We all know him... but do we?

Most of us can’t help feeling a little awe struck when we ponder on the concept of infinity. When we talk about infinity, we have the mathematical infinity, the theological infinity (the divinity), the cosmological infinity (the infinite Universe) and so on. Here, we are going to talk about a person whose works over the last 2 decades have provided us with tantalizing visions of the infinite in the world of music. Indeed, we're going to talk about A.R.Rahman.

They say 'the first impression is the best impression'. However cliched that may sound, I think it is true to a large extent that in any field of endeavour, a person's performance in his debut provides deep insights into his individuality and the quality he has got to offer in his respective field. The person's performance over the subsequent years generally falls in line with the standards he promised with his debut. Of course there are a few who undergo a renaissance midway into their careers, but even in those persons, it's hard to miss the imprints of the person that they were when they started out. For instance, Yuvraj Singh's pivotal performance in India's world cup winning campaign in early 2011 was well in line with the expectations he had set around himself when he started out, more than a decade earlier, with a gritty 84 against Australia in his first appearance as a batsman for India.

It would be worth dissecting Rahman's first movie album for the Tamil movie 'Roja' to get a basic understanding of his standards as a composer. It's well known that the score figured in TIME magazine's top-ten list of all time best soundtracks. Also, the album won him the National Film Award for Best Music Direction. So what was it about the score that made it so special? There have been numerous commentaries on this but if you ask me, I would say Roja's music was special due to three reasons. First, the music went past cultural barriers and appealed to a pan Indian audience. In fact, it even travelled beyond Indian borders and was recognized at an international level, as is evident from TIME magazine's recognition. This is no mean feat for someone raised in the conservative southern city of Chennai. It takes more than mere musical ability to come up with a composition that by its very nature is broad based as opposed to being tied up to the native cultural setting of the composer. Music, or any form of art for that matter, is generally an expression from the soul of the artist and consequently reflects to a certain extent the cultural upbringing of the artist. This makes it necessary for outsiders to have a certain understanding of the cultural setting in order to be able to relate to those works of art. Therefore, to come up with a work that appeals to a wider audience, it takes a deep philosophical understanding of the workings of the human mind that cuts across cultures. And I should believe this man did have that understanding and put that behind his effort for Roja. Second, in his bid to come up with a score for a crossover audience, it's understandable that he would have incorporated foreign elements and styles into his music. Despite this, the end product sounded very much Indian and at the same time, the sound of Roja was something that was hitherto unheard in the musical circles of the Indian film industry. This is remarkable since here is a man who is capable of coming up with something that's global in its appeal while at the same time staying true to his roots. Third, the score of Roja boasted a lot of musical depth. There was something about it that hit deep into the hearts of the listener and transported them to almost an alternate reality away from the mundane concerns of everyday living. In all, it'd be fair to say that Roja's score had a transcendental quality to it.

The success of Roja pretty much set the standards for Rahman as a composer. He followed it up with a slew of top notch albums for Tamil movies like Puthiya mugam, Thiruda thiruda, Gentleman, Duet, May maadham, Kadhalan and so on before coming up with an epic score for the movie 'Bombay' directed by Mani Ratnam (who had also directed Roja and Thiruda thiruda before). All these albums shared the prime distinguishing feature of Roja's score in that they all carried a sound that was inherently broad in its appeal and audiences both north and south of the Vindhyas could relate to them. The tracks in a majority of these movies found their way to the hearts of listeners across the country, either in their original form or in their dubbed Hindi/regional versions. This was certainly a first for Tamil film music and this aspect of his music constitutes a major part of Rahman's identity as a composer. 'Rangeela' marked his debut in a full fledged Hindi movie and with its roaring success, Rahman had indeed set a firm foot in Bollywood. Rangeela's music sounded quite different from his earlier works in that it seemed to be engineered specifically for the Hindi mainstream audience. Rahman revealed a new dimension of himself with Rangeela. He was now seen as someone not only capable of composing for a pan Indian audience but also who can incorporate locale specific styles for a particular set of listeners. His versatility shone to the fore.

