The title is a song composed by ARR which means
A Flower Gifted by God for the movie Kannathil Muthamittal.
I for one am a person who believes that no one can make music like A.R Rahman..
The man is no doubt, a genius. Born as A.S Dilip Kumar,
he is now Allah Rakha Rahman/ AR rahman/ARR. And I consider this human being to be a musical genius.
So obviously I’m guessing no one will be surprised if I said I went to his concert in
New York spending……well let’s just say a lot of money for third row seats...right in the middle(which my dad still can’t seem to stop yelling about...’’You #@*&%$, you ruined all my hard earned money on some creature who calls himself a musician??!!”
My pitashri in an avatar of Hitler does not like this great musician for some reason that I have no idea about!!
So let me tell you about some of the many hit songs by
Padmashri AR Rahman that I think are THE best.…..
(n I should tell you… these were some EXTREMELY hard choices to make!!)
1) Sakhiye(saathiyaa) -Alaipayuthey
Singer-Hariharan, Clinton
This was the original Tamil version of the title song from the movie Saathiya. Also made in Hindi with Sonu Nigam’s voice and Gulzar’s lyrics though I’d always prefer the tamil one.Those who haven’t heard this song…do hear it to enjoy the beautiful instruments n Clinton’s voice in the background singing the beautiful lyrics by Vairamuthu comparing his ladylove to an array of beautiful colors.
2) Khamosh Raat – Thakshak
Singer- Roopkumar Rathod
A wonderful combination of AR Rahman’s music, Mehboob’s lyrics and Roopkumar Rathod’s melodious voice.
This was a song that even melted my dear pitashri’s heart (remember Hitler??)… I don’t think anyone can resist this song because of its addictive and very soothing guitar strums…I should say I tried for 3 weeks to learn to play this song on my guitar and was an unsuccessful fan…but I am gonna keep trying!!
3) Roja-Roja
Singers- SP Balasubramanium, Chitra
Thandi Thandi ay hawa.. tera kaam kya yahan
Meet nahin paas mein ..chaandni tu laut ja
Phool kyon khile ho tum ..zulf nahin vo yahan
Jhuke jhuke aasmaan.. meri hansi na uda
Pyaar ke bina meri.. zindagi udaas hai
Koi nahin hai mera.. sirf teri aas hai
Khwaabon mein tu..Saanson mein tu..Roja
SPB’s voice in this extremely beautiful piece of poetry actually makes you feel the pain of being stranded away from your loved one along with the stirring vocals of Chitra in the background. Notice how SPB stresses his pain in the first line of this stanza as if he is actually scolding the cold wind and pleading with the moonlight to leave. P.K Mishra’s lyrics come in to make this a phenomenal song…you could never miss it.
4) Chaiyya Chaiyya – Dil se
Singers- Sukhwinder Singh, Sapna Awasthi
One could never ask for anything better than a combo of ARR, Gulzar, Mani Ratnam and ….Sukhwinder Singh!! One could never get tired of listening to Sukhwinder’s voice as he goes on improvising along with Awasthi’s husky voice. ARR gives the song an appropriate pace with a bass and even electric guitars. Equally good was Thaiyya thaiyya from the same movie.
5) Nahin Samne Yeh Alag Baat Hai – Taal
Singer – Hariharan
An amazing song sung by the very gifted Hariharan with the lyrics by Anand Bakshi.
Adding to it was Ahmed Khan’s choreography in the movie. Gotta love listening to it at a high volume while driving. (no…this is not a course on How to Get into Accidents 101..I was just making a good suggestion yaar!)
6) Jiya Jale – Dil se
Singers- Lata Mangeshkar, M.G Sreekumar
Does ARR have to prove anything more to us?? He is a genius in every genre. Along with Gulzar’s lyrics. He brought Malayalam in between a Hindi song with
M.G Sreekumar singing the beautiful lyrics by talented Malayali lyricist Girish Puthencherry and made it so unique and wonderful. If anyone wants to know the Malayalam lyrics in this song n its translation..lemme know.
7) Nilaakaagiradhu - Indira
Hindi version is Khili Chandini Humein Keh Rahi - Priyanka
Again I would strongly recommend that you listen to the original Tamil version of this song with beautiful lyrics by Vairamuthu. The hindi lyrics are a bit different from the tamil lyrics…the latter being better. Hariharan’s voice will blow you away as he sings for Arvind Swamy when he feels life is looking down upon him. ARR’s music…every single improvisation ..makes us go through all those emotions. I feel so lucky to have seen these two geniuses perform live before me……
adhoa poaginradhu kaanal maegam…mazhaiyai kaanavillaiyae
There goes the cloud…I can’t see any rain
idhoa kaetkinradhu kuyilin soagam, isaiyum kaetkavillaiyae
Here I hear the koel’s melancholy…I can’t even hear its melody
indha bhoomiyae poovanam….endhan poovidhazh sarugudhae
The world in itself is a garden…but the petals of my flower are dying
indha vaazhkaiyae seedhanam...adhil jeevanae thaeyudhae
This life in itself is a bounty …but my soul is getting eroded.
8) Vellai Pookkal – Kannathil muthamittaal
Sung by ARR himself, the acoustics and piano just soothe your nerves completely. With lyrics by Vairamuthu, this song won the prestigious Subhash Award for ...I think it was best lyrics or best song…I’m not sure. And yes…I can sing along and play this song on my guitar!!!
!!!!!
Vellai pookkal oolagam engum malaravae,
Kiliyum bhoomi amaithikkaaga piliravae,
Mannmael manjal velicham vilugavae, Malarae sombal murithu elugavae,
Kulanthai vilikkattumae, Thaayin kathakathappil,
Oolagam vidiyattumae, Pillaiyin siru mudhal sirippil
As white flowers bloom everywhere in this world,
As a war-torn world silences for the sake of peace,
As the yellow light falls on the sand,
As the flowers wake, stretching widely, their leaves,
Let the children wake,
In the warmth of the world,
Let the world dawn,
With the laughter of the first new child.
Equally good was the title song from the same movie
9) Maargazhi poove- May Madham
Singer- Shobha Shekhar
I have no words to describe this song. The song is about a girl expressing her dreams n desires once she’s set free from the shackles of her very strict father. ARR uses the tune of the sloka, “Suprabhatham” which means ‘morning’ on the flute to show that this is the first time that this girl is actually enjoying the morning in all its beauty for the first time in her life. The music has birds chirping in the background and addictive beats with a very soothing chorus. ARR’s use of the violin and tabla in this song are just brilliant.
‘pookkalaip piriththu puththagam padippaen’
I will open the flowers and read them like books
(Yes they did use the music of all the songs in this Tamil movie in a Hindi movie ‘Love You Hameshaa’. Even though I don’t understand Tamil that well, I still love the music they make down there, they shouldn’t have manipulated it like that.)
10) Hai rama – Rangeela
Singers – Hariharan, Swarnalatha
How much of a genius is this guy??!! He’s like a magic box…that which every time you open, it springs up with something new and manages to take your breath out of you.
Notice how he elevates the passion with Hariharan’s pitch rising with every beat, n then he comes up with all these beats together taking it to its peak and ….bam…brings it back down. No doubt, he’s a genius in keeping his listeners hooked to what he does.
Also, lyrics by Mehboob.
Contd in the comments section…..