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Dil Bechara
Posted on July 15, 2020
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Sri Prabhuram
July 15, 2020
Are you going to do a review of the album?
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Aman Basha
July 15, 2020
Listening to the Dil Bechara title track, especially the lyrics, reminded me heavily of all the albums ARR has done for Kathir. That youthful, bouncy feel was something I didn’t hear from him in a long, long time. Although 99 Songs had a really ambitious concept, it faltered at places and I was appreciating the effort and thought behind the songs rather than fully embracing them except Soja Soja. There’s been a drought in ARR’s content post AYM where he hasn’t given an all round album which you enjoy and appreciate like he used to. Hope he’s back in form with this
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Aran
July 15, 2020
Actual goosebumps the way Main Tumhara is done. That bageecha jo tumne seencha line… God. Another time I remember reacting like this to a Rahman song was Agar Tum Saath Ho. This is why he is Rahman.
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Madan
July 15, 2020
Taare Gin…liking this Rahman-jazz effort (loved Soja Soja too which Aman Basha mentioned). I guess jazz is the only ‘traditional’ genre composers can touch safely without sounding dated. Cuz jazz never goes out of style. š Doesn’t matter who tries it – Amit Trivedi, Raja, Rahman, Santosh Narayanan – sounds great every time.
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Madan
July 15, 2020
Of the rest, liked Main Tumhara and even Main Kizzie was fun. Rest was not bad but more meh for me. My view might change with more listens but Taare Ginn is a keeper. Instant connection.
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Sai Prasath
July 15, 2020
Khulke Jeene Ka and Main Tumhara, outright easy picks for best songs in the album. Taare Ginn is a very close third for me. The themes are really nice too. Not the best of ARR but it’s good to see the man back in some form.
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starcrossedhaa
July 16, 2020
Agree with you there. The album has a very youthful and vibrant feel.
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Abhilasha sharma
July 16, 2020
Dil Bechara movie music album is original.and I loved it all songs. Jab bhi main pure album ko sunti hoon ek behad khubsurat ahsaas hota hai.
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abishekspeare
July 16, 2020
Listening to ARR songs these days is like meeting an old friend after being surrounded by people you don’t like and though this friend is not what he used to be, you still like hanging around him, checking out what he’s up to,because compared to the people you are with now, he’s still the better person.
Usually when a artists reaches their peak, they either consolidate their their super stardom and get stuck in the throne, or they start plummeting downwards. ARR seems to be the only person who tries new things(whether they work or not). He’s impressed the people. He’s won the awards. Where does the ARRtist go from here?
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BR bottle
July 16, 2020
also, BR, the youtube video is no longer working. I’m like holding my pee here waiting for this article. Post it already!
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Madan
July 16, 2020
Loved Taare Ginn so much I just HAD to write on it:
https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/2020/07/16/taare-ginn-and-all-that-jazz/
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
July 16, 2020
In the 11 comments above, there are 5 different picks from the album that someone thinks is the best. I am not sure what that tells us about the album, but it sure does tell us that the notion of an “objective best” is a subjective one for sure!
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Madan
July 16, 2020
“In the 11 comments above, there are 5 different picks from the album that someone thinks is the best.” – That tends to mean that it’s a good album. If people CAN pick a different song from a dozen or so as their favourite, that’s a really good album. Because if it had just one standout track with the rest being mostly drek, most opinions would converge on that one standout track.
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Madan
July 16, 2020
MR Sharan: So you’re an economist. No wonder you made that observation because it must have reminded you of the joke about 7 economists having 10 opinions on what to do.
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Aman Basha
July 17, 2020
@Madan: Listened to Taare Gin. Initially, the tune reminded of a song or theme from Barfi till I heard Shreya and realized, my how long it has been since listening to her in recent days where she only seems to pop up in the latest Bhansali score chart buster or even Mohit Chauhan who was simply fabulous in Rockstar (easily the strongest Rahman album in the last decade). And yes, like you elaborated in your blog, it was simply lovely with this deep melancholic romanticism infused through it. The male and female singers singing simultaneously instead of one after the other seems to be running through the album including the Khulke Jeene Ka and Main Tumhara both of which stand out especially the latter with the violins in the end. There’s even the charming retro ditty Mera Naam Kizzie. Really hope this movie and album breathe life into the lipsync, duet and mostly importantly the romantic melodrama tradition that all seem to have disappeared.
