His last three albums were 'Blue', 'Jhootha Hi Sahi' and 'Raavan'. While, he was good in all, specially the latter two. He was yet below the kind of work he did in Delhi6 or pre Delhi6. Plus, these three albums didn't appeal to the masses, which his previous albums were doing. Rahman's working way is simple, as I just read in a interview recently - 'I make music, you like it, you take it, you don't like it, don't take it. I keep making music and I like doing it.'
The album has 11 tracks and with 3 background themes. Also, read in one interview, there will be 6-7 extra music pieces to hear in the film too. By now, you can easily guess, this is a completely musical film, and in safe hands of Imtiaz Ali.
You always have a long list of singers to sing in a album, ofcourse deep inside a voice says, come on give my fav singer more songs in this album. But you crave for variety always. In that case, you will be dissappointed. Mohit Chauhan has been kept as the voice of Jordan(Ranbir Kapoor) in the film. Hence, whenever Jordan will sing in the film, the voice behind it will always be of Mohit. Out of 11 tracks, 9 are from Mohit himself. While 2 are entirely female tracks. Karthik, Javed Ali and AR Rahman give company to Mohit in some tracks.
'I have the right to be myself and I will claim my right.'
The song has a angst feeling right from the moment the song begins, from the use of guitar, to the words, to the composition and to the way its sung. Jordan here questions the world, he must have been dissappointed by the society, by the people a lot. His only fault was, he tried to be himself. He wants to live the way he wants, and no one has the right to tell him how he has to live.
High guitar to begin the song, then a complete change in variation of guitar, and drums start as Mohit Chauhan begins 'tum logo ki iss duniya mein' ... In lines 'Mann bole, mann bole.. mann se jeena ya mar jaana', Jordan conveys, how he wants to live. There are 2 versions in the song, in first half, he just questions everyone, as his anger is slowly coming out. Then, there is a 'no singing' 43 second piece, which then leads to a new tempo. And now we have Jordan, who has conveyed enough with a anger that was visible but restricted, He is about to unleash much more now to the people who questioned him or his deeds, and look how he does it, 'O ecofriendly nature ke rakshak, main bhi hoon nature.. Tera DARR, Tera PYAAR, Teri WAAH tu hi RAKH, RAKH SAALA'. He has told them now, that I dont need ur hatred, ur love, ur appreciation, I am free from you all now. Mohit Chauhan's singing, guitar work by Orianthi, use of drums, lyrics by Irshad.. everything contributes to a great composition by Rahman. Epic Song!
'I wanna say so much to you, but I am not able to tell them properly through my words'.
Here, Jordan is travelling(as seen in promo and read in a article), he is trying to communicate with new and different people. The song goes deeper into the thoughts of Jordan about this world with 'kabhi mujhe lage ke jaise, saara hi yeh jahan hai jaadu, jo hai bhi aur nahi bhi hai yeh'. Continuing further, he says 'maine yeh bhi socha hai aksar, tu bhi main bhi, sab hi hai sheeshe.. khud hi ko hum sabhi mein dekhe'... as he believes we should try to see our image in other people, to make this a beautiful world. And finally ends with 'mujhe paana, paana hai khud ko'.. as his entire journey is more of to discover himself in this world, and not the world.
The song begins with a guitar, and alaap of 'ya ya ya .. o ho ho o o', and Mohit takes over with 'Jo bhi main kehna chahun, barbaad kare alfaaz mere'. Also, 'cha na na cha na na ' alaap used very well after end of 1st part of song. And then a work with guitar in final secs of song, along with crowd chorus. Yet again, Wonderful Composition by Rahman.
'You are here with me, You will always stay with me. You are mine.'
Jordan dedicates this song to Heer, the love of his life. He tells his feelings, the kind of deep love he is in with her through 'tumko jitna mehsoos karu, utna hi paa bhi lun'. The level of romance increases in 2nd part as Jordan says 'kahin se kahin ko bhi aao bewajah chale, pooche bina kisi se, hum mile'. And in final part, he tells that the world can't snatch her away from him, as she is very much a part of his soul now... 'Tum.. bhi ho main'.
Mohit Chauhan revisits you to 'Tumse hi' days, with this track. His voice makes 'Tum ho' very romantic. Special mention to the alaap 'ho ho ho ... tum hoo o o o o' , the song begins with it, and it comes two times more in the song. Also, the female chorals used in the song gives it a added romantic touch. The song would be loved a lot by romantic music lovers, as it has every ingedrient from romantic lyrics to the soulful feel to the composition that keeps the mood throughout the track.
