell "dafattan" for "Dil gira dafattan" (I remember googling the meaning, the word also heard on a Ghulam Ali gazhal that I heard later). Ash King, with bagpipes to boot. It's again the string section though, that comes in during the last "teri khamosh julfon ki" that takes the cake. Rekha Bharadwaj is in top form in "genda phool" and so is the slightly repeatative combo of Kailash kher and Javed Ali in "Arziyaan".
8. Taal: This is widely recognized as very best of Rahman and with good reason. As a whole soundtrack, it had the full gamut, from ballads like "Nahin Saamne" to instrumental classics like "Taal se taal (western)". It had Alka Yagnik at her best with the line "Haaye meri laaj ne mujhko dubo diyaa" dragging the "diyaa" word out like an aalap. I was tempted to rate this album higher, The only reason I have rated some other albums above this is they had a cinematic moment of awe which was intensified by Rahman's music. Btw, one of the things that remains on my bucket list is to be a part of a band that can perform "Ramta Jogi" live, even if only as the guy playing the bell.
7. The legend of Bhagat Singh: Just as one of Bhagat Singh's inmates is about to break his Bhook Hartaal and drink up the pot of milk, he resists and breaks the pot instead. Right on cue, in comes Sonu Nigam's magical voice in Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna. It's all goosebumps territory. And a punjabi song like "Pagadi Sambhal"? I always thought they all had to sound either like Daler Mehendi-Gurudas Mann or like a Yash Chopra wedding. When I listen to this album, I don't even get to "Mera Rang de", because I am stuck on either "Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna", "Des mere" or "Mahi ve".
6. Rang de basanti: "Roobaroo"... what a badass song! You can pickup a guitar and sing that song all day. Rahman's recording crew again deserves a mention, especially on "Luka chhuppi". No one records the tabla like he does. I generally judge an audio system by how well it conveys the sound of "Luka chhuppi". It feels like the song covers most frequencies, apart from the array of emotions that it covers. Although Rahman's hindi pronunciations in this song are up for ridicule, they become charming after repeated listening. And I almost forgot about "Khalbali". If one ever had to show a middle finger to the world, they should sing this song, just to add more style to their salute.
5. 1947 Earth: Haunting is one word for the album. And it has Hariharan's "dheemi dheemi" in it. Every song deserves a mention. I have used almost every one of its instrumental tracks as a background score for the plays that we stage. There are so many great things about the album, the very uncommonly high note where Sukhwinder starts on "Raat ki daldal", puriya dhanashree re-appearance in "Rut aa gayi re" or the one time Rahman got lazy while recording/mixing in "Dheemi dheemi" (more details). But the cinematic magic moment comes after "that" scene between Rahul Khanna and Nandeeta Das. Just as a distraught Aamir Khan walks away having seen the horror of his life, and puffs up a few smokes, Sukhwinder's voice sings "Aise barse gum ke teeshe, toote saare dil ke sheeshe". As Aamir wipes away his tears, you just know where the film is heading.
4. Rangeela: Ram Gopal Verma has said (during his saner days) all that I wanted to say about the best song from this album right here. It's because of Hai Rama, that Puriya Dhanashree happens to be one of the only 2 raagas (other being des) that I can identify :) The soundtrack contains two more Udit classics, "Yaaron sun lo zara" and "Kya karein". The most talked about thing of the album at the time though was rediscovering Asha Bhosle. It has to take some work to rediscover an artist like that.
3. Dil Se: I did not like this album when it released. That's because I had heard it only in bits and pieces on tv with low quality audio systems. It took me a few years to be eventually blown away by "Chhaiyya chaiyya". Yet again Dil se has Udit's rebirth in "Aye ajnabi". The song haunts you every time it appears in the movie. And it took me opening up my sensibility to finally appreciate what Rahman had done with "Satrangi re".
1. Roja: It's still up for debate in my mind whether I should rate his first or his last (at the time of writing) album as his best. And I could not arrive at a decision, so I have left them both at the top. Everything that can be said about an album has been said about Roja. Never has any composer made such a dramatic entry. And if someone has, never has he been able to churn out an album that matches that quality every 2-3 years for more than 2 decades. A typical pattern with a lot of artists is that they emerge with a bang. And then they become repetitive. It's rare for someone to compose 2 albums so good, 20 years apart. Like Roja and ...