What I’m wondering is whether the dire state music seems to be in these days is more due to the lyrics? I mean though ARR was clearly on autopilot through all those Vijay movies in a row, the lyrics seemed horrible. Same with even 2.0, which had pretty catchy songs and lousy lyrics. Amitabh Bhattacharya seems to have brought back the verve and instant gratification into Rahman’s music again.
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
July 18, 2020
My own sense of Rahman’s music over the years has been that, especially in the last decade, he’s outgrown the film music medium; he’s explored everything the medium has to offer, pushed boundaries till they cracked and broke and now he finds himself almost on the outside of the mainstream (in Hindi, at least).
However, he’s unable to find another clear outlet for his creativity. I think the track Nis Din, for instance, exemplifies his evolution. He’s moved a level up and, unlike in the early years, it’s not BOTH at a higher plane and yet instantly recognizable as familiar, pleasant music. Nis Din is neither classical nor outright pop, neither Indian nor western, neither modern nor traditional: it has a dizzying array of complex phrase patterns mixed with astonishing chord transitions.
Baradwaj seems to have arrived at this position in his 99 songs review too, which said that the album “is easier to admire than love, but thereās a LOT to admireā¦”
Rahman himself seems to agree — in an interview (can’t remember where), he said the hardest part of composing was to hide the complexity of his compositions and make things seem easy (I read that as pleasant).
Why Rahman remains exciting is that you never get the sense that you’ve seen everything he has to offer. Few people can say that after 25 years in any profession.
@Madan — fair point about the album having a pretty diverse set of solid tracks! I think I wrote this post initially as a response to you, but I realised I could have simply said “I agree!”
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Madan
July 18, 2020
Aman Basha: I think you need a good film to inspire a composer who has done as many film as Rahman has. When romantic films were regularly being made, it was easier for composers because even if the film sucked, they would run away with the romantic song situations and lift the film. Now – and we discussed this in another thread – you have romance embedded in films that are also about other themes. Pure films about just love are rarely made. Dil Bechara is a remake of Fault In Our Stars which was indeed about just love with very little time devoted to infotainment about cancer. So I can see why it afforded enough space to inspire Rahman. I think directors need to have the guts to slow things down just for that one song and see where it takes them. In the behind the scenes videos about Moh Moh Ke Daage, the director said he wanted to do something that would be slow and calm to surprise the audience and lo and behold, we got one of Anu Malik’s best songs.
I just saw Fault In Our Stars yesterday and am wondering now how Dil Bechara is going to live up to that. Was that the reason the film got delayed almost interminably? I hope not.
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Aman Basha
July 18, 2020
@Madan: IR has survived through hundreds of bad films to give a Psycho at his age š Moh Moh ke dhaage has some pretty amazing lyrics by Varun Grover, even the recent ARR soundtracks that were considered disappointments like the Vijay trilogy had very poor lyrics, even for an ambitious soundtrack like 99 Songs, the lyrics were very meh. Bhattacharya did a good job with the lyrics here. So, not just a good movie, but the lyrics too have brought back ARR in form (how long I waited to say this sentence)
I loved both book and film versions of Fault In Our Stars and Dil Bechara doesn’t seem like a straight adaptation from the trailer and has some pretty charming romance aspects which I haven’t seen in Bolly for a long time. Even SSR seems to be channeling SRK’s romantic mode, without the hamming to high heaven that is. The movie was delayed because the director was removed over #MeToo allegations. I have high hopes that it’ll live up to its source.
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Madan
July 18, 2020
“The movie was delayed because the director was removed over #MeToo allegations. ” – Ah, didn’t know this. I guess SSR felt shattered at some point that his movies either got delayed (Drive/this one) or just canned (Paani).