'Come back to your home, how much will you run away..'
AR Rahman sings major portion of the track, so Jordan wont be seen singing it. It would be a song based on Jordan, pretty much as a background, with few lines(significant) sung by Jordan too in the end. There is a certain appeal made to Jordan in this song, to come back to his home, to stop all the travelling. 'Sau dard badan pe pheley hai, har karm ke kapde mailey hai' .. you have suffered a lot, and hence need to move away.. 'koi bhi le rasta, tu hai tu main basta, apne hi ghar ayega tu'.. whatever path you follow, your identity is always going to be 'you'. And then the lines Jordan sings 'kaga re kaga mori itni araj tose, chun chun khaiyo maas, arajiya re, khayion na tu naina more, piya ke milan ki aas' , Requesting to the bird, to eat his body's flesh but not his eyes, as he wishes to see Heer through them.
The song begins with guitar, and the drum beats takes it to a feel of request as the whole song is based on. 'ghar aaja,ghar aaja,ghar aaja,ghar aaja', repitition of these 2 words by rahman gives more impact to the request. The final lines by Mohit, one may argue shifts the composition a bit, but the context if referred to would give it a deeper meaning and very romantic too. Superb work by Rahman once again!
'Be it is.. you accepted me, when no one liked me.'
Whenever its a religious or divine kind of song.. I get very conscious because I dont easily connect to them being a non-religious person. I didnt have any great liking for the song Rahman did in Delhi6 either. But here, he completely gives me goosebumps with this song. Rahman and Javed begin this qawalli, where Jordan has come to seek blessing or to stay as he is homeless(as seen in promos). 'jab kahin pe kuch nahi bhi nahi tha, wahin tha, wahin tha, wahin tha'..
Just like the last song, Rahman changes gears in this composition, taking the song to a new level. Here, it happens twice. Once when Mohit i.e Jordan enters the song, and 2nd, when Javed Ali builds a high tempo portraying what Jordan now feels about the dargah where he has been now living since some time and become a part of it. 'kar de mujhe mujhse hi rihaa.. mujhse hi rihaa', Jordan wants to meet with himself, by being himself. And 'tu ne mujhe banaya, main toh jag ko na bhaaya, tu ne gale se lagaya, haq tu hi hai khudaya'.. you accepted me, you have every right on me. Also, special mention to tablaJaved Ali, Mohit Chauhan and Rahman together bring that divine feeling in this fantastic composition.
'I am in your city, come and meet me atleast.'
Now, an album without a track that has Rahman written all over it, in terms of complete experimentation would be incomplete. So, this track fills that void. When was the last time, you heard a song composed about 3 people, one composer, 1 singer and 1 lyricist(I am assuming else another singer it would be) discussing how the song should be sung, with their comments along side.. all this made into one composition. That is 'Sheher mein'.
Karthik begins the song, a comment comes from the composer about how well he sang. Mohit i.e Jordan's turn to sing.. but the composer feels sur missing. Composer praises the lyricist, whenever he sings the song i.e Karthik. When Jordan sings again, composer again dislikes with 'Tum sun nahi rahe ho yaar..'. Now, composer asks Mohit to increase the last word alaap. That's another of my fav part from the song. Then, comes the re-tone part. In terms of lyrics, the song is limited.. its pretty much a situational song, which would be a practice song for Jordan at a particular phase of his musical life. This track is bound to be loved by the people who are aware of experiments Rahman does in a particular song deliberately.
'No need to find me as now you will find me everywhere.. I am there with you'.
This is female version of 'Tum Ho'. Infact, it can be slighly referred as girl's answer to the boy's feelings in the other song.. but not completely, as lyrics differ at places. One familiar thing in this song is the same alaap 'ho o o o oo o .. tum ho o oo o'. The song presents Heer's feelings for Jordan. It may come in film when they are together, or it may come when Jordan has gone far away(which is most likely in my view). 'Tum ho, tabhi toh .. kahin bhi ab na dhoondhna mujhe, main har jagah milungi tujhe' and 'Tum ko, paa hi liya, maine yoon, jaise main hoon ehsaas tera'.. both lines presents how much the love is from girl's side too after we heard Jordan before.
