A. R. Rehman, Cricket, etc.

A.R.REHMAN TENDULKAR BRADMAN

Cricket legend Brian Lara was asked how he would compare Sachin Tendulkar with Bradman. As India waited with bated breath for the answer that might have led to the declaration of another national holiday, came the excellent reply ‘We cannot compare great cricketers of different eras.’ He added helpfully that Sachin was the Bradman of this era.

A.R.REHMAN TENDULKAR BRADMAN

Something similar may be said of film music. Many including yours truly have held that the period 1950 to 1970 may be called the Golden era of Hindi film music. the era when Melody was Queen . With astonishment we heard the immortal melodies of Naushad, S.D.Burman, Madan Mohan, Anil Biswas., O.P Nayyar. Roshan, Shanker Jaikishan, Ravi. Jaidev and many others. Using the awesome talents of Rafi,Kishore Mukesh , Manan Dey , Lata, Geeta, Asha etc these musicians produced the kind of songs that will forever remained etched in the hearts of listeners like me. Bliss is it to have been born in that era.

I am sure lovers of music in other languages will have similar views about their music . But I ask a simple question—Are we committing the common error of reconstructing history in a distorted way? Are we overdoing things and saying that there was no bad music in that era .?Are we saying that audiences then loved melody?

I am provoked to ask this question in the light of this comment made many years ago by O.P.Nayyar ‘ I was king when I composed trash. I strove for musical quality only to crash’.

Even granting that a man whose career was coming to an end may be excused for being bitter how does one account for R D Burman’s lament that the market wanted only dhing -chak music while he yearned to give melody of the kind he gave in Amar Prem and Aandhi?. Would you believe that RDB rated Hemant Kumar as the most accomplished singer of the golden era and regretted that he never composed to Hemantda? Would the audience of even that era accept RDB-Hementda combo? Or would they have preferred ‘Mehmbooba mehmooba?

. I believe A .R.Rehman is in a situation familiar to our Prime Minister ,Manmohan Singh who when accused of being week and a doormat mumbles of the ‘ compulsions of coalition politics’. Rehman may also mumble- Compulsions of market realities—which is what O.P.Nayyar talked about.

Rehman has composed immortal melodies like

KAANU KU MAI AZHAGU

Netri ilada matram

Uyirum neeye

Yennavale

Irumugamaye

Then there the lilting melodies from Thiruda Thiruda including Chandralekha that are on par with R.D.Burman’s Chura liya hai .

These will stand testimony to my assertion that if only the market permits him he can do to Tamil film songs what C. Ramachandra and Naushad did up north.

But there is the market that constrains any creative person .Look at Chetan Bhagat. His articles in some papers on sensitive topics reflect his serious thinking on those subjects. But his books which are aimed at the ‘time pass’ adolescents and young adults refect his sensitivity to market forces. His books are quite puerile as are Shoba De’s writings that are aimed at the vacuous page 3 reader

K.R.RAVI

WWW.KRRAVI.COM

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