Let me be honest…I mean really honest with you guys. I’ll begin by telling you what happen on the day I bought this album…The moment I got out of the store after purchasing the album, the sky opened up and start flooding the whole town. You may say that it’s God’s way of showering blessing, but why does it have to happen at a time when I didn’t have my umbrella around? I ran to my car as fast as I can and guess what?…I couldn’t find my car keys! (it was stuck inside my handbag with my hundred other things…well, whoever said that a lady’s handbag contains almost everything under the sun wasn’t kidding themselves. My handbag had almost all…except my dumb car keys :(( ) As luck would have it, there wasn’t a shelter nearby, thus, I had to open my handbag in the middle of the road, drenching myself and the hundred other stuff I was talking about, in the process of finding the keys!
So, yeah, I finally found the keys, got in to the car and just at that point, some nutcracker had to double-park his car beside mine! Well, after a short dispute and many honks later, I managed to get my car out. Now, here’s the moment I was waiting for, the excitement of listening to ARR’s album for the first time!
Beera Beera with Vijay Prakash’s strong vocals set the ball rolling. Karthik came in next with Behne De, followed by Thok de killi, Ranjha Ranjha, Killi re and Kata Kata and…well, that’s it. Wait a minute…that’s it? I haven’t even begun to enjoy any of them yet :( For the first time, I found that I didn’t have any thoughts about ARR’s album…not even a negative one…I was feeling almost indifferent and I didn’t like the feeling at all. Hating an album is one thing, but indifferent? If only this day could get worse.
So, I started playing them again from the beginning. By then, I reached the Montessori where my 3 years old nephew studies. I picked him up and was just about to replace Raavan with Thomas & Friends soundtracks (despite months of cajoling him to listen to ARR, I must say that I’ve failed to break my nephew’s “relationship” with Thomas & Friends soundtracks) when a “miracle” occurred. No, there was no signs of snow falling (that would have been a disaster, not a miracle ;) )…it was my nephew swaying his body to the beats of Beera Beera. Hey, were the beats there the first time around? I abandoned all thoughts of changing the cd. Instead, I hiked up the volume and both of us started to sway together this time around. Beera Beera has the grandeur presentation with Vijay Prakash’s solid voice giving a wonderful rural touch to it. In fact, the name Beera is so addictive that by the end of the song, both my nephew and me kept singing Beera Beera from the top of our lungs! (well, it was really more like “screaming” than “singing” actually but who cares?) And the beats, wow! I’ve always maintained that ARR provides the best percussion sounds…and time and again, he proves me right. Beera Beera is definitely a wonderful start to the album.
Behne De followed thereafter. Undoubtedly, this has one of the best prelude ever…there is something so mystifying in the prelude that you just can’t wait to hear what ARR has to offer. And with Karthik giving his best (as always), you can never be wrong in classifying this as the best number in the album. God knows why National Award has eluded Karthik for so long. This guy deserves it and more…
On the whole, Behne De grants such a spellbinding experience! I’m left speechless…And my nephew? Well he’s too busy staring at the cute chick in the car beside ours to notice this number. Oh well, one day he’ll learn to appreciate ARR’s music.
Then comes Thok de killi…there’s something so modern yet rustic in this number. Again the percussion takes full control of the song that my nephew started jumping on his seat again…if only I was not driving, I would have joined him too. The sudden increase in the tempo coupled with Sukhwinder’s amazing vocals just leaves you asking for more.
Rekha Bharadwaj and Javed Ali came next with the seductive Ranjha Ranjha. I have to admit. I never liked Rekha’s voice. Yeah, I know…I might be alone in this, but still, I never liked her voice…til Ranjha Ranjha happened. In fact, her voice is so captivating that she completely overshadowed Javed Ali’s performance here. Great going Rekha, you just got yourself another fan on the list!
And there’s also Khilli re, a typical Shreya Ghosal kinda number. But this time around, ARR ropes in the sweet Reena Bhardwaj (is she related to Rekha by any chance?). And I must say, she did great justice to this song. The song has a soothing effect, coupled with Reena’s melodious voice. And I was mighty impressed with the first interlude…so much so that I can almost imagine Aishwarya gracefully performing her Bharatanatyam to it.
And finally ARR brings in Kata kata. Like Beera Beera, Kata Kata too were given a majestic look, all thanks to the grand orchestration and vibrant voices in the form of Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi and Kunal Ganjawala. There is a festive and celebratory feel to the number which makes you want to hear it over and over again.
As an album, Raavan is a definite treat to the ears. It’s so wonderfully woven that they all fit together while still managing to be distinctive at the same time. And with wonderful picturisations (which we can fearlessly expect from Maniratnam & team), this would definitely turn out to be “picture-perfect”.
And yes, what was the biggest lesson I’ve learned from this experience?. ..Never hear to ARR’s new album when you’re in a ghastly mood!
Oh yeah, wanna know what happened to my nephew? He didn’t want to leave the car when we reached home so we decided to go for another round of drive while listening to Raavan…over and over again.
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