Ada - A Musical Journey by A R Rahman

A Rahman album with 10 songs!! A real musical smorgasbord for every music buff!! And have I been enjoying the last couple of days listening to this album. I am pretty sure the 18 songs of Ada and JTYJN combined will keep me occupied while I wait eagerly for Rahman's next album to hit the music stores, which is not very far off from now. It is a difficult task to review a Rahman album, more so when it happens to have as many as 10 songs. In any case I have finally compiled a review of Ada.

Meherbaan

He might not have sung the best song in JTYJN, but Rahman steals the show in Ada with Meherbaan. The tune and the rendition are in the line of songs like Vellai Pookkal in Kannathil Mutthamittaal and Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera in Swades; simple and soothing. This song will surely find a place in the career-best renditions by ARR. If you are in a lot of stress, this is the song you would want to listen to.

Meherbaan (Instrumental)

Rahman has this knack of coming up with the ideal instrument for instrumental versions of his songs (Of course he has a lot of such brilliant knacks :) ). From veena for Enmel Vizhundha(May Maadham) to oboe for Khwaja Mere Khwaja (Jodhaa Akbar), they have all been real treats. Here it is guitar, and the guitarist Sanjeev Thomas has done a splendid job. Sanjeev Thomas has been active on the Indian rock scene for over 10 years now, heading bands like Rainbow Bridge. The use of acoustic guitar at the start and the subsequent shift to electric guitar for the second verse have all made this instrumental version as memorable as the original. I am looking forward to the day when Rahman will come out with a full-fledged instrumental album. If it happens that is surely going to be some album!!

Gulfisha

A relatively fast song sung by Vivienne Chaix, Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. It is rather surprising to note that this is only Sunidhi's second song with Rahman after Saiyyaan in Nayak. I have always wondered why Rahman has so ignored Sunidhi, arguably Bollywood's best singer currently. Coming back to the song; though Sunidhi and Sonu have sung the song perfectly, the song fails to impress much. Though I didn't feel a similarity to any other song, I felt the tune to be of a rather repetitive sort. Being a Rahman song it may require a few hearings to make its impact, but for now I don't find it very remarkable.

Hai Dard

The first 2-3 seconds of the song would give the listener an impression akin to Mast Kalandar (Heyy Babyy) but then the song surprisingly takes a sorrowful note. Rahman has maintained his variety and unconventionality in his orchestration even in this song by bringing in instruments like chenda (heard after the starting verse). Udit Narayan's crooning has been soulful, but this song too falls into the category of the less impressive songs of the album.

Milo Wahan Wahan

Jayachandran has been used by Rahman only a few times. But each of those times has produced a gem. And hence I had high expectations when I heard that Jayachandran is making his Hindi debut with a Rahman song. However I didn't find it as satisfactory as their previous outings. It has to be admitted that it is a good song rendered very well by Jayachandran and Alka Yagnik. Jayachandran has kept a low profile in Malayalam industry for the last couple of years, but he proved with this song that he hasn't lost any of his talent to old age. Nevertheless, this song strongly reminds of older sad songs by Rahman. The starting beats resemble the start of Snehidhaney (Alai Payuthey), and song in general reminds of Kannathil Mutthamittal (Kannathil Mutthamittal) in its mood and style. That said, the tune of the starting line has been used previously in the BGM of Kannathil Mutthamittal. The song surely doesn't rate among the best of Rahman's melancholic songs.

Gumsum

A foot-tapper sung well by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. Though the instrumentation and the rendition very much resemble Vaaji Vaaji (Sivaji), this song is bound to make a place at the top of the music charts. Particularly pleasing in the orchestration is the mandolin (I think its mandolin though I am not sure) which keeps cropping up throughout the length of the song.

Hawa Sun Hawa

Sonu and Alka come together for the second time in the movie, this time with a pleasing melody. Very well orchestrated with the flute standing out at various parts of the song. I would like to know what the percussion used during the starting and second verses, is. Sounds really interesting.

Ishq Ada (Female version)

This song is sung by newcomer Parul Mishra, and what a way to make a debut! The instrumentation is along the lines of Sona Nahin Na Sahi from 1 2 Ka 4 (similar sort of instrumentation was also used in Are You Sure You Want To Be Famous in Bombay Dreams) and hence the initial 2 verses move on giving a maapila paattu feel to the song. Then suddenly comes the change in raga with a superb alaap by Parul (the raga is Subhapanthuvarali I feel), which goes to say a lot about the classical base that this singer has. I sincerely hope Parul makes it big in the industry and doesn't turn out into another instance of a splendid debut petering out into oblivion.

Ishq Ada (Male version)

The male version of the above song is rendered by Rashid Ali. Though the tune and the instrumentation remain the same barring the removal of the alaap part, Rashid Ali has made the song different by his style of rendition. While Parul was more classical-oriented, Rashid has made his version more Arabic in style. Listening to this I get a feeling that Rashid would have made a good accompaniment to Rahman in Khalbali (RDB). It would have really suited his voice and style of rendition. In any case, I am looking forward to more songs from Rashid Ali.

Tu Mera Hai

Chitra is one of the most prolific singers in India alive, having won a multitude of awards including 6 national awards in her musical career spanning nearly 30 years now. And the respect Rahman has for her is obvious from the songs he has so far given her. Be it Anjali Anjali (Duet) or Kehna Hi Kya (Bombay) or the national award winning Mana Madurai (Minsara Kanavu), ARR-Chitra combo has always given us something to cherish. Now here is one more to add to it. The song which has got a spiritual air to it is marked by its lavish instrumentation. Sukhwinder Singh has sounded a bit off-colour in comparison to Chitra's excellent singing. Naresh Iyer has provided excellent backing vocals. Chitra sounded surprisingly different in the line Ya Rab Shukriya at the start. Yet another surprise comes in the interlude section after the second verse where you can hear Chinese violin, of all the things you would expect in such a song!!

To sum it up, yet another eclectic mix from the maestro marred by a couple of ordinary-sounding songs. In any case the other songs more than make up for the less impressive ones. I would however rate JTYJN above Ada coz of its freshness when compared to this album.