The Enigma called A R Rahman

Much has been talked about A R Rahman. For starters, the double Oscar winning music composer, singer, arranger, musician from Incredible India needs no introduction. He is the undisputed king of Bollywood music, a music churning factory. Braced with the thought that awards gauge artist's accomplishments is the maestro's own thought that awards show people's affection, a wise saying which reflects his welcome to them with open arms.


With everything in cine world resting highly on publicity and promotion, from music albums to movies to soaps, the name ARR is enough for any to-be released album to generate the necessary 'heat'. I'm bringing forth this after the much awaited 'Blue's music hit the market(or has it, officially?). This was the virtuoso's first release post his stupendous international alludes with Oscars. I heard the songs and barring one, found them to be mediocre. One more thing that ARR is known for is his mammoth fan following and what 'fans'. I was very keen to read the music reviews of Blue's soundtrack and was really surprised to note that it has got rave reviews, albeit with lots of disclaimers:
"Having said that, this is A R Rahman's album and it's a recognised fact that his music takes time to grow, so maybe, the listener will start liking it after several hearings."
What is this? A verily profound fact? Or a veiled excuse?
We know people who make music and also who make good music. We also know people who make symphonies. But can anyone deliberately make music such that the listeners don't like it initially and then like it, every time ? What is it, a computer program? Or is it just that he is a damn lucky guy who gets lucky several times, or every time? However, it isn't luck if you get lucky every time, or is it in his case?
With due respect to Rahman's genius, isn't it possible that you listen to an average song and don't like it, and assume you should like it after several hearings as this music takes time to 'grow' and then are found liking it? I smell a yes here, though remotely and I also don't know much. One more factor that throws weight behind this hypothesis is the fact that the maestro is known for his ruthless experimentation. He's both a master of melody and tweak. He tweaks it to the point that the subtle complications hit you in face, giving you a feel that this is something never heard, never attempted thereby compromising the set pattern. But who cares about the set pattern as far as the product is 'A Product !!!'.
From the very onset of his stellar career he has been on the receiving side when it comes to everything and that includes success and complaints. He is repetitive, his sounds seem similar, he lacks melody etc. However, all these apocryphal mentions were never comprehensively established and thus the enigma in Rahman continued to haunt people with his mellow music and elude the cynosure with his well disguised persona. Once when asked by a scribe as to why he is reticent and meek, he had said 'I feel I'm being stripped when I speak much, it's like I'm getting naked'. This perhaps is one of the aspects that make him click and I say so because the mystery with him remains unexplored.
People always categorise Rahman into the Rahman of the 90s and the Rahman of now and I always feel the former to be the one that has the power and the class that is propelling the latter. ofcourse, times change and with changing times things evolve but the talent has to do what it should since the genius does what it has to. As I think of winding up this terse, I'm sure I have again committed the same old sin of keeping lot of loose ends open. And yeah ! the enigma called Rahman puzzles, perplexes and haunts me much more than before.

Lonavla-Khandala-Lohagadh outing

Right from the time I have come to Pune, I have been hearing about Lohagadh. Every one here just sings poems describing its beauty. Planning something on weekends and then bursting it up has become more of a habit when it comes to people in my office but this time around we were determined as hell to make it. The planning started with girls on-board(as usual) and then after severel rounds of talks they finally declined our offer( again, as usual) of going on bikes. We were bored of pacy and instant one day trips and hence were planning to go for a 2-day sojourn this time. And not just that, everyone was desperate to test the toughness of his newly acquired bike on the topsy-turvy western ghat so everyone wanted to go on a bike. We rounded off the travel list with 9 people on 5 bikes. We left Pune at around 10 AM on Saturday to reach Lohagadh around 12:30. Man, it is quite a place. Located on the foothills of Western Ghat, we have a well sprawled fort atop a mountain. The pre-monsoon showers had draped the entire place with green curtains, punctuating here and there with floral tributes. I say tributes because the place is bombarded by bougainvilla and the likes. You should see how the petals will be scattered on roads, as if in anticipation of the roadies ( ya, we called ourselves Roadies, after the successful show of ruggedness on MTV). Before we could reach the fort, we got a small freshwater body, shallow and aqua blue in colour and everyone stopped there for dastardly photo session. I hate it when people take several photos in the same location. I mean, what the hell !!
Then we went to the fort, remember, its on top of a hill, so we had to trek. The worst part is it is slippery, with cascades gushing down from atop the hill and with amateurs like us trekking, there is every chance of a casualty. We finally reached on top and the effort was worth. You could see a host of civilisation scattered from the top. One thing I hate about India is that you will find people in every nook and corner. As we started our monkeying stints on the top, everything felt like nothing. It was like you are staring at a beautiful wallpaper and suddenly you landed inside it. Man O Man !! It was freshly beautiful.
We then headed to Lonavla, a tourist heaven with everything heavenly costly( Buy a maize at 25 bucks !!! I'll rather have shit instead). The first impression of Lonavla was disgusting as it was Saturday and people were storming in, mostly from Mumbai. We had to stay at a lodge and at an affordable price, so we got a nice and clean stay-house at a very cozy price. We combined all the beds to make a dais and started playing cards. I'm mentioning this because that was the time when we had the highest laughter in, say a month. Man, it was hilarious and out of the world.
We( 3 of us) slept at 4.30 in the morning with promises of getting up at 6 as we had to start early to Khandala. The stay-house had to be vacated before 10 and I got up at 9:40 with dozens of eyes staring me for being late. We then had pathetic break-fast and went to Bhushi dam. I can say it is a decent place but what made us stick to it was the crowd. Babes, babes and babes. The place was crawling with babes. After another miserable photo session, we left for Khandala and reaching there, were disappointed because of the mammoth crowd. OMG. People dont seem to have work on weekend and all they do is throng to Khandala. Can you imagine we could not go to the famous Tiger-point because of the mad rush !!
All we saw was Western Ghats being cut by the Express Highway with some beautiful waterfalls pinned in the backdrop. It is a beautiful visual as the entire scene is aptly populated by passing vehicles on the highway.
We came back to Pune on Sunday evening, rejuvenated, over-joyed and exhausted !!!

