One
early Monday morning. The air was cold and there was the usual Monday
morning tension. The radio was switched on as usual, bringing upon songs
that merged with the morning breeze, mostly heard but not listened.
Suddenly came this
piece of music that was totally new and different. Was this a Tamil
song? And then the male singer started singing.....Pudhu vellai mazhai
ingu pozhigindrathu. Everyone were rooted momentarily. This was new.
It was some thing we have never heard before. The music, handling of
the instruments, the appropriate clash of the cymbals and the singer
reaching heights and
then suddenly lowering his range again. This time we listened. Even
while continuing with the chores, we were curiously awaiting the end
of the song for some announcement on details of the song. The song ended
and unfamiliar names were said: Unni Menon, Sujatha and AR Rahman! The
magic had begun! That was my first experience with AR Rahman, some ten
years ago....
Mesmerised
by this one single song, we felt compelled to buy the cassette (no CDs
then). Everything about the album ooked unusual. The cast: Arvind Swami,
Madhubala. The singers: Unni Menon, Sujatha, Minmini and Hariharan!
Was this a usual Tamil movie, we wondered. Hurriedly, we came back and
listened to the songs. Chinna chinna aasai siragadikkum aasai....what
lovely, soft words, cute singing and the music! Then there was SP Bala
in all his glory with Kaathal rojaave enge nee enge. Thank God, at last
a familiar voice! Amazing song. Puthu vellai mazhai again. Felt like
we were transported to the Alps. Rukkumani rukkumani akkam pakkam yaarummille.
Strange song, strange arrangement, strange choruses. Everything from
this album was new. Final song: Thamizha thamizha. Who was this Hariharan?
Amazing voice. Such an emotionally power-packed song. Back to side A
again.
We kept on listening to the songs and spread the news. Hey friends,
have you listened to Rojaa?A new dimension to Tamil film music. Scoured
the newspapers and magazines for any news or articles on the album.
AR Rahman! Only 23 years old!
Wow! We can relate to him. Another genius in the making. Evening came.
Gathered with friends and disseminated the music. Exciting times were
here. Wait! There is an interview with Minmini on radio. Turn the volume
up. Wow!
She is cool. Ask her to sing. She obliges. Wide grins on everyone's
faces. Another day and more listenings. Not satisfied with the cassette
alone, we look out for the songs on radio. Squeals of delight every
time Rojaa or AR Rahman is mentioned. Everyone's favourite seems to
be Chinna chinna aasai. We wallow in the music. And then a very important
question is asked. What next? More! We are hungry for more! Thus began
the journey...
Postscript
:
Roja
is dubbed into several languages and now AR Rahman music is spread to
Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi.
AR Rahman goes on to win the Best Music Director award in the Tamil
Nadu State film award followed by best music
director award in Filmfare (Tamil films) award. Roja gets the National
award for best film on national integration. A R
Rahman also gets the best music director National award for 1992. Vairamuthu
bags the best lyricist National award for
1992. Minmini wins the Tamilnadu State Film Award for the best playback
singer for 1992. Magnasound and Lahiri
Recording company separately release an instrumental version of the
songs in the Roja soundtrack
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