1. Rockstar: If you listen to Roja and Rockstar, you wouldn't be able to tell they are by the same composer. There are some traces, but the albums are genuinely different. A bit like The Beatles of "Please please me" and "Sgt Pepper". The identifiable traces are in "Kun faaya kun" or "Tum ho". The jump to a different soundscape comes in "Sadda haq" or "Jo bhi main". The operatic force comes through "Naadan Parindey", what a powerful song! And someone please tell me how one can compose "Phir se ud chala". The song just flows, there is no composition to it. I am sure the first thing they came up with was the guitar riff. Then Mohit and Rahman sat down and hummed something. Then Irshad Kamil wrote some random words. Then Mohit and Rahman hummed those words. Then Irshad rewrote those words to make some sense. Then Mohit and Rahman recomposed the entire tune. And then they orchestrated the song. Of course all of this is pure conjecture.
[1] I started the post last Sept, when I did write a few other posts. Only finished it about a year later :)
[2] Highway had come out between the time I started and finished the post, I decided to keep the original list.
So here goes, my list of 20 best movie albums of the maestro. To keep this exercise manageable, I have only included his Hindi movie albums, as barring Thiruda thiruda, I haven't heard any of his work solely (not redone/ dubbed in Hindi) in southern Indian languages. And I am not sure if he has done more English language movie albums apart from Slumdog millionaire, Couples' retreat, and 127 hours.[2]
20. One two ka four: Osaka Moraiya was the first time I became aware of the base guitar. Udit Narayan was so refreshing in "Sona nahin na sahin" and the title song was another gem. Overrated: "Khamoshiyaan gun guna ne lagi"
19. Netaji Subahshchandra Bose: Two of Sonu Nigam's best songs form the crux of this album. The heights Sonu reached singing "Ekla chalo" and "Des ki mitti", he came close to only with the title song of "Saathiya" and "Abhi mujh me" from "Agneepath".
18. Guru: Rahman is unquestionably at his best while composing ballads. Some of the ballad from albums even higher in the list ("Nahin samne", "Kahin to hogi woh") cannot beat the 2 masterclasses here. For some inexplicable reason, maybe Gulzar's words, the accordian sound and Hariharan's voice, "Aye Hairathe" conveys a matured love of the middle age, as much as "Tere bina" conveys the longing of much younger times. And though "Maiya maiya" and "Jaage hain" are not at the top of my list, I had never heard their sound in Bollywood before.
17. Pukaar: The album has one of the many times when Rahman has discovered Udit, through the extremely innovative, "Humrahi jab ho". The accordian sound and the symphonies just rock. Madhuri deserves as much credit for making "Kay sera sera" so lovable. "Kismat se", "Ek tu hi bharosa" make up the rest of the soundscape, along with the one that I don't like - "Sunta hain", a dumbed down retake of "Chanda re" from "Sapney".
16. Bombay: I wasn't much impressed by "Kuchi kuchi rakma", or "Din hua hai deewana" more due to their awkwardly dubbed lyrics (which in reality might be a reason for a lot of his early songs to get noticed, and become hits). But "Kehna hi kya" had a magic moment, prior to the first antara, while he is singing the sargam, there is a rhythm/ base guitar note, which got me hooked on. The harmonium sound was a precursor for many more of his gems of the quawwali genre.
15. Meenaxi: The reason why this album is up here and not some others like "Thakshak" or "Zubeida" is once again a Sonu Nigam song. The string section of "Do kadam" is quite epic. So is "Yeh Rishta" and the till then unheard sound of "Chinnamma Chilakamma". "Noor un allah" is as badass as a qawwali can get.
