SORRY FRIENDS!!!I'M ON VACATION TO MY HOMETOWN, HYDERABAD
I'LL BE BACK IN A MONTH.VERY SORRY TO KEEP U WAITING ...!
SEE U!
--------------------
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From: Srinath Anand <srinath_anand@...>
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_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Hi all of you,
Mahalingam Prashant has pointed out that ARR is not biased towards
Mani & Shankar.Yes,to some extent he is correct because he has scored
some incomparable music for Duet and some other movies.But I would
like to point out that "some" of his scores in Pudhiya
Mannargal,Vandicholai Chinnarasu are not comparable to Chinna Chinna
Asai,Chaiyya Chaiyya and and.....the list goes on!!I agree that he was
not popular that time and so he had to churn out those scores but
non-ARR fans point out fingers to those movies when I/any ARR fan
argues with them.Another characteristic of ARR's music is that when
you hear it for the first time(except for a few songs)it doen't appeal
to you as much as it does for the second or the third or the n-th
time!!Aamir Khan had said the same thing for Rangeela songs.
I fully agree with Prashant's proposal of compiling some info about
ARR's songs etc. which would be useful for many of the fans.Can we
make divisions like slow,fast and so on.Any suggestions?Whou would
take the responsibility of doing it?
Any idea when 'En Swasa Katre' is being released.It is made on the
line of 'Mission Impossible' and so we can expect some 'Dhamaka' from
the music!!
Keep mailing.Bye.
Srinath
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>From: "vengadesh subramaniam" <vengi@...>
>To: arrahmanfans@egroups
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>Subject: secound question
>Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 08:59:11 PST
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>
> Hi it's me again.In my first letter i mentioned about Arr
>hairstyle and i did get a few replies.Now i would like you'll to tell
me
>who you think is india's top music directors.My choice:
>
>1) A.R.Rahman ( like you guys didn't guess )
>2) Illayaraja
>3) Anu Malik
>4) Viju Shah
>5) Vidyasagar
>6) Siripi
>7) The music composer of Kuch-Kuch Hota Hai
>8) Karthick Raja
>9) Deva
>10)Philip& Jerry
>
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Hi all,
A few points here.
Let's go beyond the usual eulogies to ARR. I guess we are
all here because we like, sorry, adore his music.
I propose ( if the moderator agrees ) that some activity
could be done which adds value to us as individuals... A
few suggestions could be
1. Compiling a list of albums, Songs, artists if
possible in a database form.
2. Collection of reviews
3. Analysis of music, comparison with others
4. Technical analysis ( if our Violin teacher in the fan
club could do something)
5. A top of the tops list by everybody (The Top Ten of
ARR)
6. The Grand Top ten ( can be decided by Voting)
7. Mailing ARR himself.
8. The latest news from the Tamil mags
It's upto the moderator I guess (Gopal, are you
listening)
I differ from Srinath's view..... Shankar and mani being
ARR's best. It's probably a matter of perception.
I do happen to know Noell James ( you guys woulkd defly
know him "Love is Torture" in Duet, "Palakattu Machchan" in
May Madham and backing vocals).....not in touch for a long
time now.
Bye
Prashant
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Hi Friends,
Welcome to the arrahmanfans E-group. Thanks for the overwhelming
response. I like ARR without his long hair, but that is secondary to his
brilliant music. ARR's next release should be En Swasa KAtre.
Bye,
Gopal
'Knowledge is power'
Gopal Srinivasan
E-mail : catchgops@...mailgops@...
Homepage : http://gopal.findhere.com
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hi,
im doing my degree programme in computer science in inti college
malaysia,
if im in singapore i already no about his latest releases but
werkkkkkkkkkk im in malaysia so i cant keep in touch which
movie release but i think en swasa katre will be the first.
to clear my confusion is rahman producing a film named by
'swaskatre'i found it in indian movies.
form your oponion which url from internet can get through the
latest release rahman latest movies?
by the time now the sticking rahman movie is uyire, huhhh
what a super song he composed;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
from the release of roja and untill know i became his greatest fan
i have collected all his movies and albums.
if u have any latest news bout rahman please pass to me .
for your information rahman have builed his music theathre its
old news but the latest news is im building a studio where
a place i collecting his songs and his history untill now
ok this is for now see u
byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
from,
mathan
>From arrahmanfans-return-15-catman90 Tue Jan 12 03:11:20 1999
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>Subject: [arrahmanfans] Hello all...
