A R Rahman Online Website Beta

This is Rahman’s first Tamil composition after wining the Oscar. This is also the first time Gautham Menon is working with Rahman.It would be fair to say this was the most anticipated album of the year.

Omana Penne | Singers: Benny Dayal, Kalyani Menon

The percussion in this song stands out right from the start. The kind of rythmic song that is soothing to the ears. Well suited for Benny Dayal and he has excelled as usual. The nadaswaram bit, heard on and off in the background, takes the song to another level towards the end. Unfortunately, the music masks the lyrics at places, thereby reducing the pleasure to some extent, but with such lovely music, the complaints wont be loud.

Anbil Avan | Singers: Devan Ekambaram, Chinmayi

A peppy number if you can call it. The initial segment sets up the song very well. Devan has done a commendable job. Chinmayi adds a soulful effect to the song and has backed up Devan very well. The chorus has done as good a job as the lead singers. The traditional marriage music that comes in the middle of the song offers splendid transition.

That finish to the two and a half hour production came in the form of crowd favourite `Jai ho’, which saw fireworks light the sky while concert-goers danced and chanted the chorus. The Slumdog Millionaire composer addressed the crowd before the finale on what he had earlier in the night called “one of the most historic concerts of my life’’.

“Thank you for being part of change,’’ he said, a reference to his wish to end the attacks against Indian students in Victoria. I want all of you guys staying here to bless the children of India with love.’’

Rahman also asked the crowd to spare a thought for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.“Life is just like that. Anything can happen,’So Jai ho, God bless you all.’’ he said.

They were words of wisdom to his adoring crowd, mostly expats from the subcontinent who came from across Sydney and interstate. The crowd stretched over 500 metres through a tree-lined corridor in the park, many families seated on picnic rugs.

But due to the fact that the name involved was called Mani Ratnam, Menon freshened himself up and rushed up to the mentioned recording studio, where he saw a young composer calling the shots.

Mani Ratnam, who so often works with Maestro Ilayaraja, has discovered a new talent to associate with in the music department. Menon wondered continuously if this young guy- whose name is AR Rahman, could really live up to the humongous expectations of having to compose for a Mani Ratnam film. He was given the song lyrics, the tunes were discussed, and on the wee hours of that one day back in 1992, Menon recorded a song called ‘Pudhu Vellai Mazhai’ (A new white rain), and went back home, back to his slumber.

The doubts that he had before recording the song existed even after that- he didn’t think he had sung the catchiest of tunes. Little did he know, that when he went to sleep that day, just like lyrics of the song proclaims, he has witnessed a new white rain, that will reign the Indian music arena over the following two decades.