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1. Roja
Thanks to Mani Ratnam, ARR (as he is popularly
known) entered the film industry with the
biggest bang in the Tamil Film history that
changed the notion about music in the common
man's mind. From refreshing "Chinna
Chinna Aasai" to heartbreaking "Kadhal
Rojave" and the spicy "Rukkumani",
he showed he had immense potential and variety.
The movie also started one of the best director-musician
duos of our times.
2. Bombay
Arguably his best composition to date, he
almost united the whole nation after the
Bombay riots in 1993 with a compelling touch
in the theme music of the movie. The theme
music will make anybody in the country shed
at least a drop of tear. The impact was
such that Arvindswamy and Manisha Koirala
became a household name in Tamil Nadu.
3. Duet
Duet is the most underrated and comparatively
unpopular music album of ARR. Anybody who
loves music will agree on this and it is
his best romantic album having another genius
called SPB (SP Balasubramaniam) singing
his heart out for all the songs.
4. Gentleman
Shankar chose to go with ARR with
his first directorial venture and he wouldn’t
ever regret for that. It seemed as though
“Chikku bukku raile” was especially
composed for Prabhudeva’s human anatomy
defying dance movements. A very soothing
“En veettu thottathil” followed
by a catchy “Ottagathai Kattiko”
made this composition an extremely memorable
one for ARR and his fans.
5. Kadhalan
The extremely racy “Take
it easy Urvasi” makes one feel why
didn’t we have mobile phones then
to have this number as the ring tone. The
mesmerizing “Ennavale adi Ennavale”
that directly touched countless young hearts
marks its place in eternity. All other songs
especially “Mukkala Mukkabala”
were the most popular then and the movie
also took Prabhu Deva to stardom overnight
that he would not have imagined in his wildest
dreams, thanks to ARR and Shankar.
6. Indian (‘Hindustani’ in Hindi)
In his next association with Shankar,
ARR not only met the expectations but also
beat them by miles as it also involved a
legend called Kamal Haasan. A spellbinding
“Telephone manipol” can be copied
completely by a music director 50 years
from now and it would still be a hit song.
An underrated “Pachaikiligal tholodu”
brought out a fresh view to father-daughter
relationship. The highlight of ARR’s
contribution in this movie is the BGM that
is thoroughly adrenalin pumping justifying
the pest control being done by Indian ‘thatha’.
7. Alaipayuthey (‘Saathiya’
in Hindi)
A youth extravaganza by Mani Ratnam,
this movie brought out the best of ARR for
the younger generation. “Endrendrum
Punnagai” made college students go
berserk with its immaculate aptness to the
song’s situation and I would not be
surprised if it still does. “Pachhai
Nirame” brought out a great singer
in Hariharan modulating his voice effortlessly
for various moods sketched out in the song.
The theme song “Alaipyuthey”
is another great example of ARR’s
ability to turn classical tunes to feet-tapping
modern tunes.
8. Ayudha Ezhuthu (‘Yuva’ in
Hindi)
A completely underrated movie and
music album for Mani-ARR combo standards,
this one challenged ARR by demanding songs
for 7 completely different situations. The
standout song “Jana Gana Mana”
is as patriotic as his “Vande Mataram”
album. A vernal “Fanaa” makes
everyone who is out of college, feel nostalgic.
A folk in the form of “Sandai Kozhi”
established ARR as an all-rounder.
9. Kandukondain Kandukondain
This album of ARR is the best melody
collection of ARR, next to ‘Duet’.
The anxious “Enna solla pogirai”
would break the hearts of all men who are
waiting for a positive answer from their
ladies. The romantic “Kandukondain
Kandukondain” (though poorly visualized)
brought the best lyrics out of Vairamuthu.
The mellifluent “Konjum Mainakkale”
takes melody to another level that people
had not seen since “Thalapathy”
of IR (Ilayaraja) days.
It would be impractical to list
all of ARR’s albums though most of
them are of extremely high quality. Some
of those that are worth mentioning are “Pudhiya
Mugam”, “Karuthamma”,
“Kadhal Desam”, “Minsara
Kanavu”, “Jeans”, “En
Swasa Kaatre”, “Rhythm”,
“Kannathil Muthamittal”, “Boys”,
“Sillunu Oru Kadhal”. These
movies also have some great compositions
that would never die with time, thereby
distinguishing ARR from the rest. Ending
on a positive note, I think we might also
witness him selling more than a billion
records making him the most records selling
artist in the world.
Thanks,
shyam sundar,
a_shyam41@yahoo.co.uk
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