14. Humse hain muqabla: Talking about awkwardly dubbed lyrics, this album comes close to beating Hindustani. But what a magnificent soundscape it has! The obnoxiously penned "Premika ne Pyaar se" has that Udit rediscovery moment again. A review of this album is incomplete without mentioning the many poetic masterclasses (btw this is sarcasm if you are Sheldon Cooper) such as "Kaluraam bhi hain theek pyaar me" and "jo mithai ek rupaiyya tune mooh laga ke mujhko di", "picasso ki painting etc", all of "Urvashi Urvashi". The flute in "Sun ri sakhi" deserves a mention as well.
13. Jaane tu ya jaane na: "Kahin to hogi wo" is again that Rahman territory, the kind of song that he will spin out in his sleep. But it's the incomparable "Tu bole" that makes the album special. I am sure he worked with some hardcore jazz artists to make this happen. His retake on MTV unplugged was even better than the original from the film. The soundtrack was a major reason why I loved the film. Well that is true about most films that I like. If I am asked to compile a list of best Hindi films released in my time, a lot of the films in this list would make it.
12. Saathiya: The title song is enough to make you fall in love with this album. It's Sonu again, and although I still have an argument with friends about whether Gulzar really meant "Sabz-e-lawn", lawn being an English word cunningly fitted in, the rest of the lyrics are silky smooth. The term "farvari ki sardiyo ki dhoop me" got me hooked onto "Chupke se". But my favorite from this album is "Jhoot kapat" for that extremely minute oft repeating base guitar note. What got me going on this song was a beautiful rendition by a friend, at one of our casual singing night outs, during my college days.
11. Swades: I love this album for what's on it, as well as a lot of things that are not on it, i.e. the background score of the movie. There are a couple of cinematic magic moments, one while SRK's plane is about to land at Delhi for the first time and the camera pans from outside the plane window. And the other on his way back on a small sailboat from the village, just prior to the iconic "Paani lo paani" scene. And Rahman's contribution to both is massive. Nobody played the string section in a Hindi movie like that sailboat scene. Alka Yagnik is in top gear in "Saawariya saawariya", which has a really catchy guitar like interlude prior to the second antara. And a special mention for Udit, who owns the top 2 songs.
10. Yuva: "Dhakka laga bukka" wow! There is a base guitar piece, which is played like a melody line during the "hat ja hat ja re" of the second interlude. That's a change that Rahman brought through many of his songs, i.e. playing the base as a melody line rather than just as part of the rhythm section. I am sure his presence in "kabhi neem neem" was composed completely organically, where he just started shouting a free form melody during one of the takes. The best one is "fanaa" though, sargams were never heard in a dance floor song. And also a special mention for "dol the dol paape"!
9. Delhi 6: The album where Rahman met Mohit Chauhan! I remember watching the very first teaser of this movie, with just an aalap by Mohit Chauhan from the incomparable "Masakkali". And I couldn't believe it was Mohit (I am fairly good at recognizing singers), and equal credit must go to Rahman's recording crew. I doubt whether it's all Mohit though, I get the feeling that Rahman mixes his own voice with Mohit to create a unique sound, a technique that I am sure he has used for some of Rockstar's songs. I fell "dafattan" for "Dil gira dafattan" (I remember googling the meaning, the word also heard on a Ghulam Ali gazhal that I heard later). Ash King, with bagpipes to boot. It's again the string section though, that comes in during the last "teri khamosh julfon ki" that takes the cake. Rekha Bharadwaj is in top form in "genda phool" and so is the slightly repeatative combo of Kailash kher and Javed Ali in "Arziyaan".
8. Taal: This is widely recognized as very best of Rahman and with good reason. As a whole soundtrack, it had the full gamut, from ballads like "Nahin Saamne" to instrumental classics like "Taal se taal (western)". It had Alka Yagnik at her best with the line "Haaye meri laaj ne mujhko dubo diyaa" dragging the "diyaa" word out like an aalap. I was tempted to rate this album higher, The only reason I have rated some other albums above this is they had a cinematic moment of awe which was intensified by Rahman's music. Btw, one of the things that remains on my bucket list is to be a part of a band that can perform "Ramta Jogi" live, even if only as the guy playing the bell.
