(by Nirupama V)
A.R Rahman’s music has always been a part of my life.
I have an old CD that contains the video songs of Baba from when I was 4 years old that used to be played on our old Philips VCD player that doubled as a tape recorder.
I vividly remember falling in love with the songs from Boys and Azhagiya Thamizh Magan and singing along gibberish lyrics to the songs from Sillunu Oru Kaadhal from when I was 10 years old.
Little did I know back when I was a kid that as I grew up so would my love for AR and his music and music in general.
It’s been 27 years since Roja released.
27 years since the world experienced the magic that is AR’s music.
Here’s a little something about the music of Roja. Music that has remained or probably gotten more beautiful and magical through all these years.
Chinna Chinna Aasai
The film opens with the visuals of army men running through a forest.
We hear sounds of jeeps and guns. We then learn that a terrorist by the name of Wasim Khan has been captured in Kashmir.
The sun then rises over a village, just then the opening notes of Chinna Chinna Aasai starts playing. I believe that that’s how a sun rise would sound.
We then see a village nestled between mountains, a village filled with rivers and lush green farms and coconut trees, a village that’s a paradise far far away from the troubled lands of Kashmir.
We then see a girl, singing a song about her dreams, her desires and her love for all the little things like the fishes in the rivers, the muddy paddy fields, jasmine flowers, a rainbow, the moon and winds and clouds.
It’s impossible not to smile at this song.
And just as you hear AR go Yelelo Yele Yelelo, you will be transported to a place shielded from worldly concerns.
With each time you listen to this song you can’t help but fall in love a little more with music and the little joys of life.
Rukkumani Rukkumani
This is probably the most underrated track of this album.
It took several years of my existence for me to go from “why does a song like this exist in an otherwise magical album?” to “why on earth did I not like this song much earlier?”
That’s how it is with a lot of Rahman’s work.
You’ll be coming back home after a long day at work, your iPod would be on shuffle and it’ll play a song that you always end up skipping. But for reasons unknown you just don’t feel like skipping it that day.
The song starts to play, you first hear the quavering voice of an old woman and then you hear an insanely catchy chorus and then come the pounding and thumping beats and what follows is a celebratory duet.
The celebratory duet that is now a quintessential Mani Ratnam- ARR thing. (Yaro Yarodi, Saarattu Vandiyila, Keda Kari)
It all started 27 years ago.
Thamizha Thamizha
This song begins ever so gently with minimal instruments, telling us that our day will be here soon and then after a few seconds the music is not so calming anymore it’s orchestral, it becomes a cry. A cry that tells us that despite all our differences and diversity we’re all one.
This alternating progression of the song makes you feel overwhelmed with emotions.
It’s been 27 years and sadly this song still remains relevant to our disturbing times.
Kadhal Rojave
Kadhal Rojave is some kind of parallel to Pudhu Vellai Mazhai.
While Pudhu Vellai Mazhai is a celebration of their union Kadhal Rojave is a lament. A longing lament about the sadness the memory of their union brings the protagonist.
Similar to the kind of cameo AR does with the Yelelo part in Chinna Chinna Aasai you get a magical sounding one by Sujatha Mohan here.
It makes sure that it’s not such sad a song that it makes you weep from the heart-ache, but its most certainly not a happy song either.
It lives in the sweet spot between the two.
SPB’s vocals aided by soft percussive elements soothe your soul, like your favourite old blanket that gives you warmth on a cold winter’s day.
Pudhu Vellai Mazhai
Every time someone speaks of Roja I remember snow. White, pristine snow.
I remember being spell bound by the visuals and even more so by the music.
The song as a standalone piece feels like a journey in itself.
A journey through the highs and lows of valleys and snow clad mountains.
I believe that the soul and energy of this album all lie in this song.
This song is the sheer joy associated with getting something you never expected you’d get. This song is the summer showers and the rainbows it brings with it.
This song is the white, pristine snow of Kashmir.
The rush of energy in that soaring “Nadhiye Nee Aanal Karai Naane” liberates me to a point of obliviousness to everything but the music.
That is what freedom must sound like.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
August 27, 2019
Nice write up. 27 years already, damn! Reminds me of the eve of the World Cup final last year. When they said France is looking to win again after 20 years, I was like, gosh, it’s been that long and I’ve grown old. 😦
Funny thing, Roja never REALLY did it for me, at least not to the point where it would live up to its reputation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very, very good soundtrack but to me, it felt and feels a little staid compared to what he went on to do in the next couple of years. It isn’t even one of those things where time has helped me look at it differently in a good way. If anything, the slightly ad jingley quality of the orchestration sticks out a little more to me and the sound, which then was legitimately breathtaking, now feels thin to me (especially Chinna Chinna Aasai). For a debut, of course, it remains astonishingly assured and mature and clearly the work of a precocious work.