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>
>Great to have such a list. Good work. I am a student in IIM
Calcutta....really mad abt rahman.
>
>So, Is Rythm the next on e on the cards ?? Anyone knows whats happening
to
>Yen Swaasa Kattrey, Engineer???
>
>Keep writing.
>
>Prashant
>
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hi,
lets talk bout u first, which part of india r u, and whats u
doing ??? me im malaysian and also one the thousand greatest ar.rahmnan
fan on the earth.
im doing my degree programme in local college.and u,i also
trying my best to support mr rahman . did u watch the channel v
awards last month ,im damn happy when i saw rahman got the award
in coca cola viewers choice.
bout his hair style, from opinion its the way to be a musician
he is man who energetic and cool guy so his must be like that.
gtg bye....
from mathan
>From arrahmanfans-return-21-catman90=hotmail.com@returns.egroups.com
Wed Jan 13 05:22:18 1999
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>Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 12:56:02 MYT
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>
>
>>>> Let's talk about Arr.He is great but i still
>>think his hairstyle is a bit..just a bit weird . What do you guys say
.
>
> Yeah, I wish ARR would get a good haircut.But heck, who cares,
>his music is the BEST and he is the GREATEST.So a few unruly locks
>should not bother!!!!!!!!
>
>
> Simply ARR.
>
>______________________________________________________
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Hi,
Has any one of you heard any samples from ARR's future offerings?I
think this would be possible only in India with the latest trailers
coming out.Is anybody aware when 'Mudalvan' is being released.I have
noticed that ARR gives in his best for Shankar and Mani Ratnam.Another
thing that I like about his music is that it doesn't become old like
other songs do.You can listen to them "n" number of times!!
Anybody in this group ever had the chance to meet him?That would be a
dream come true for me!!Bye and keep mailing.I think the group is off
to a great start and please maintain the pace and make Gopal's
endeavour a resounding success.
Srinath
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>>> Let's talk about Arr.He is great but i still
>think his hairstyle is a bit..just a bit weird . What do you guys say .
Yeah, I wish ARR would get a good haircut.But heck, who cares,
his music is the BEST and he is the GREATEST.So a few unruly locks
should not bother!!!!!!!!
Simply ARR.
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What can I say, except that ARR is a genius.His music is depictive
of progressive musical structure which blends eastern and western
music on a polyphonic mood.The usage of authentic percussion
instruments,solfage phrasing,indepth court systems and unique
melody pattern makes ARR's work much better in quality when compared
to all others.
Above all it's music from the heart and soul!!!!!!
Peace and Love.
"A".
P/S Hats off to Gopal.Truly a committed moderator and fan.
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Hello Guys and Gals
I guess i should introduce myself to the world of ARR fans ... well..
i am subash at pennsylvania state univ, USA doin my master's ..
I was a great fan of Ilayaraja and continue to do so.. That doesn't
stop me from being another good devoted fan of ARR .. does it?
Well.. These two musical greats are different in their own rights..
well what do ya call guy who could compose music for such a runaway
musical hit like "Chinna Thambi" in 43 minutes.. Nothing less than a
Genius.. aint it?
ARR takes a lot of time to compose coz he puts his mind in each and
every single piece of music and tries to put his best...
Well what matters in the end is "How good is the music" As long as you
get good music from these guys its fine with me and you all too, i
guess.
OK that's enuf for a starter,..
Bye all of ya..
Subash
P.S: Keep up the good work.. Gopal.
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YO Yo Yo
My name is Jacob or Jay. I have been a fan OF ARR since i
accidently heard his music in a car parked next to me. Yeah, weird!!!
Well, he impressed me a lot. It is very hard to impress me beacuse i'm
actuallya violin teacher and an enginerring major. So i do know all lot
more about music than the average person.
He is good and probably the best in India. Is It just me or is
there more and more ARR copy out there?
Well, later people...i have to teach some white trash the Bach
double concerto. later!!!