The song begins more on a light note, with just background, no use of instruments.. and once Kavita completes 1st few lines, sarangi and tabla combo make a terrific feel, I would go on to say a bit of classical touch comes through it. Also, this is one of the few female songs in the album, and Kavita Subramanium does full justice to the track.
'I feel uncomfortable, I am not able to think what I should do, I feel helpless'.
The song reflects the feelings of Jordan, who wants to get lost into Heer completely. He doesn't want to control his feelings, but he isn't sure what he should do in this moment... 'tujhe pehli baar main milta hoon har dafa, meri bebasi ka bayaan hai' .. his helplessness only increases. Infact the song can work in two ways, either it can be a romantic track between Jordan and Heer, getting close to each other or it can be a romantic-emotional track with Jordan and Heer away from each other.
'Rokey se na ruke na thake, aandhi si jo chale inn saanson ki, pata bhi na chale, kahan pe kya jale' .. the pain keeps increasing, Jordan doesn't know how to rest his feelings. Very Good composition again, Mohit sings it well with Alma giving female chorals at places. I feel the lyrics here overpowers the composition.
'We are gonna have fultoo fun, non-stop masti. I love spending time with you'.
This is 2nd song of the album, where Jordan has no contribution in singing. Its Heer's fun song with Jordan, where she witnesses some 'masti' moments including some naughty ones with Jordan. She won't control herself, and do various activities that she may not have done before in her life. 'Hadh karun, hadh karun, mainu darr nahi hun jag da, tere layi hun jiyun te marun'.. Heer isn't afraid of anyone, she probably feels the love for Jordan for 1st time here.
Harshdeep Kaur has done good work with her singing. You would once again notice the Rahman's change of tempo in a song again here. As in the final minute, there is a complete change in background arrangements and the vocals too. This song would more or less be better with visuals than as a audio, mainly because the lyrics are bit repetitive, and a fun song always look good with visuals. (Its video is a proof as the song made more impact to me there than as audio it did)
'I have given up on so many of my dreams, but they still fly along with me.. my journey has begun.'
Jordan has set himself on a journey, as he sings 'phir se udh chala udh ke chora hai jahan neeche'. He isnt going to stop anywhere. 'banu raavan, jiyu marr marr ke.. kabhi din hai raat, kabhi din din hai.' wonders Jordan as the memories of Heer try to change his way.
This could be the only song where the composition didn't impress me fully, the lyrics are super once more, and so is the way Mohit handles the vocals. The start and ending of the song is very good, its the arrangements done in the middle that leave lot more to desire for. But, I have a feeling this could be that one song like 'Main kya hoon of Love aaj Kal' with which you connect after watching the film much more.
'Folk song on a story based on King and Queen'
Jordan attends a folk based culture place, and participates in this song that reflects Queen's state who likes to be free and not limited to King's place. Another song that I would like to see with visuals, there have been many songs before based on portraying a small story within a song. Composition is pretty good, like the way Rahman uses female chorals alongside Jordan, to present queen like the anger part.
You can only guess in what context Jordan says the dialogue 'pata hai yahan se bahut door, galat aur sahi ke paar, ek maidaan hai.. main wahan milunga tujhe'. It could be a real conversation with Heer or it could be a dreamy conversation too. Good background theme, focus kept mainly on dialogue, so less arrangements done in music, keeping it simple and soft romantic.
Tango for Taj is a good theme, though the middle portion is much better than the start or end.
The Dichotomy of Fame is the best out of all these 3 themes. It so easily signifies the rise of a person, i.e Jordan here. And I like that they used it entirely on basis of Shehnai, quite a experiment that.
One man I would like to give most credit which I gave less in all songs, would be 'Irshad Kamil'. He has written some wonderful lyrics for all songs, infact the latter songs in my review, its his lyrics that made me like those songs more than the compositions. While in 'Sadda Haq', 'Jo bhi main', 'Kun faaya kun' and 'Nadaan Parindey', he is simply fantaastic.
Overall, Rockstar album lives upto the expectations any Rahman music lover would have. There is not a single song that I didn't like at all in the whole album. As long as you can adjust with the voice behind Jordan, you are bound to accept Jordan and love his voice!
Verdict : Memorable
P.S - From this review onwards, I have started a new way of expressing my fav songs. I will always write about songs I love the most first, and slowly move to the ones I liked least.
This was my 100th blogpost, started since July, 2008 and still going. What I still desire for is 'Consistency'. The journey has just begun ...