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brangan
August 27, 2019
Was reminded of this piece I wrote 🙂
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DN
August 27, 2019
Before “chinni chinni aasai” song plays out in the movie, what struck me was the visual output and the silence of the song (?). The cinematography and the colors hit me. The song played out and for a few seconds my brain went on a pause. A dramatic pause. A long sigh. And then realization- wait a minute, isnt this Mani Sans Raja???? Who is ARR?
While my mind wandered, I was brought back to the movie. Not because of the content (well that too- BUT..), the BGM. Ever noticed that the scene that follows post “chinni chinni aasai” – where Madhoo is asked not to accompany her sister Vaishnavi- and her mom takes V into the hall where Aravind Swamy comes to see the akka?? A 15 sec appx BGM translates to the charanam of telephone Manipol in Indian. If I am not wrong, I think Harini sings that bit: ” Nee illai endral…”.
Anyone noticed??? Since then, I have been thinking- where else? What else? I mean, think about it.. He has stored some stuff that he could re-use at a later stage. Wonder if he does it anymore? (I mean keep stuff in his backyard so he can reuse it during one of his spring cleaning sprees, maybe??).
What a genius! What I love about him the most is the quality of sound. Honestly, for me Mani Ratnam’s movies are categorized as Raja combos and ARR combos. It’s almost like he has another avatar.
Maybe thanks to Tech as well?
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Dora
August 28, 2019
Apologies in advance to ARR fans –
I’ll admit, I was one of the millions who abandoned Ilayaraja for ARR in the 90’s. The sounds were incredibly fresh, the percussion amazing and somehow, the lyrics were far better than a lot of tripe heard in the 80’s. While I adore ARR and think the world of him, only some of his albums have the true staying power that keeps bringing you back decade after decade (dil se, taal, Thiruda Thiruda etc.). IMHO, Roja was not one of them. Pudhu vellai Mazhai is brilliant, I almost always have this on my play list. However, The magic of Chinna China Asai faded away, Rukmani was a bit gimmicky, Kadhal Rojave faded away…. I feel like true melody lasts for ever, superlative sound engineering is great for the first couple of years and mAkes the album a hit but does it make you go back to those songs decade after decade?
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Nathan
August 28, 2019
Usually readers plug to their blog writeups under your review of something. You referencing your article under a Reader’s write in truly completes the circle. 😉
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Madan
August 28, 2019
Dora: I never liked Rukmani back then either. Pudhu Vellai Mazhai was the only one that stayed with me. Kadhal Rojave was too weepy for me, sort of a Rahman equivalent of Vaigariyil or Paadi Parantha Killi. About ditching, I never saw a need to ditch one camp for the other but this could also be because I grew up outside TN and didn’t HAVE to swear allegiance. In 92, IR was still rocking it with Singaravelan and Roja was anyway too grown up-y and boring for my school going tastes then. By 93, already IR was slipping a bit while still very good and the ARR-Prabhudeva-Shankar combo was unleashed. Those songs were such a rage that there was simply no looking back from there. Thiruda Thiruda didn’t do so well as a movie back then and I would say the soundtrack has wormed its way into popularity over a period of time because of how superlative it is. Anyhow, those who were still skeptical were finally won over by Duet. Although I vastly prefer the Kadhalan iteration of ARR. In that mode, he doesn’t second guess himself or at least doesn’t sound like it. When he does melody, I always feel like he holds back and veers to a safer option which he knows won’t fail with the urban and young audience. I wish he would really let go more often like he did on Udhaya which is one of the best charukesis I have heard in film music.
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Madan
August 28, 2019
One OST from the 93-94 period that’s dropped in terms of how often it’s mentioned is Indira. It was a huge hit back then but the film didn’t perform well and somehow that seems to influence perceptions of the music itself. Thoda Thoda is definitely one of his classics, particularly the second interlude.
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Santa
August 28, 2019
Don’t know if I’m alone in this, but it seems that ARR’s music is even better when the songs are viewed in the context of the movie. There are so many albums of his which I found merely good at first, but was absolutely blown away by after seeing how the songs fit into the movie as an integral and organic part of the overall narrative, rather than a separate entity tacked on as an afterthought. ARR has this magical ability to make the music and the movie complement each other perfectly, each enhancing the experience of the other, which makes the overall experience that much more memorable and more firmly etched in one’s memory.