Jacob
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So you guys are all arr fans huh ?.tell me what the hell is so
great about him ?. First of all his hairstyle is kind of weird and his
music...oh my god .I mean take Doli Saja Ke Rakhna for instance.His
music there was so ........................................... cool ,
fabulous , fantastic and mesmerizing.
Hi everyone.My name is S.Vengadesh and i've been a great fan
of arr since 93.missed his Roja though .Well what are we wasting time
introducing ourselves . Let's talk about Arr.He is great but i still
think his hairstyle is a bit..just a bit weird . What do you guys say .
For more information on me contact me at vengi@...
all the girls out there i'm much better than Sharukh Khan
himself.Serious.
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Great to have such a list. Good work. I am a student in IIM Calcutta....really
mad abt rahman.
So, Is Rythm the next on e on the cards ?? Anyone knows whats happening to
Yen Swaasa Kattrey, Engineer???
Keep writing.
Prashant
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Hi friends,
First, a hearty welcome to the group. Second, I am really overwhelmed by
the response and thanks for all the words of encouragement and
appreciation. . But let me tell you, it was no big deal forming the
group. But the hard part is keeping it alive and using it for the
exchange of information and discussions on ARR and this is something to
which all of you have to contribute and I look forward to your support
in this regard.
As for some news on ARR< the buzz is that En Svasa Katre will be a
Pongal release, but since the music is yet to be released I doubt it.
Also, Takshak is supposedly ready. By April Padaiyappa, Pukaar,
Mudhalvan and Love You Hamesha should be out, if all goes well.
The soundtracks of Fire and Earth are not out in India. Earth soundtrack
could be released with the movie in APril, in India. Director Deepa
MEhta did say That the Fire soundtrack had been released in Europe. If
any body has ay info on this, please post it to the group.
Bye,
Gopal
Gopal Srinivasan
E-mail : catchgops@...mailgops@...
Homepage : http://gopal.findhere.com
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Hi Mr.Gopal,
It is a very good idea to create a e-group for A.R.Rahman fans.I used
to be an Ilayaraja fan before I heard Roja and the other masterpieces
of ARR.No doubt Ilayaraja is a genius but still I feel that ARR has
displaced him from the top position since Ilayaraja hasn't had a very
big hit after ARR's Roja and his other movies.
I think ARR's next scheduled releases are(may not be in order):
1)Pukar(Hindi)
2)Padaiyappa(Tamil)
Has anyone got the cassettes or CD's of Earth/Fire.Please inform us
about where I can get those.
Thanks and please keep mailing all of you.
Srinath Anand
Durham,North Carolina
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I'm a 34-year-old biophysics graduate student at the University of
MIchigan here in the USA. I accidentally 'discovered' Rahman when I
purchased an album by Talvin Singh (Anokha) that had one of Rahman's
movie themes on it. I loved it, so bought more Rahman, and now I
really am happy that I found his music.
I have several Indian scientists in our laboratory who steal my Rahman
discs to play on their CD-Roms all the time. :)
It's very nice to meet you all, and I'm excited to share my enthusiasm for
the music.
Peace,
Deanne Taylor
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Hi to all ARR Lovers...
I live in mauritius in the indian ocean and is deeply attached to my roots from
Tamil Nadu... I really appreciate the contribution of Gopal for having such a
great idea of grouping all the fans here...so that the hindi music directors
know that songs from KKHH, however great they are, cannot compete with this
legend known as Rahman...
After all, he had the merits of Channel V Coca Cola Awards lately, and we know
that only him deserved it...
I won't be too long for this first message,.. but sure will keep in touch with
all of u great fans of ARR...and please vote for him for the coming filmfare
awards so that these hindi directors know that every time rahman put his hands
in hindi films, he wins... (remember Rangeela) and don't forget to vote for
DILSE.. and Mani RATNAM also... thanks and see ya soon...
P.S My ICQ# is 1458227 , don't hesitate to ICQ me. BYE
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HELLO FRIENDS! THIS IS TO INFORM U ABOUT THE AWARDS POLL OF FILMFARE.I REQUEST U TO VOTE FOR OUR "IDOL" RIGHT NOW!!COZ U KNOW THAT WE DONT WANNA MISS HIM GETTING THE AWARD !!GO AHEAD AT www.filmfare.com
SEEYA!!