Just when people thought they had finally figured out who this man is and what he is capable of, he decided to further surprise them with still newer versions of himself as revealed by his compositions for Mani Ratnam's 'Dil Se' and Subash Ghai's 'Taal'. And several albums and years later, he continues to reveal ever newer dimensions of himself as seen by his relatively recent works for movies like 'Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya' and 'Rockstar'. It would be very difficult to single out one album of his as his best work ever for music appreciation itself is very subjective and can vary not only from person to person but also from time to time with the same person. That there are so many albums of his that are all landmark ones in their own right only complicates such a selection even further. Honestly, I don't think I can name one of his works as his best ever and carry on without a sense of guilt. The albums that currently come to my mind as I write these words are Roja, Puthiya Mugam, Bombay, Dil Se, Taal, Boys, Aayitha Yezhuthu (Yuva in Hindi), Rang De Basanti, Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya, Rockstar. Yeah I can hear voices saying "What about Rangeela, Duet, Delhi 6, Swades, Alai Payuthey, Lagaan, Jodhaa Akbar, Thirudaa thirudaa, ______, ______, .....?" I told you it’s very subjective. It's possible that our lists would agree better if you were to ask for my list as you read this. However, if I am quickly asked to name one without much time for deliberation, and I don't have a choice but to do so, I'd perhaps settle with 'Taal'. The picture of Rahman that was painted by the music of Taal was distinctly different from the Rahman as we had known him before. While it's known that Rahman strives to come up with something different in almost every other movie he works on, the album of Taal marked a bigger shift compared to all of his earlier works. Be it the highly affecting 'Taal se taal mila' or the exhilaratingly unconventional numbers like 'Ishq bina', 'Ramta Jogi' or the stylish and at the same time intense 'Kahin aag lage' and what adjectives do I use for 'Nahin saamne tu'?.....this album was simply spell binding out and out. In a sense, I'd say Taal was a Roja like phenomenon appearing again in 1999.

Someone with a colossal musical talent like Rahman can't just be limited to film music and he perhaps knows that better than anyone else. He gave the Indian sense of patriotism a rebirth of sorts with his album 'Vande Maataram' in 1997 that commemorated 50 years of independent India. As with his movie scores, the album was not remotely similar to any other music we identified with patriotism before, yet it retained the core idea and packaged it in stimulating new sounds. Interestingly, his music for the movie 'Swades' that released about 7 years later in the 2004-2005 period was about conveying similar nationalist emotions of an Indian professional working abroad feeling an urge to return to his homeland. Yet the picture of India evoked by the music of Swades was very different from what the Vande Maataram album inspired. It’s the same composer coming up with tunes to depict scenes from the same country. But when the composer is Rahman, you don't expect anything less than refreshing difference within the borders of conformance to the core idea.

Rahman went truly global with his compositions for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bollywood themed musical 'Bombay Dreams'. The London production ran for about 2 years from 2002 to 2004. This was a very interesting period in Rahman's career graph. In my opinion, Rahman post 'Bombay Dreams' was someone very different from the Rahman of the 90s, at least in terms of his music. While he had been evolving as a composer with almost every album of his right through the 90s, after Bombay Dreams, Rahman had become very eclectic with his musical styles. To describe with an analogy, I'd say he was perhaps moving the peaks of a mountain to different locations in the mountain right through the 90s but after 2002, he was beginning to shift the mountain itself. I suppose listeners quite charmed by his music in the previous decade weren't quite ready for this kind of a shift. I remember reading reviews of Mani Ratnam's Aayitha Yezhuthu/Yuva that released in 2004, where the reviewers commented that Rahman's compositions for the movie were a far cry from some of his enchanting compositions for Ratnam's Roja and Bombay in the 90s. To be honest, I too went through similar sentiments when I first heard the numbers of the movie. Apart from the 'Fanaa' song, I couldn't quite strike a chord with any of the other songs. 'Sanda kozhi' sounded too simplistic and 'Nenjam Ellam' felt as though the composer was trying to achieve something crazily different. There was a deep feeling of disappointment as there was a sense of a sliding Rahman. That even movie reviewers in the newspapers, or at least some of them, echoed similar sentiments only further added to the despair. We knew that a composer like Rahman was not going to come about every other decade and hence we desperately hoped that he'd soon find his old form. Every new album of his was met with fearful anticipation. We knew that it just took one rocking album of his for us to dispel our doubts and get back to being incorrigible rahmaniacs, but with every new album that apparently failed to hit the mark, our sense of despair only grew stronger. Also, we (or at least myself) were too desperate to prove ourselves wrong and tried too hard to appreciate his music and that way we were missing out on noticing any quality music that came along. It was turning out to be a vicious circle.