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abishekspeare
July 18, 2020
the songs are growing on me by the listen. My favorite is khulke jeene, Really catchy.
The youtube comment sections for Dil bechara songs and trailer are SUCH a pain. God, how much more of “one like for this cmt = 1000 chappals for karan johar”?
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Madan
July 20, 2020
I may be inviting brickbats by posting this but whatever. Did a cover of Taare Ginn last Saturday. Not perfect (video cutting off the top of my head for starters). AND the Jab Se Jua Hai portion is hard to sing solo (it’s interchanged between Shreya and Mohit in the original). But this is my best shot for now, so make of it what you will.
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brangan
July 20, 2020
Wow, thanks for this video, Madan š
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Madan
July 20, 2020
Thanks BR.
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Jayram
July 20, 2020
Nice, Madan! You truly sing from the heart. Left a more detailed message on your blog.
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
July 20, 2020
Wow, Madan! Really enjoyed this.
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Karthik
July 20, 2020
Madan, that was lovely!!
You have a wonderful voice! Do share more..
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Madan
July 21, 2020
Jayram: Yes, I am enjoying our convo on my blog immensely, more to discuss.
MR Sharan/Karthink: Thanks so much, glad you both enjoyed it. I am surely going to be posting more songs on my youtube handle as long as time permits. You can subscribe so you get notified when I next post a song.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-yTc3HlOS53VPI9RqxDxqw
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krishikari
July 21, 2020
@madan Wow! That was sooo good, more please!
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Madan
July 21, 2020
Thanks krishikari.
While I will of course be uploading more songs going ahead, here is a cover I did of Malare Mounama:
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Karthik
July 21, 2020
Madan, just checked out some of your other songs in the youtube channel. Beautiful renditions of Mandram Vantha and Malare..
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Madan
July 21, 2020
Thanks a lot, Karthik.
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Aman Basha
July 24, 2020
It seems impossible to not feel numb at the tragic circumstances surrounding dil bechara. There are no words, but raw grief and anger building within us, the audience. Those who behave as if nothing changed and all is the same are true monsters, emotionally stunted ones at that.
dil bechara doesn’t deserve to be used as an outlet for our feelings. It demands to be treated and respected as a beautiful piece of art that it is. After eons, dil bechara is the come back of the great genre of romance to Hindi cinema. Manny is a Rajni fan, yet it is amply clear that the late Sushant Singh Rajput was channeling his idol, the King of Romance and the ultimate outsider, SRK.
dil bechara bears unusual resemblance to Kal Ho Na Ho in that respect. A young woman seemingly carrying a burden on her shoulders, loosens up, laughs, lives and loves an affectionate beautiful young man, who, like all good things, doesn’t last for long. Too much digging? Well, Saif’s here too š.
dil bechara is another come back to the good old fashioned musical storytelling, of good melodic songs, of the return of maestro AR Rahman. Let us never have another horrific remix era as we did recently. After long years of use, that old cancer cliche returns in style.
the fault in our stars had a beautiful soul through the words of John Green and dil bechara captures that spirit, presenting it in Indian film tradition with its songs, lip sync, melodrama and Rajni. That’s the highest praise i can give to the director.
The actors ensemble do an all round fantastic job. sanjana sanghi is exceptionally good for a debut and truly demands the audience’s love and support, not some lame nepo “struggler”.
What can i say about him? He who is known as Sushant Singh Rajput became close to my heart as Manny. Like Manny left Kizzie his film, so did Sushant leave this gem dil bechara for us to forever commemorate his memory.
Oh, why did it have to end, why did you have to leave? It felt short indeed. But some infinites are greater than others and in that infinity of space, like a star you shine. I hate goodbyes.
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
July 30, 2020
@Baradwaj: Rahman’s given a slew of interviews in the recent past — hoping we see a Film Companion South version coming soon?
(I know I have asked you some version of this question before, but I really feel like very few people can do justice to Rahman … and you are foremost among them.)
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