7. The legend of Bhagat Singh: Just as one of Bhagat Singh's inmates is about to break his Bhook Hartaal and drink up the pot of milk, he resists and breaks the pot instead. Right on cue, in comes Sonu Nigam's magical voice in Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna. It's all goosebumps territory. And a punjabi song like "Pagadi Sambhal"? I always thought they all had to sound either like Daler Mehendi-Gurudas Mann or like a Yash Chopra wedding. When I listen to this album, I don't even get to "Mera Rang de", because I am stuck on either "Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna", "Des mere" or "Mahi ve".
6. Rang de basanti: "Roobaroo"... what a badass song! You can pickup a guitar and sing that song all day. Rahman's recording crew again deserves a mention, especially on "Luka chhuppi". No one records the tabla like he does. I generally judge an audio system by how well it conveys the sound of "Luka chhuppi". It feels like the song covers most frequencies, apart from the array of emotions that it covers. Although Rahman's hindi pronunciations in this song are up for ridicule, they become charming after repeated listening. And I almost forgot about "Khalbali". If one ever had to show a middle finger to the world, they should sing this song, just to add more style to their salute.
5. 1947 Earth: Haunting is one word for the album. And it has Hariharan's "dheemi dheemi" in it. Every song deserves a mention. I have used almost every one of its instrumental tracks as a background score for the plays that we stage. There are so many great things about the album, the very uncommonly high note where Sukhwinder starts on "Raat ki daldal", puriya dhanashree re-appearance in "Rut aa gayi re" or the one time Rahman got lazy while recording/mixing in "Dheemi dheemi" (more details). But the cinematic magic moment comes after "that" scene between Rahul Khanna and Nandeeta Das. Just as a distraught Aamir Khan walks away having seen the horror of his life, and puffs up a few smokes, Sukhwinder's voice sings "Aise barse gum ke teeshe, toote saare dil ke sheeshe". As Aamir wipes away his tears, you just know where the film is heading.
4. Rangeela: Ram Gopal Verma has said (during his saner days) all that I wanted to say about the best song from this album right here. It's because of Hai Rama, that Puriya Dhanashree happens to be one of the only 2 raagas (other being des) that I can identify :) The soundtrack contains two more Udit classics, "Yaaron sun lo zara" and "Kya karein". The most talked about thing of the album at the time though was rediscovering Asha Bhosle. It has to take some work to rediscover an artist like that.
3. Dil Se: I did not like this album when it released. That's because I had heard it only in bits and pieces on tv with low quality audio systems. It took me a few years to be eventually blown away by "Chhaiyya chaiyya". Yet again Dil se has Udit's rebirth in "Aye ajnabi". The song haunts you every time it appears in the movie. And it took me opening up my sensibility to finally appreciate what Rahman had done with "Satrangi re".
1. Roja: It's still up for debate in my mind whether I should rate his first or his last (at the time of writing) album as his best. And I could not arrive at a decision, so I have left them both at the top. Everything that can be said about an album has been said about Roja. Never has any composer made such a dramatic entry. And if someone has, never has he been able to churn out an album that matches that quality every 2-3 years for more than 2 decades. A typical pattern with a lot of artists is that they emerge with a bang. And then they become repetitive. It's rare for someone to compose 2 albums so good, 20 years apart. Like Roja and ...
1. Rockstar: If you listen to Roja and Rockstar, you wouldn't be able to tell they are by the same composer. There are some traces, but the albums are genuinely different. A bit like The Beatles of "Please please me" and "Sgt Pepper". The identifiable traces are in "Kun faaya kun" or "Tum ho". The jump to a different soundscape comes in "Sadda haq" or "Jo bhi main". The operatic force comes through "Naadan Parindey", what a powerful song! And someone please tell me how one can compose "Phir se ud chala". The song just flows, there is no composition to it. I am sure the first thing they came up with was the guitar riff. Then Mohit and Rahman sat down and hummed something. Then Irshad Kamil wrote some random words. Then Mohit and Rahman hummed those words. Then Irshad rewrote those words to make some sense. Then Mohit and Rahman recomposed the entire tune. And then they orchestrated the song. Of course all of this is pure conjecture.
[1] I started the post last Sept, when I did write a few other posts. Only finished it about a year later :)
[2] Highway had come out between the time I started and finished the post, I decided to keep the original list.
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