The year 2006 had arrived. Rahman's music for one of the Tamil movies 'Jilendru oru kaadhal' was about to release. There was a lot of hype surrounding this movie as it held a lot of appeal for the young urban audience. It was probably a reasonable setting for any composer to come up with hummable romantic tunes, the kind of music that the average listener can easily relate to. I kind of decided that if at all I was going to get back in step with Rahman, it was going to be with this movie. If that doesn't happen, then it could very well signal end game for me. Either I'd have to believe that the great man was past his prime or I'd have to contend with the fact that I was probably not evolving as fast as his music was. Then one fine morning, one of the supplements of the daily newspaper carried an article with a headline that went something like 'Rahman back with a bang with 'Munbe Vaa' and 'New York Nagaram' (the 2 numbers that were a part of the movie 'Jilendru oru kaadhal' ). I heaved a huge sigh of relief on seeing that. Amidst all the skepticism, there was a new sense of hope. Soon there was a lot of buzz everywhere around these 2 songs. Everyone, from radio jockeys to college friends were talking about how impressive these 2 numbers were. I listened to them a few times on the radio. The music had all the indications of a potential masterpiece but it probably had to grow on you. I told myself to go slow on it. If at all, the songs were as great as they were being made out to be, then let it reach me on its own course. Anyway I was not helping myself by being too desperate. By not being hurried, at least I was letting the new sense of hope to stay on for a longer time. I carried on with my daily activities trying to be as unaffected as possible.

A few days later, the moment finally arrived. I was preparing for one of my exams the following day when I incidentally happened to hear the song 'Munbe Vaa' being played somewhere. I felt overwhelmed listening to the first half a minute or so of the track (I'm referring to the  music with which the song opens up leading to the singer's voice). I was deeply moved and was at the brink of shedding a tear before I forcibly controlled myself to avoid being embarrassed in front of others. I was filled with feverish excitement. I couldn't wait to finish the exam the following day and listen to the song again. As I listened to it a second time, I was able to relive the ecstasy that I experienced the previous evening but the feeling somewhat softened with every successive listening. Nevertheless, that experience dispelled any feelings of doubt that I had within me and I excitedly claimed to myself that Rahman was indeed back with a bang. Soon, the uncharacteristic starting sound of 'New York Nagaram' found its rightful place in the hearts of listeners. Any song sung by Rahman himself is very special and this song was even more so because I believe it was set in a genre that he hadn’t dabbled with too many times before. Complete with enchanting Western sounds, this song added to the ecstatic frenzy. A sense of realisation then dawned upon me that it was possible that Rahman was probably at his best all along the previous few years and maybe I was just missing it all by approaching his works with a negative mindset and trying too hard as a result. With the renewed sense of optimism, I began sifting through some of his other works like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Swades', 'Aayithe Yezhuthu (Yuva)', 'Boys', 'Kadhal Virus', etc. It was a big relief to be able to listen to them with an open mind sans the feeling of despair that had persisted over the previous few years. I soon realized how incorrect I had been in my assessment of these works and was singing his glory all along listening to songs like 'Khalbali', 'Roobaroo', 'Yeh jo des hai tera', 'Nenjam ellam('Baadal' in Yuva)', 'Dating (Boys)', 'Azhagiya Cindrella' and so on. I was now hailing as masterpieces, the very works of his that I had initially assumed to be signalling his decline. I had lost to Rahman and what a happy loser I was. I realized the importance of evolving as an individual through exposure to global works irrespective of the field of endeavour, be it music, sports or whatever. I was now hoping that Rahman gets even more eclectic with every new work of his. I was hoping for more of numbers like 'Vaan Nila tharum' (a song in the Tamil movie 'Kaadhal Virus') that I certainly rate amongst his finest ever. The song is high on intensity right through with multiple emotional layers that convey ecstasy on the one hand and a sense of mystery on the other, the interlude after a brief pause in the halfway mark being a true delight. I sometimes wonder if the man was in a state of trance as he composed this song.

In the following years, Rahman continued to deliver surprises with tracks like 'Nee Marilyn Monroe',  'Kelaamal Kaiyile' (ATM), the incredible 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi' (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na), 'Manmohini Morey' (Yuvraaj), 'Behka', 'Latoo' (Ghajini), 'Masakalli' (Delhi 6) and so on. Again, by no means an exhaustive list for there were other very special numbers during this period like 'Tu Bole Main Boloon', the title track of the movie 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na', that was sung by Rahman himself. It was the kind of song that you take a long while to get a hang of but once you get there, you get to inhabit a beautiful world of new emotions. He then went on to grab 2 Oscars for his composition for Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire'. There has been some speculation over the question of whether the score of 'Slumdog Millionare' figures amongst his best works. It's probably debatable only because of the very high standards he had set for himself with some of his other works. But I don't really get why the question actually arises. If at all he deserved an Oscar, he probably deserved it for his first movie itself and probably for many more albums along the way. And to be honest, I think my respect and admiration for him has not been changed much by the double Oscar win. Nevertheless, for the country's sizable population that had been starved of the Oscars for a long time, the victory certainly served a purpose.

