Blend it like A R Rahman!

This is fast turning out to be A R Rahman’s year. In 2007, he gave us an extremely melodious music album Guru, which made a clean sweep at all the awards. This year too, he’s the frontrunner with two superhits already — the exquisite Jodhaa Akbar, and the fresh and peppy Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa. His latest Yuvvraaj again has Rahman’s quality and class stamped all over it.

So does it meet the sky-high expectations? The answer is yes. At a time when original music is so hard to come by and the film music scene is so dismal, it’s incredible how Rahman manages to infuse life back into it each time.

Yuvvraaj is high on melody, achieved mostly by high octave tunes and rich, intricate orchestration. The album has a distinct cross-cultural blend to it — where the classical is finely interspersed with contemporary vocals and groovy beats. This is especially true of the album’s best track, Dil Ka Rishta — sung in Sonu Niigam’s assured, youthful voice. Manmohini Morey is another track in the same vein. This is a superb fusion classical track with hip music.

Tu Meri Dost Hai is already gaining popularity through promos. Sung by newcomer Benny Dayal, the number is a high-octave intense melody. Yet, somehow, the ‘antara’ and its accompanying orchestration appear slightly scattered and lost after an out-of-the-world beginning.

Mastam Mastam and Shano Shano are two tracks that are a notch lower and seem to be included keeping mass appeal in mind. While Mastam Mastam is still catchy with its folksy feel, the second one is a letdown. It’s one more for the dance floor after Jaane Tu’s Pappu Can’t Dance Saala, so there’s a feeling of deja vu. A lot has been done to keep it ‘busy’ and hip but somehow both Rahman and lyricist Gulzar (otherwise in terrific form here) seem out of their comfort zone.

Tu Muskura is a soft love song — beautifully composed by Rahman but Alka Yagnik’s choice as singer isn’t as convincing. Over the years, Yagnik’s high notes have been getting shakier and there seems to be a certain contrived sweetness to her voice. Yet, we’ll say she’s better off with Rahman than any other composer of recent times. She was sparkling in both Lagaan and Swades, remember?

After listening to the songs of Yuvvraaj, one conjures up an image of an epic musical love story. Subhash Ghai’s and Rahman’s last film Taal still continues to mesmerise music lovers. Yuvvraaj too comes with immense potential, but a lot would depend on Ghai’s story and situations if they have to do justice to Rahman’s rich, grand compositions. After all, there’s nothing as heartbreaking as a good music score being wasted on a poorly made film!

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