M.A.H.S.PRIYATAM,
1st SEM,INFO-TECH,
ROOM#212,P E S I T BOYS HOSTEL,
BSK-3rd STAGE,100 FEET RING ROAD,
BANGALORE-560085
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Director Rajiv Menon's next venture will have music by ARR. This
information is forthcoming from an interview with Rajeev Menon in The
Hindu's Friday Review dated 8-1-1999
Excerpt:
In 1996, Rajeev Menon made his directorial debut with "Minsara Kanavu'
which was later dubbed in Hindi as 'Sapnay'. This star studded musical
catering to the youth became a hit. A.R.Rahman's music score with the
lilting numbers 'Ooh La LA' and 'Poo Pookum Osai' enhanced the film.
Rajeev and Rahman had worked together in many ad films. "We are of the
same wavelength. His dedication is astounding", he says. Having
inherited his mother Kalyani Menon's music talent, Rajiv has also
rendered jingles for several successful commercials. Rajeev is to take
up his second directorial assignment, tentatively titled 'Theekul Viral
Vaithal' shortly. "I am busy writing the script. The cast has not been
finalised. Of course, the music score will be by Rahman. It will be a
serious film", he says.
Bye,
Gopal
Gopal Srinivasan
E-mail : catchgops@...mailgops@...
Homepage : http://gopal.findhere.com
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Hi Friend,
Please nominate A.R.Rahman for the Filmfare Awards 1998 in the Best
Music Director Category(he richly deserves it) by visiting
http://www.filmfare.com/awards98/index.html
Your vote counts towards the final result, please pass the word.(Just to
ensure that the stupid Kuch Kuch Hota Hai doesn't win it)
Bye,
Gopal
Gopal Srinivasan
E-mail : catchgops@...mailgops@...
Homepage : http://gopal.findhere.com
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Tomorrow, the 6th of January is ARR's Birthday
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Here is a new article on ARR.
Source: The Pioneer, Dec 30, 1998 (http://www.the-pioneer.com)
By: Mayank Bhargava
Title: Pied Piper of Chennai:
Prologue: Composer-singer AR Rahman, who breached the
North-South divide in popular music, gave a new Nineties
sound to film songs, and now wants to make music for the
millennium
Text:
His unruly locks fly as gusts of wind blow through them, and his alaaps
from Vande
Mataram ring out in the stadia. When A R Rahman, musician
extraordinaire, became A R
Rahman the singer, he met with equal success. Music is the
raison d’ etre of his life, so much
so that beyond it is a great gulf of silence. The shell of
reticence is difficult to break down as
he is a very restrained and self-contained man, with music
subsuming him. Many an
interviewer has been reduced to wringing his hands in despair
(Javed Jaffrey has been one of
the casualties).
Controversies have their way of doggedly sniping at
innovators. But those who dare to break
the shackles of conformity have to pay a price. Vande
Mataram, his ode to the nation, came
in for heavy criticism from certain fundamentalists for
depicting the national flag in a
derogatory manner (the instance relates to the flag being
allowed to touch the ground). But,
says Rahman, “Everyone has his own way of offering prayers
for the nation. Popular opinion
is on our side, beyond it everything else is irrelevant.”
The idea for the album was mooted at a discussion between him
and Bharatbala, a childhood
friend. “We wanted a song which would connect with this
generation, yet its echoes would
reach out from the traditional core of India.” As for his
unruly locks, it looks like the laidback
composer has finally learnt to be media-savvy. “Bharatbala
suggested that I cultivate this look
and surprisingly everyone seems to have taken a liking to
it.”
But change has been a constant feature of his life. And not
only from being Dilip Shekhar, the
son of Malayalam film music composer R K Shekhar, who
assisted the likes of Salil
Chowdhary and Devrajan, to becoming A R Rahman (he converted
to Islam at the age of
nine after his father’s death). To date, religion continues
to a very private topic, close to his
heart but never for public consumption.