Post the Oscars, there was a bit of a lull that was finally ended by his yet another path breaking album for the Tamil movie 'Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya (VTV)' in early 2010. Rahman comes up with some of his best when he collaborates with quality directors like Mani Ratnam, Ashutosh Gowariker, etc. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as top directors generally set high standards for themselves and probably provide inspiring visions of the movie's theme to the composer. And when a quality composer adorns these visions with befitting sound tracks, it’s naturally going to result in an engrossing marriage. Gautham Menon, director of VTV, is a popular director in the South Indian film circles, who is known to package his movies as sleek offerings. That Rahman was going to work on his movie was therefore very exciting news and there were high expectations as a result. The album did deliver on the promise with some very unconventional and novel tracks in its listing. In Rahman's own words, the music was a little 'quirky' and didn't follow the conventional patterns. It was a big hit with the mainstream audience. In my opinion, the pick of the album was the track 'Kannukul Kannai'. It had an absolutely mesmerizing feel to it and kind of exemplified that which sets Rahman apart from the rest. Another track that bore Rahman's signature all over it was 'Uyire unnai enthan'. And of course, there was 'Hosanna' and 'Omana penne' that would rank among everyone's favorites, not to forget the title song of the movie. Bollywood had to wait until 2011 for a similar trend setting album in the form of 'Rockstar'. I have never been familiar with musical jargon and the kind of music each of the genres actually represent. But that didn't dampen my excitement around this album that, presumably, centres on 'rock' music. Just as we enjoy Rahman's Carnatic and Hindustani touches without really being trained in these classical forms, I thought there should be something in this album too for all of us irrespective of whatever 'rock music' represented. We were not to be disappointed. The album was a big hit across the country and played a major part in the movie's success, along with Imtiaz Ali's direction and Ranbir Kapoor's histrionics. My personal favourites from the album include 'Naadan Parindey', ‘Khatiya Karoon’, 'Kun Faya Kun', the absolutely breathtaking 'Hawaa Hawaa', and the instrumental 'Dichotomy of fame' that touches deep into my soul whenever I listen to it and reminds me of another soulful instrumental of Rahman, the shehnai version of 'Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera' that he had composed a few years ago for the movie 'Swades'. There were other inspiring tracks in the movie like 'Jo Bhi Main', 'Aur Ho', 'Sadda Haq' and another very special instrumental in the form of 'Tango for Taj' that was in serious competition with 'Dichotomy of Fame' for the top honours in the instrumental category. 'Rockstar' was one terrific album indeed.

Having revelled in Rahman’s music for about 2 decades now, one might wonder as to where does he get on from here. When a similar question was posed to him in an interview a few years ago, he replied that he doesn’t see himself into the future and remarked that it’s both a boon and a bane.I guess it's probably a bane because having a vision can provide you with a sense of direction to take. But it can be a boon since you are not limited to any particular idea and consequently you keep yourself open to unlimited possibilities. Personally, I am hoping that he comes up with something that doesn’t sound like a Rahman album at all. Umm, before you can start doubting my sanity, let me confirm that I’m not asking for sub standard stuff. On the contrary, I’m looking forward to a score that’s so novel and fresh in its appeal that we find it difficult to believe that Rahman has composed it, based on our idea of what Rahman’s music sounds like. In fact, I did have flashes of such an experience when I listened to some of the tunes in Rockstar, particularly the 2 instrumentals ‘Dichotomy of fame’ and ‘Tango for Taj’. The movie, with its hitherto unexplored storyline and theme, probably provided the canvas for such experimentation, and I do hope that in the days to come, he gets to work on scripts that challenge popular notions of what a movie is, thereby providing him with the right kind of stage to unleash the experimental streak in him and reveal himself in dramatically new avataars. To an extent, he’s already been serving us with something fresh with every new movie, but if he gets to push the bar even further, are we going to complain?

So, do we really know who Rahman is? We, obviously know him as a person in terms of his awards and accomplishments, but beyond that, at a finer level, do we understand the man, his mindset, the defining aspects of his personality,etc ? Since most of us may not know him personally, we might not get to know him at that level, but music, being an expression from one’s soul, can reveal these facets of a composer or at least throw some light on it. Thus a deeper appreciation of his music does provide us  with a window to his personality and given the subjective nature of music appreciation, each of us perhaps understand Rahman a little differently based on the way we perceive his music. And as he continues to evolve as a composer with every new work of his, our understanding of him also continues to evolve alongside. As such, it’d be naive to claim that we fully understand him and that sums up his genius as a composer.