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meera
August 29, 2019
Rojas was a good movie but like BR had mentioned in his epic “Madras Man” article.. I too was stupefied with this Chennai director suddenly transforming into a pan Indian star… IMO Thiruda Thiruda and Kaadhalan were so wonky compared to what we were listening to that it awed me… I can always feel the droplets when I listen to thee thee and rasathi is such a masterpiece .. ARR rocks!
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Priya Arun
August 29, 2019
Pudhu Vellai Mazhai was the first song we heard from Roja and the first song of ARR. We went crazy. Especially the opening part. So many crystalline sounds capturing the beauty of a snowflake! We heard it on our new giant Philips double-deck player. Unforgettable feeling. The last time I felt that kind of excitement was when I heard Raja’s Ninnukori Varnam on my Walkman – sounds transferring from ear to ear.
Meera – yes Thee-Thee is one of the most underrated pieces of ARR ever and it is on my top 3 of ARR. And yes, all song of Thiruda-Thiruda were so full of the vibrancy that the movie stood for.
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Keshav
August 29, 2019
Speaking of underrated songs : here’s one melody composed by IsaiPuyal in the recent past which deserves more attention : “My Mind Is a Stranger Without You” from The Hundred-Foot Journey
Just mesmerizing!
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Ravi K
August 30, 2019
As obsessed as I was with “Roja” at the time, it’s remarkable how big a leap he made from “Roja” to some of his albums in the following few years. There are a few duds in that 1992-1995 era, but the hits more than made up for them.
I grew up in the US, so I heard the 1993 albums in 1994, on a visit to India. It must have been incredibly exciting to be in India and hear album after album as they were released, in such a short timespan.
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Madan
August 31, 2019
“It must have been incredibly exciting to be in India and hear album after album as they were released, in such a short timespan.” – It was. At least up to 97 or so (Minsara Kanavu/Kadhal Desam), every new album was anticipated with excitement. After that, it seemed like his sound settled down. So though the albums after continued to be great like Mudhalvan or Rhythm, the excitement ebbed. He captured it again with Sangamam/Alai Payuthe. Not after, at least for me. Hindi crowd found Lagaan very exciting but for me, it was kind of laboured. Not Rahman’s fault as the movie called for that kind of music, all Ashutosh Gowariker movies seem to for some reason. Just like a stuck-in-the-90s Shamir Tandon OST goes best with Madhur Bhandarkar films.
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shaviswa
August 31, 2019
Thiruda Thiruda is his best album ever. I listen to those songs even today and I get the same goosebumps. Amazing album.
However his body of work has not been that impressive. Many songs and albums are forgotten and you cannot listen to them today. His songs have a very short shelf life.
I was watching Iruvar just last night. And I was actually forwarding the songs. A) They were stale and I did not feel like listening to those B) The songs were so out of context of the times they were set in.
For example the film song that Selvan writes for Anandan in his movie when he gets a second chance to become hero – Udal mannukku, uyir Tamizhukku – was completely lacking context. The style is very modern and the poetry (Vairamuthu) was Puthukkavuthai which was not in vogue in the early 1950s. It completely threw me off the film and spoiled my experience.
The above is also a with Mani Ratnam who could have demanded a better song for that situation. Didn’t want to compare but could not resist a similar situation where Raja came up with Naan sirithaal Deepavali in Nayagan
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Honest Raj
August 31, 2019
@DN: Given the number of times I’ve watched Roja and the level of attention I pay to background scores, I must say that was a great observation.
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Honest Raj
August 31, 2019
Roja, no doubt, was a phenomenal album for a debutant. As Ravi K says, ARR was in a different league around the mid 90s – Puthiya Mugam, May Madham, Thiruda Thiruda (his best work, IMO), Kizhakku Cheemayile, Uzhavan (another terribly underrated album), Kaadhalan and Duet among others. But, for me, his best phase is latter half of the decade. The cutoff point is Kannathil Muththamittal.
“Rukkumani Rukkumani” never quite worked for me – thanks to Goundamani, Senthil and K. S. Ravikumar. 🙂
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pirhaksar
August 31, 2019
Thanks for this wonderful piece. As a die hard Rahmaniac, I went back memory lane…every stage of my life has an ARR soundtrack I associate with. It is bizzare but very true!! Dil Se and Thiruda Thiruda are my favorite soundtracks – incidentally monumental MR flops.