After his father’s death, the only leagcy bequeathed to him
were musical notes. By the age of
11, he was playing alongside musicians of the pedigree of
Illayraja. He brandished the
keyboard as his chosen instrument and composed music like a
man possessed. In 1981-82,
he set up a light orchestra and played a few jigs, but like
the proverbial sponge, he was
soaking in a slew of influences, from jazz to classical. He
performed with his band consisting
of Siva Mani, the mercurial percussionist, and Prassana and
others at the IIT festival too. But
the world of jingles beckoned and he started churning out
jingles by the dozen, and raking in
the moolah.
But surprisingly, it’s not the bitter memories of the days of
struggle which come forth.
Rahman says, “Making jingles was quite lucrative, but I had
my eyes set on being a part of
the film industry.” The first break came from an unlikely
source. Mani Ratnam, the whizkid
down south known for his offbeat themes, asked him to do the
musical score for Roja. The
film’s music with its patriotic theme resonated across the
nation; the songs Tu hi re and
Choti si aasha were strong on melody and the voices were
embellished by the score. The
refined recordings awoke the stultifying music industry from
its slumber. Illayraja, the
reigning deity of music, had been making classical-based
compositions for years, but the
younger generation yearned for the music of the ’90s.
Rahman’s music bridged that
generation gap with contemporary tunes which met with the
approval of the traditionalists as
well. But Rahman is not one to forget his mentor, “Mani is
instrumental in my success,” he
says. Roja became a phenomenal hit, and the following six
years saw him grafting a niche for
himself as the R D Burman of the ’90s, standing alone atop
the peak of creativity.
Curiously, very few music directors from Mollywood had dared
to to take the plunge in the
Hindi bastion, mostly daunted by the linguistic constraints.
But Rahman effectively strode
across the border. It was cultural osmosis of a different
kind, and the credit for the break in
the north-south divide in the music industry goes to him.
First came Mani Ratnam’s Bombay,
whose songs, despite having been dubbed in Hindi hit the
bull’s eye. Another aspect of
Rahman’s endeavours has been the use of raw voices and he
employed Remo Fernandes (a
Hinglish pop singer, at best not comfortable with the nuances
of the language) to sing
Humma Humma and it became the anthem of 1994, to say nothing
of the soft
instrumentation and use of children for Kuchi kuchi Rukamma.
Even in his latest blockbuster Dil Se, he used Sukhwinder and
Sapna Awasthi for Chaiyan
chaiyan number, a difficult choice if you have the industry
bigwigs eating out of your hands.
He is nonchalant, “The use of raw, new voices gives a
different persona to the song.” The
acoustic touch seems to be back as he used a rabab like
instrument in the song. The
nightingale Lata Mangeshakar condescended to sing Diya jale,
in which Carnatic classical
vocals ring out in the background.
The first genuine Hindi effort came in the form of Ram Gopal
Verma’s Rangeela, with the
sensual Urmila Matondkar gyrating to Tanha tanha. The music
continued to be a hedonistic
mix of beats and computer induced effects.
Gradually, the notes started turning somewhat stale. The
spate of Prabhu Deva movies led to
the cloning of songs at a massive scale. Didn’t he fall into
the rut of beat or rhythm influenced
music? He replies with a pensive look, “I started doing
Prabhu Deva movies and there was
pressure to succeed as the songs became a trendsetter.
Gentleman had a light musical score
because of Shankar’s demand for something to offset the
serious theme and I realised my
folly in doing repetitive scores for Kadaalan and other
movies to meet the demands of
directors.”
The question of plagiarising rears its ugly head, but he does
not have any rancour or
bitterness when he speaks of his entire musical score for
Gentleman being lifted by Anu
Malik. “They imitated Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan too, but now they
have run the circle, but it
does not really matter, does it?” But how about him lifting
Ace of Base’s Happy Nation for
the Indian’s Telephone Dhun? He gives a wry smile and says,
“The loop based compositions
have a certain sense of familiarity and if it happened it was
on a subconscious level.”
