Ada - Music review

Music Director: A.R. Rahman

Lyrics: Nusrat Badr and Raqueeb Alam

Our Rating: 3/ 5

Ada certainly reflects the versatility of ace music director A R Rahman. It has a soothing feel to the music, but cannot be slotted as one of his best works. The musician has dished out some magical albums like Guru, Rang De Basanti and Jodha Akhbar. Ada is an album with eight songs and an instrumental, sans remix versions of any.


Ishq Ada hai definitely tops the chart, but Meherbaan and Gulfisha will follow soothe. Only if the lyrics were taken care of Ada could have been another legend of Rehman. Getting a personal copy of the album is not a bad idea for the music lovers.

Title track Ishq Ada is an out and out romantic number. Newbie Rashid Ali's voice is heart rendering and mesmerizing. The simplicity of the music lies with the lower notes played in the base guitar and the old sound of the accordion.

Rahman's lead guitarist has used the platform very well. The song also has a female version sung by Parul Mishra The female version has been given a classical touch with higher notes in base guitar and drums.

Hawa sun hawa is sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. Though music is different and has a fresh feel, it is a wee bit too slow. The song can be rated as average.

'Gum sum gum sum' is crooned by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik, again. The song doesn't sound novel. The listeners would definitely expect something more from the song.

Here's some breather for the music lovers after those gloomy tracks! Gulfisha hits the right chord. The background score and harmonious beats will set your heartbeat racing. Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan's unique voice sets the song apart from the varied mixes in the album.

Rahman's melodious voice is meant to soothe the ears. Meherbaan, an ultimate romantic track and creates imagery while listening to it. The lyrics are exceptionally good.

The three minute long song is sure to leave the listener spellbound. Listeners are bound to fall in love with the song every time they turn it on. The older the song is to the listeners ears it sounds new to the ears. The instrumental version is equally beautiful.

Tu Mera hai brings Chitra, Sukhwinder Singh and Naresh Iyer together. The track has an exceptional music but average lyrics. They don't have the same impact as his other songs.

Hai Dard is a gloomy track of the album. The music doesn't touch the heart. However, Udit Narayan's vocals pep the song to some extent. The lyrics of the song are pretty good.

Alka Yagnik and Jayachandran give a soulful vocalization of Milo wahan wahan. Their vocals complement each other and are sure to have an impact on the young hearts.

Ada may not be every music lover's pick, but it has the melodious quotient intact.

Courtesy: radioandmusic.com

A R Rahman Concert - A Magnificent Musical Show at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium

A R Rahman the popular Bollywood playback singing sensation came and performed along with other well known singers like Hariharan, Chitra, Sadhana Sargam, Karthick, BlaaZe, Madhushree Neeti Mohan, Naresh Iyer, Mohammad Aslam, Javed Ali and Benny Dayal, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday 18th April 2008 from 8.00 p.m onwards.

He held the audience spellbound for 4 hrs non stop, with his usual striking music performances, spectacular entertainment, multi-tier stage set up, back ground dancers, orchestra and amazing lighting effects.

The cricket stadium was packed with a large number of music lovers who yearned to listen to this great performer and his hit songs. This concert of A R Rahman was held in UAE after a span of 5 years. He performed and lived up to the expectations of music lovers in this live concert. The audience were glued on to their seats from the start till the finish.

The concert started with Bollywood hits like Masti Ki Pathshala, Jashn-e-Bahara, Khoja Khoja, Nannaare, Diya Jale, Tere Bina, Humma Humma and Rubaroo. Rahman took the audience on a wonderful musical journey that included his current hits and old favourites from Bollywood and South Indian films like Dil Se, Jodha Akbar, Shivaji, Guru, Rang De Basanti, Bombay, Kadalan, Boys and Roja to name a few. The song from the super hit south Indian Tamil movie Roja, that helped A R Rahman climb the ladder of success, fame and glory, Kaadal Roja was impressive and deserved the applause from an extremely responsive audience.

Shivamani the ace drummer and percussionist with his magical fingers and hands performed drum beats and regaled the audience. He was truly amazing. He received a huge round of applause from the crowd and mesmerized them with the drum beats. He also showed the audience how he could produce music from objects like spoons, a bottle of water and suitcases .
A brilliant performer with tremendous potential and energy AR Rahman was seen on stage right from the start till the end. He was either playing the keyboard, directing the orchestra, sensing the mood and the pulse of the audience and joining the chorus. He is indeed a fine musician, singer, director and a multiple talented personality - A priceless gift from God.

The singers reached out to every nook and corner of the stadium with their choicest selection of Hindi and South Indian songs and the music filled the air. The sequence and choicest selection of energetic dance tunes, spiritual devotional numbers, rocking rap music and soul stirring patriotic songs was well appreciated by the audience. The audience responded with a huge round of applause after every performance.

The English song Pray For Me Brother touched the inner core of each and every person witnessing this event. It was dedicated for the speedy recovery of ailing children all over the world and hence the crowd stood up holding illuminated mobiles in their hands and sent a prayer to the Eternal Creator. This song created a sense of belonging and spiritual bonding of brotherhood among those present within the stadium.

The audience also felt a strong spiritual bonding as he sang "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" on the harmonium, covering his head covered with a scarf. The entire audience stood up for the last song Vande Mataram, which was a befitting tribute to India.

Kudos to the organizers for organizing such a beautiful event. This was indeed a memorable event and a concert to remember. A R Rahman fans and music lovers would look forward to many more concerts like these in the future.

Brief interview

Our team member C Salaam met Mr. A R Rahman who shared some of his choicest thoughts on the Indian music industry. He said that it was not possible to have concerts like these regularly in UAE because of his love and commitment to music. He is thoroughly occupied with bollywood and south Indian films, and another international project which has been assigned to him by Mr. Shekar Kapoor. He is currently studying the finer details of Arabic music and wants to streamline and incorporate the same into his system. Jodha Akbar will be remembered not only by him but his fans too for the quality music rendered by him.

AR Rahman in addition to the above mentioned commitments wishes to open a music school called KM Music School in Chennai. At this point he praised the reality shows conducted by various TV channels for their contribution and hardwork in looking out for talents, providing a platform, training and shaping them up, and helping them to rise and shine like the stars in the galaxy.

He then mentioned the names of some fine performers and singers like SP Balasubramaniam, KS Chitra and Lata Mangeshkar. The names of these artists along with the legend of hindi music industry Mohammed Rafi needs to be etched on a marble in golden letters for generations to remember them for their contribution in the field of music he added.

Courtesy: mangalorean.com