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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Raavanan Background Score



It is choral-orchestral bangs for Veera’s Introduction. Again. I don’t understand why A.R.Rahman always (Yuva, Sivaji, Mangal Pandey, Jodhaa Akbar, Mudhalvan) resorts to the same type of scoring, whenever there is a strong larger-than-life protagonist in the film. The main Veera theme could have been more rooted. I was expecting the eerie Oud that we heard in initial teasers (though can’t say the sound of it as rooted) to be the signature sound of the bewildering characteristics of Veera. It instead is used for Raghini (apparent in the scene in which she climbs up to the ground from a prison-pit).

But thankfully, major parts of the second half of the film, is filled with pieces made of the haunting melody of the song (that was not released in the CD) ‘Naan Varuvaenae’ (‘Jaa Re Ud Ja Re’ in Hindi). May be this contrast in sound, feel and volume between Veera’s themes in the first half and second half of the film is intentional to imply how Veera’s shades of Black gradually fades to white in Raghini’s perception.

‘Naan Varuvaenae’ / ‘Jaa re Ud Jaa Re’ first appears on a Sarangi when Veera weeps on witnessing a victim of rape in his Sister. When the same melody finally appears on divine registers of A.R.Rahman’s voice, in that chilling climax, I had goose bumps. I was moved to tears. Maniratnam mutes all mortal ambient sounds and allows Rahman’s immortal melody to induce a lump in our throat. My body was electrified for a split second when a lazy Harmonica starts in sync with the poignant slow motion shot in the end. This theme, to ‘Raavan’, is what ‘Then Paandi Cheemayilae’ melody was to ‘Naayagan’.

African chants and alaap are used randomly throughout the film and it aids to believably transform the place of action into an abstract mythical land.

The version of ‘Kaattu Chirukki’ in the film is beyond words, in which the melody takes an unpredictable twist and flow. Exquisitely eerie expression in the voice that rendered the song (Is it Chinna Ponnu?) adds further to the uniqueness of this version of the song. We can count this as a background score piece. I strongly feel that these visuals weren’t shot with music. The brilliant choreography by Astad Deboo and Sham Kaushal, the godly visuals and camera angles of Santosh Sivan, fiery performance by both Aishwarya and Vikram make this whole montage an absolute delight; I wouldn’t mind watching the film many times just for this sequence.

And the thundering ‘Yerimalai’ song (yes, another new song) that plays while Veera burns down Dev’s camp, though would sound very effective as a standalone track, sounds too chaotic with when played along an already chaotic montage of action. May be that was the requirement – Chaos in Sound. The instrumental version of the track works well to pump up the energy and to add an adrenaline rush in the subsequent action blocks.

There definitely is more music in the film. I will update if I find anymore interesting bits after I watch the film again.

14 comments:

PRATAP said...

There is another BGM which was a male humming something. Sounded a lot like SP Bala. Can't remember which scene it was...

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Pratap - Yes, I guess I heard it too. It sounds like that of one of those African singers

Unknown said...

well framed words Suresh. The bgm featuring ranjha ranjha was stunning and haunting, great job done by Ila Arun and Richa Sharma. I like the profound yuddh theme too. There is a unique bgm which is featured during ragini's boating session in the beginning ..great job by mandolin u srinivas that was the most contrasting bgm composed in comparison with the other bgm in the movie. Jaare ud bgm was notable indeed..cant wait till the dvd is out :)

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Keshav - Thanks. Haven't seen the Hindi version yet. But yes, I can sense how 'Ranjha' would sound in Richa Sharma and Ila Arun's voice..

I hope atleast this time Maniratnam makes a proper good quality DVD (and that means not release it through Moserbaer) with enough Bonus Materials in it

Anonymous said...

In the Hindi version, there's another track that plays when Beera's men put sugar in the fuel tanks of police vehicles. It goes "Sil sil..." and is probably sung by Ila Arun. Not sure if it's in the Tamil version as well.

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Anon - As far as I remember, there was just a generic action cue in that scene. Will listen to it when I watch the film again.

Umesh said...

U missed the unique BGM which comes when miscreants put sugar into the diesel tanks.I loved it

BTW,my review of Raavanan-Ten heads without a single brain

www.theumeshblog.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

YES , like others have already mentioned , the BGM during the scene where beera's men pour sugar into the tanks is excellent. I thought that was the best BGM in the movie. It's also played when Dev comes out of his tent to talk to the messenger in the night and also in the crucial scene where Dev asks Ragini to get the polygraph test done when they are going back in the train. To someone's query about this BGM being in the Tamil version, it is there.

Anonymous said...

can u plzz put a downloading link for the background score.."jaa ud ja re"...

Rana said...

Oh…I keep wanting to tell you this and somehow forget….You looked very ‘appetising’ ;) in that white shirt and jeans. What a great combine of casual and elegant! You have style Mister and each time you post a picture of yourself, I end up feeling like a teenager. :) Well, well…..some guys have all the luck.

saima said...

Great Work…….. I just crawl your site from search engine and find it classical.. keep it up admin with same passion.. you are really good writer and inventor….bye

my itch! said...

i m visiting your site for the very first and i really admire the kind of work you are doing here. would you please let me know which english movie does the background score of Omkaara belong? It does sound like that it has been picked up from a english movie - mainly the dark choir when Omi comes from hoster in order to meet Vakeel Sahib, then when Dolly and Omi getting married and then when Langada Tyagi shoots Kesu..i m really looking to your say on this....thanks much.

varadharajan said...

Boss u ve missed two wonderful scores.. the one is the guitar version of kodu potta where sp speaks about veera... and the other is the lovely flute score where ragini falls in love with veera.. the major aspect in score of this film is u can hear a drizzling sound throughout the score as the film major parts are shot in rainy forests...

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Varadharajan - Yes. I missed to mention many cues in this post. It was written immediately after watching the film for the first time. I discovered many things later. Have written two more posts on Raavanan score. Search for 'Raavanan' tag.