Since ARR started using this mechanism, it has since been commonly followed. This produces a 'dreamy' texture to the voice.
But, you hear the 'overlap' of minmini's voice i.e like an echo effect. I don't know what it is called 'technically'. The second stanza is no different from the first. Second interlude has 'dandiya' to setup the rhythm and our man ARR adorning filling in with a nice alaap.what a dreamy simplicity to it ! Before you know, the stanza is over and you end up at chinna chinna The stanza is simple, with flute & chords doing a stellar job of conveying the joy of the young girl. Listen to 1.55-1.58 -it simply has a 60's musical touch to the flute. Interlude has a nice violin like instrument belting out folk notes. Minmini opens the song (used to sound like younger day Janaki) nicely picturised, awesome lyrics. This opening reminds you of jingles in those days. Opens with a cool flute/guitar combo that sets the 'youth' in you jumping to the cute rhythm. I decided, i'd give the other planned reviews a short-circuit and write about Roja instead. Little did i know that the music director (ARR) would take the cherished spot in millions of hearts with his lilting and soulful music.ĪRR's Roja has been included in TIME Magazine's Best SoundTracks of All Time (Thanks Ganesh for breaking the news :-) I still remember where i was when i first heard that song, and all the images are etched like 'pasumarathaani', heard the song couple of more times that day and was like 'IR rocks' :-D. DD telecast this song, which had a sound that was *totally* never heard before and had 'ad'ish tinge to it. Many people, including yours truly, were awestruck when we first saw the song on Independence Day, 1992.
PS 3: I was under the impression that the Garden Vareli jingle was by Louis Banks, but came to know recently from a friend in the ad agency circles that it was by Ranjit Barot, based on Vanraj Bhatia’s earlier version, both based on raag desh.Roja by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy & Madhubala. PS 2: This is only the second 300 word review in all of Milliblog the first, of course was for Rahman’s Delhi 6.
I was in school when Roja released and Milliblog is just 5 years old! PS 1: This is a small birthday gift for Rahman, one of my favorite composers. Keywords: Arvind Swamy, Madhubala, Maniratnam, A R Rahman, Dilip, Roja music review, #300 Hats off to director Maniratnam for introducing us to a phenomenal new talent! The sound is astonishingly fresh and the fusion Rahman attempts works at so many levels. The way this song’s tune fluctuates between incredibly high pitched notes and soothing milder notes is proof enough of the debutant composer’s prowess over music! Sujatha’s haunting humming is strikingly reminiscent of the similarly desh raag based jingle for Garden Vareli (originally by Vanraj Bhatia, later refurbished impressively by Ranjit Barot), while SPB’s portion in the song conveys a heartbreaking sense of solitude. Kaadhal rojave, on the other hand, is exhilaratingly lovely. The former’s ambient sound has to be experienced to fully believe it, while the vocals are stunningly beautiful, particularly the way the young composer reserves the higher pitched lines exclusively to Sujatha, with Unni Menon supporting her appropriately. Hariharan aces the anthemic Thamizha thamizha – it starts off beautifully, on a serene note, but gets into a rousing mode with a really impressive chorus that ends on a high! The orchestration that the debutant composer chooses to adorn this song with is mesmerizing!īut the soundtrack’s sensational highlights are the two dreamy and scintillating melodies – Pudhu vellai mazhai and Kaadhal rojave. The main tune, sung by SPB and Chitra is a fantastic reinvention of the usual item number, with pulsating arrangements. Rukkumani rukkumani opens with an interestingly unconventional, aged voice and continues to use similar aged vocals in a startling manner all through. Vairamuthu’s lyrics, in particular, is a captivating word play on the ‘aasai’ theme, while the composer makes a lovely uncredited vocal appearance mid-way. With a definite, but mutated fusion reggae sound and dew fresh vocals by Minmini, Chinna chinna aasai doesn’t sound like anything one has heard before in Tamil film music.