Re: some of the dicussion on specific Roja songs, I do like Chinna Chinna Asai especially when Rahman goes elelo elelo…rukkumani works well for me especially the heavy percussion use. Kadal Rojave is my fave with Pudhu Mazhai a close second.
With respect to current output he has passed the creative peak a while ago and mostly doing silly commercial flicks now to stay relevant. The younger generation seem to have moved on to the likes of Anirudh, SaNa. I have said this before, but ARR these days is more a businessman than a musician, reminds me of SRK in that sense.
I remain a loyal fan and I hope there are a couple of great scores left in the tank!
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DN
August 31, 2019
@honest Raj- Thanks. But any more additions to the list? I see a bit of it in Raja’s songs sometimes (esp in Telugu).
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vijay
August 31, 2019
I remember saying in this space that Rahman would be hard-pressed to surpass his own Delhi 6, around or after the time D-6 was released. 10+ yrs later it still remains that way for me. Few great songs since then here and there but not a overall wowy soundtrack like D-6.
Incidentally I felt the same way about IR and his Guru in 1997 and that too played out more or less the same way. You need to have all stars aligned to pretty much hold sway over TN for 10+ yrs. ARR and his predecessor had them lined up for a longer time.
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DN
August 31, 2019
Over the weekend I was going over playlists of ARR. I feel what makes ARR’s songs a little less lasting is the lack of abundance of poetry (read metaphors). Songs that have lasted are actually quite beautiful with lyric. And I also follow a lot of Telugu. Honestly- it’s a no-brainer that people do a terrible job translating at times. Some songs are good. But most of them are really terrible.
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DN
August 31, 2019
@honest Raj- I also just remembered that there are a few movies which I see with my eyes shut. 🙂 🙂 Like just hear the movie. Roja was one in that list. It’s very very interesting.
So the review tables can be turned completely if you just listen to a movie. Voice modulations, BGMs, moments of silence etc. All of it is accentuating- a little like reading books. Obviously if the film is heavy on montages etc during songs, then you obviously lose out on the experience as such. BUT.
Anyone remembers back in those days where movies were playing in the radios. 🙂 (Nostalgic!)
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Recovering Macaulay Perapulla
September 1, 2019
Talking of under-rated tracks, Jhoota hi sahi and Ada takes the cake. Every time I hear Mayya Yashoda or Call me Dil, I feel totally gobsmacked by the experience. Easily, some of the best albums in a long time
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vijee
September 3, 2019
well — reminds me of
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Priya Arun
September 3, 2019
#DN, they still do play film audio on FM radio on Sunday afternoons (can’t remember which one though). Like you say, some of them are quite an experience.
Just one example of songs that I should have listened with my eyes closed – this one scarred me for life. Udaya Udaya – the leather-clad, aerobic twist to a beautiful melody.Both the song and the video are haunting – just in very different ways! And I always laugh when I listen to the song Raakozhi rendum from Uzahavan. A nice song was made and the director couldn’t let go of it. So he made the bad guy ‘imagine’ it. Something to spice up the rumours he spreads around. LOL!
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Honest Raj
September 11, 2019
@DN: The title track of Poottaatha Poottukkal was developed into a song in Murattu Kaalai. I’m sure there must be many. And, this is true for other composers apart from Raja and ARR.
I also just remembered that there are a few movies which I see with my eyes shut
We used to have the audio casette of Bhagyaraj’s Idhu Namma Aalu (not just the songs but the commentary of the whole film) at home. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to it. When I saw the film for the first time on TV, honestly, it made no difference. 🙂
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brangan
January 2, 2020
“With Rahman sir, he next to never tells you what the situation, picturisation is. He’ll say, ‘Imagine you are flying. How would you sing it then?’ There was this one song where he asked me to run!”
Shashaa Tirupati / @Vishal1Menon / @FilmCompanion
https://www.filmcompanion.in/shashaa-tirupati-interview-music-imman-rahman-ilaiyaraaja-vaan-varuvaan
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Madan
January 2, 2020
BR: Thanks for that, that’s just one of the best interviews I have read of an Indian singer. Or even singers generally. She articulated the process so well. And that Radiohead example was an unexpected bonus. I love the whole Moon Shaped Pool album. Tho the one that tears me up is Present Tense. When he sings, “In You I am Lost”….
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