Frequently the inanity of the lyrics overshadows his music,
but he defends himself, “The
songs are mostly dubbed. But now I am working with lyricists
like Gulzar, Majrooh
Sultanpuri and Anand Bakshi. Hopefully Subhash Ghai’s Taal
and Govind Nihalani’s
Takshak will see a sea change in the quality of lyrics. In
fact, Subhash Ghai has spent a lot of
time teaching me the nuances of language.” The burgeoning
music market has seen music
companies producing movies to save the exorbitant cost of
buying music rights. The stakes
are getting bigger and consequently the pressure to succeed
is all the more. In the ultimate
analysis, if, despite the hit musical score, the movie flops
as in the case of much hyped Jeans,
then is there a sense of loss or regret? “I usually avoid
seeing movies bearing my stamp
altogether. It saves one the pain of confronting the thematic
treatment of songs.”
The change ushered by him through use of computers in
recording has been found to be
debatable. He reacts strongly, “We are heading towards the
millennium. We have to keep
abreast of times. Now, I can record my music on a portable
hard disk and record ethnic
music on top of it.” He wants music to meet international
standards in terms of quality and is
also planning a millennium project. It is all hush-hush for
now. As ever, for Rahman, the
bottomline is that his music should reach out to the soul of
humankind and when that is the
kind of target you set, the music will have to blow up your
mind.
The End
Bye,
Gopal
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I just wanted to share something with you. In the Filmfare issue of
January 1999, there is an interview with Jatin-Lalit who had the most
hits in 1998. In the interview, they remark 'Just because we don't
wear
our hair long and keep producers waiting outside our door we haven't
been acknowledged as No.1 yet. Our music speaks for itself and we are
the best". This is clearly a cheap dig at ARR. Let us consider the
facts. Five big hits of 1998 had their music credited to Jatin-Lalit,
I
stress on the word 'credited'.
First was the Salman Khan starrer 'Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya'. Four songs
from the movie were hits. The first and the biggest of them all was
'Oh
Oh Jaane Jaana'. This song had music by kamaal Khan, the
British-Indian
singer-composer. The second 'Odh li Chunariya' had music by Himesh
Reshimayya. The third 'Teri Jawani Badi mast mast' had music by
Saajid-Waajid all three of who went uncredited. The fourth song 'Baby
Baby' was an outright lift of the British group Stereo Nation's "Oh
Baby
don't break my heart'.
The second hit was 'Pyar to Hona Hi tha'. One song 'Pyar to hona hi
tha'
was probably composed by them. The other hit 'Ajnabi mujhe itna bata'
was a note by note rehash of their own song 'Tujhe Dekha to yeh jaana
sanam' from DDLj. The next film was 'Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai', three
songs were blatant lifts of western numbers including the title track.
The next one was 'Ghulam'. Only one song was a hit, but a phenomenal
hit
at that. 'Aati Kya Khandala'. But it was composed by the lyricist
Nitin
Raikwar. And last but not the least, the biggest hit of the year Kuch
Kuch Hota Hai. The film had some of the most cliched music and even
more
cliched instrumentation. If you heard it out of context u will
probably
mistake it to be from DDLJ or Dil to Pagal Hai. And the most popular
song from the film, the title song 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' was composed
by
actor Jugal Hansraj and the other hit 'Ladka Bada deewana Hai' was
composed by director Karan Johar.
And it is a well known fact in the industry, and well reproduced
facts
in magazines who the real composers of these songs were. Case in
point,
Salman Khan and his brothers who produced Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya
signed
up Himesh Reshimayya, Kamaal Khan and Saajid Wajid to compose for
their
next film 'Hello Brother'. In spite of this Jatin-Lalit have the gall
to
take digs at ARR. Actually considering the taste of Indian people in
music and the general trend of giving awards to successful scores
instead of quality scores, I wouldn't be surprised if Kuch Kuch Hota
Hai
won the best music awards next year instead of Dil Se.. This, inspite
of the fact that the 'music' of Dil Se.. was a bigger hit, though the
movie bombed. Not one music critic has had anything good to say about
the music of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In fact Filmfare listed the music as
a
weakness of the movie. This is why the modesty of ARR seems to be such
a
virtue.
Please don't think of this as the insane outpourings of a die-hard ARR
fan, his judgement clouded by the love for his idol. Every single fact
is true and well documented. I am not a blind fan. If the charge is
valid I will accept it. In this case it is not. What do you think?
Bye,
Gopal
Gopal Srinivasan
E-mail : catchgops@...mailgops@...
Homepage : http://gopal.findhere.com
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