A R RAHMAN the name itself says it all ,who does not know the singer ,record producer and song- writer and now a film producer,no one has imagined also,because of his musical journey.With zero fuss and fanfare, the Oscar winner has unleashed on us a musical tornado, that will surely give us hope, even as we are social distancing and keeping ourselves abreast with Coronavirus updates.
A. R. Rahman, is an Indian film composer, record producer, singer, and songwriter who works predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films. In 2010, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the nation’s third-highest civilian award. Among Rahman’s awards are six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South.Skilled in Carnatic music, Western and Hindustani classical music and the Qawwali style of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahman is noted for film songs amalgamating elements of these and other genres, layering instruments from different musical idioms in an improvisational style.World-renowned musician A R Rahman announced his first production “99 Songs” will arrive in theatres on April 16. Starcast of the film, newcomers Ehan Bhat, Edilsy Varghese and Tenzin Dalha, an Indian actor of Tibetan origin, in lead roles.The musical drama movie, directed by debutant Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy, is a story about art and self-discovery of a struggling singer who wants to be a successful music composer.Rahman, who has also co-written the movie, also announced that the film will be releasing in theatres in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
According to the title 99 Songs, composer A. R. Rahman revealed that the total number of the songs in the film does not have 99 in number, but the film will present 14 original compositions for each language (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) and features some of his instrumental score used in the background music. Rahman started working on the film’s soundtrack in 2015 and since then its production was delayed, until its completion due to Rahman’s commitments in other projects, and the research work for the soundtrack.He stated that the soundtrack features some international artists.
The other speciality of this 14-track album is that it puts the spotlight on two supremely-gifted vocal talents in Shashwat Singh and Bela Shende.
Shashwat kickstarts musical proceedings in the hummable ‘Teri Nazar’ that begins with a whiff of Charukesi raga, which takes you back to the magical Rahman that gave us ‘Udhaya Udhaya’ (Udhaya) and ‘Aahista Aahista’ (Swades). There’s longing and pining in the vocals and with the flute as accompaniment, it hits all the right notes and, Bela Shende (the other vocal pick of the album) goes all devotional in ‘Sai Shirdi Sai’, an ‘Oh Paalanhaare’ kind of song that somehow doesn’t fit into the scheme of things here. She more than makes up for it with ‘O Mera Chand’, another throwback melody that’s right up there to match with the in-form Rahman albums of Meenaxi and Taal.
Among the stand-out pieces in 99 Songs is ‘The Oracle’ an instrumental piano piece that builds some nice momentum before reaching a grand crescendo. In these times of crisis, all one requires is to plug your earphones and listen to ‘The Oracle’. The magic in its notes gives us hope.
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