Panshet trek


It was an exhilarating experience and a much needed break from the normal chores. Panshet is called 'Pune's switzerland' and it is. Mountainous range with draped greenery and cut-throat waterways. The accompanying river emulates an Amazon thanks to the recent downpour that makes its water muddy. Panshet is around 40 kms from Swargate, Pune and is well connected by tar. After wandering in the mountainous trek for around 2 hours, we finally pit-stopped at a desi dhaba and had desi chicken. Finally, we started to Splendour City which happens at 12 km down the fork before the Sinhagad crux. It is a resort with 4 ft swimming pool, snooker, karaoke juke-box and a cafeteria. I personally did not like the food as it was a bland. having said that, a lunch and a snack coupled with all the recreation facilities is every penny worth the 450 bucks.
We dived and peddled in the pool for an hour, had lunch, played snooker, sang songs in Karaoke and darted a dart board. It was real fun and a perfect team outing.
More than anyone else, I'm desperate for the next one !!

Jai Ho Concert, Pune

After the double whammy at Oscars, brand Rahman has suddendly swelled to magnanimous proportions. The man, known for his humbleness and reticency, never misses to score a point when it comes to charity. His series of concerts coined 'Jai Ho' are another gigantic step towards the same. After the hugely successful first concert post his Oscars at Kochi, Rahman announced that he shall follow it up with a concert at Pune the proceeds of which shall go to mangeshkar Foundation and Alandi Dehu Vikas Kendra. It was enough for me to start feeling butterflies in my stomach since I'm currently redundant at Pune. The date was 31st May and the venue Balewadi Athletic Stadium. The venue was a shrewd choice considering Rahman's mammoth following as it is a vast expanse. I planned that I will witness the extravaganza with as many friends as possible and finally the list of concert goers read: Aslam, Prabha, Pooja, Kshama and Varsha, all colleagues from the firm I work for. Finally, the much awaited day( D-day for many) arrived and Aslam and I started early( 3 pm to be precise as I did not wanted to be late.. as Im usually late for everything) and we got a call from 'the girls' that they are still busy with their make-ups( girls.. you see). We( boys) reached by bus with a coupla connecting flights( lol) and girls preferred Auto( again.. girls you see !! ). We thought we can save a coupla moolah for smoke roles and Aslam ensured he bought a pack. Finally, entry time and I was desperate trying to contact our girls who inspite of having the luxury of Autorickshaw, werent at the entry queue. I never imagined the turn-out would be such a whopping. Forget the inside, the outside itself was like a massive concert with people nudging and pushing each other( Incredible India !!). Then there were frequently irritating security checks where people with sweaty hands and killer eyes frisk you like you are a public property. Aslam was caught with a cigarette pack and it got confiscated. No protests coz there were no arrests. All this turmoil ended when we finally found ourself fresh breath of air inside the open theatre with the crowd swelling every moment. And lo !! Finally, the girls arrived. It was 6.15 and the environment was already getting tuned.

I have no idea how the next one and half hour passed by as everyone was desperate as to how and when the maestro, also known as The Mozart of Asia will arrive. The eagerness transformed into frustration and suddenly, an aircraft in an airport in Vimannagar could not find a strip to land and it was told to circum-ambulate Pune. It flew, made  a 45 degree left cut exactly above Balewadi Stadium and everyone down there felt rahman would para-jump onto the stage, as the 20,000 odd crowd raised its hands towards the plane, yelling Rahman Rahman Rahman !!

The plane proceeded away from the stadium and the obvious was understood as the crowd's euphoria died down. Then came the moment, with Ali G coming on stage, in his typical Jamaican accent yelling " Hey you peepul, aa yoo rready?? Wen Aay say Jay.. yo say Ho.. wen Aay say jay.. Yo say ho.." and the crowd madly followed as if he was their mentor. Next, he asked, how desperate are you for Rahman? to which the crowd showed their desperation by breaking all decibel records. Man O Man !! Pune is mad about Rahman. Fo sho. Ali G took his cell phone and played a recorded message by Rahman and the crowd went tossing. Then the lights were turned off and the speakers on, with the crescendo of the master's sensational tune hitting the ears, it was a feeling, an experience, a sense that is seldom felt as the Maestro made his appearance on stage amidst a deafening noise. The assembly went berserk and so did the speakers with Jaage Hain.. from Guru, an anthem of sorts.

After this, song after song, hit after hit, beat after beat, it was music music and music. After all, a man who has redefined contemporary music and created new sounds was here to enthrall everyone. The concert was characteristically devided into 6 segments:

Rahman with his hair-raising adrenaline pumping chartbusters.

Rahman, Hariharan, Roopkumar Rathod and Rashid Ali in a jugalbandi with the maestro on a piano.

A techno, mindblowing DJ remix of Rahman's popular songs.

Felicitaion of Rahman by Lata Mangeshkar, Dr. Karad, Suresh Kalmadi.

Devotional piece where Rahman and Raja Hassan sang qawwalis.

And finally, patriotic punch where he rounded off the event with Jai ho and Vandemataram.

It was an audio-visual treat for all rahmaniacs with splendid laser stuff and spot-on choreography. Ofcourse, I would like to add that some artistes were dearly missed including udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh, Alka Yagnik, SPB and kavita krishnamoorthy however, all said and done, it was once in a life time experience.