To talk about Rahman's music is akin to talking about life as a whole. Nevertheless, I'm focusing my writing specifically on the importance of ARR's music in two different genre of films, i.e. commercial movies and art films.
Well, you may question the need to bring this topic but believe me, there's a reason for this sudden train of thoughts. A couple of days back, I was reading the posts on my favourite group and one of the question posed by a member was how important is a music album's success to ARR? And that got me thinking. Is commercial success important to ARR?
I remember reading an interview of ARR who was asked to reminisce on his days working with Shankar in Gentleman. ARR's comment was, "Shankar wanted a commercial masala numbers and that's how Gentleman was born." Well it was a good thing, considering Gentleman was one of my favorite albums, right after, Roja, Dilse, Bombay, Kadhalan, May Madham...well, let's just say that Gentleman is one my favorite albums ;)
Gentleman also saw the start of commercial album production from ARR. Prior to Gentleman, ARR's biggest hit was of course his debut album, Roja. Roja also had the commercial values, there was the lilting opening song in the form of Chinna Chinna Aasai, the cheesy, folky Rukumani, the romantic Puthu Vezhai Mazhai, the pathos Kadhal Rojave and of course the patriotic Tamizha Tamizha. But for some reason, I never consider songs in Maniratnam's films to be commercial. Probably because I don't find Maniratnam's films to be commercialized as well. Mani's films are beyond the commercial tag I feel. I can't really put a tag on them but they are definitely a class apart! The songs too have a sense of belonging in them. It's almost like you can't take any piece of Mani's songs and place it in another film. They just don't seem to fit together as well as they do in Mani's films.
On the other hand, commercial songs like the ones in Gentleman, Kadhalan, etc are interchangeble to say the least. Commercial songs adds value to a movie. It's the kind of songs that you never know why they came in the first place...some of them might not even have connections with the storyline but they're entertaining enough, so you just don't mind them. Eg: Chikku Bukku or Mukabala. In the former, Prabhu Deva and Gauthami were not even a part of the film characters. But the song and PD's choreography were sooo good that you don't even bother about the connections issue here. And do I have to tell about Mukkala? Western cowboy settings, PD with his hair dyed brown, Nagma with her unusual outfits, white guys who have no clue what to do in the number- heck why do we even pose these questions? The song was a runaway hit and it's a personal favorite of mine, so yeah, no issues there again!
Click here to watch Mukkala Mukkabala
So how important are commercial success to ARR? If Roja and the likes made ARR a great composer, Gentleman, Kadhalan etc made ARR a household name. Commercial success was important to ARR because they prove that he can make the kind of songs that are not only brilliant but entertaining and hummable too. That brings out a balanced side in ARR. Yes, he needed the commercial success to get the recognition...to place a name in the public's mind. Good composition will bring him praises and awards but success brings him the fame and recognition. And yes, boy the success brought him fame! So much so that you're not recognised as a Tamilian if you've never heard of Chikku Bukku, Oorvasi or Mukkala Mukkabala back in the 90's. Such was ARR's fame. Every household had numbers of ARR's playing. I still remember the school shows that doesn't seem to go on without at least two numbers from ARR's music. Festivals were no fun without a Thandhiya Aatam or Antha Arabic Kadaloram and weddings are incomplete if there's no Ottagatha Kattiko or Nenachapadi Nenachapadi.
But today, 18 years since he has captured India and the whole world alike, is commercial success still important to him?
My opinion, yes, they are important, but not to the extent where ARR has to compromise on his creativity output or the quality of his music. Having a hit music album is important in any artists’ career but the level of importance varies from one another. There are composers who need hits to keep proving their worth as composers and there are composers who need hits to satisfy the public’s thirst for good music. ARR falls under the second category. His albums’ becoming hits are not essential in the sense of proving his worth as a composer. In any event, he has proven his worth with one and all.
The hits are testimonials that his constant creativity in music is still loved and appreciated by the public… and that he is still in the right direction of giving lovable music without compromising on the quality of the same. Yes, fans all over the world are happy about the success of VTV but more than the success of VTV, I’m happy that an album like Raavanan has seen the light of day, even if it’s not a success as alleged by many!
So I'm signing off today with a song from Raavanan- Kalvare Kalvare. May God bless Shreya Ghosal's parents for giving birth to such a wonderful singer! She's just amazing! And yeah, I could have given you the link to the audio rather than the video, but Prithviraj is so cute, don't you think. Wouldn't want you guys to be deprived of the pleasure of watching his romantic side :))
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