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2001 - The Right Recipe for the New Millennium
by Are Yaar

The Dawn of the new millennium was the year when Indian Film world saw a new leaf turned in the form of Lagaan. What a film it was!! Our first indigenous entry into top 5 in Oscars (Other two had some foreign associations in it)

The film was totally unusual in every sense. It was Amir Khan's first film as producer and it is believed that he put some 25 Crores into that. Except for ARR and AK, all others associated with the film had a failure or two in their previous ventures. Over that it was a period film, which was then commonly believed to be a ‘failure subject’. Even though ARR had done 3 period films before Lagaan, the expectation and a small tinge of doubt was always there in every mind, regarding how the music will shape up. Since, no body had any clue about the cricket match background in the story, I remember every one saying their own story about the film.

The MP3s came a day earlier to the music release. We were able to listen to “Ghanan Ghanan” in bits and some were disappointed saying that it reminded some song in DSKR. But, when the album as a whole released, the whole of India was taken by surprise. A modern score for a fantasy film with a period ambience. If you look from the musical point of view of 19th century then you have the songs like "Radha Kaise na Jale" and "Oh Paalan Haare", if you take a modern sounding song, then it was there in "Mitwa" and "Baar Naar Haan". But, all songs could some how give you the feel of the whole film and the period. Now, how ARR could make it happen, mixing two different generations of music, is what makes him a genius. An obvious comparison here is inevitable. In the same period Gadar - Ek Prem Katha released. Listen to its music. The MD composed songs with minimum of instruments and rich less tunes. He was clueless about what is meant by giving period ambience. Not every body has those blessings to compose like that. ARR has it. And Lagaan was the example. He had to give a commercial - Period score mixed well with each other. 

Indian Govt. glorified ARR’s effort by honouring him with the National Award for the best Music Score for the year 2001. This was the third time for ARR, and the first time for any MD from the south to receive it for a Hindi Film.

Even though 2001 was not an eventful year for ARR because of his commitment to BD, he nevertheless gave a great experimental album in Parthale Paravasam. This album had every thing to become a huge hit, but because of greedy marketing and wrong timing, the album got a less enthusiastic response. When the film bombed, the music was the only thing left for the fans to salvage. "Adhisaya Thirumanam", "Azhage", "Neethan En Desiya Geetham" are some for the songs that will appeal even after many, many years.

"1 2 ka 4": An unusual Hindi album, which had some great Ghazal and Qwalli songs in it. The "Khamoshiyaan Gungunne Legi" and "Ale Ale Alle" had that unique ARR's touch and songs like "Sona Nahi, Na sahi" and "Hai ye dil ki Baazi" are the best Ghazal and Qwalli fusions. The songs were instant chart toppers in MTV count downs, but disappeared once the film bombed heavily in Box office. But still Lagaan and Zubeida (Surprisingly 2000's songs) were in the charts as long runners. ARR tried some thing very different in 1 2 ka 4, from the usual Hindi stuff.

Other films that were released in the same years, were just recycles of his previous albums. ARR might not have had much to do with them as the music would have been sold to the producers along with the film. Star had songs from 1947/Earth and 1 2 ka 4.  Star had one of the best melodious numbers for that year in “Nendhikkitten”. Singer Karthik was a great find by ARR. ARR’s record for introducing new talent even continued into 2001, a year during which he did very few albums in his career.

Even though individual tastes are subjective, a strong point is that ARR songs can be composed in different languages, which goes to prove that his music is Universal. Take for the instance, the "Love U Hamesha" songs – a Hindi film. It is a complete recycle of "May Madam", which was released in 1994. The Hindi film was never released and all that the producer wanted to do was to cash in on ARR's popularity. The producer was successful and the Music was in the charts for few weeks. An album composed in 1994 going onto become a Hindi album and making it up the charts is ample proof that ARR’s music will live beyond periods. Some may disagree, but facts are stranger than fiction, and ARR's Conquest of IFM remains a fact.

2001 is the year when ARR did far less movies and Lagaan was the only top class album that had every thing in it to sweep all the awards in the Indian Film Award. This is the testimony of a genius, who delivers the right flavours for the appropriate dishes, satisfying the voracious appetites of a wide range of fans, transcending linguistic & cultural barriers.

 

 

2002 Constellation - A group of ARR fans from TFMPage.com