The "Beethovan of the East", A.R. Rahman is back with what he is best at. Yes, its composing music for period films, at which he is simply par excellante! And that is reason enough for lovers of high quality classical based music (fed up with the artificial techno-stuff) to rejoice. This is the maestro's sixth album for a full fledged period film album. The first one in the excellent line-up was, Earth (199
, followed by Aamir Khan's Lagaan (2001), Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Bose-The Forgotten Hero (2005), Mangal Pandey-The Rising (2005) and Water (2006). Quite an impressive line-up, one must say! With Rahman announcing that Jodhaa Akbar will be the last in the series, here is inviting all Rahman maniacs to feast on this musical offering by the wizard, Allah Rakha Rahman!
True to the grandeur and magnificence of the magnum-opus, Rahman's first composition is
'Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah' (Shouldn't it be Azeem-Ush-Shaan Shahenshah, Javed Sahab?) which commences with bugle and nagada sounds heralding the arrival of the most powerful Mughal Emperor, Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar. Rahman's work is magical here as he deftly creates the perfect ambience through his superb musical arrangements. Percussion wizard, Sivamani gives the song a royal battlefield touch with his Taiko and sword rhythm and makes the song a thrilling hearing experience. The tempo and rhythm is kept at a constant pace, the flow of the mukhda and the antara are kept uniform. It's the uniformity which makes this composition a delight and truly unique. The only point where it varies is where the inspiration from his own Lagaan composition 'Ghanan Ghanan' takes over for a while in the female chorus. The two male singers, Mohammad Aslam and Boney Chakraborty sing as a team and are in perfect harmony with each other.
Javed Akhtar succeeds in providing a befitting introduction to the emperor, highlighting the power and strength, the kind and generous nature as well as his loving personality through well crafted words. The mukhda – "Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah,(The great emperor), Farmaan Ravaan (Whose decree is the order of the day), Hamesha hamesha salamat rahe (Live healthy forever), Tera ho kya byaan (No words can describe you), Tu shaan-e-Hindustan (You are the pride of Hindustan), Hindustan teri jaan, (Hindustan is your life), Tu jaan-e-Hindustan (You are the life of Hindustan), Marhaba, Marhaba (Welcome & Hail thee, Hail thee)". Javed Akhtar also uses the local dialect of the North to give the song an authentic feel. A truly 'azeemushshan agaaz' (great beginning) to an 'Azeemushshaan' album! 'Marhaba! Marhaba!'
Ashutosh prefers to call his magnum-opus an epic romance between Emperor Akbar and his beloved wife, Jodhaa, and it therefore provides Rahman ample opportunity to create two of the most wonderful love ballads of recent times.
Magical sitar and rubab sounds embrace the listeners and commence the first one
'Jashne-E-Bahaaraa' that one falls in love with instantly. The combination of the sitar, rubab and beads is fantabulous. Although it's a romantic love song, it is a touch different. What we mean is that its not the usual run of the mill number that can fit into any romantic situation. It has been specially crafted for the movie. The lyrics suggest that it is a situational love track. The fact that initially Jodhaa resented her marriage to Akbar is presented in a beautiful manner, through words which are simply superb, and Javed Akhtar deserves all the accolades possible - "Kaise kahen kya hai sitam, Sochte hain ab yeh hum, Koi kaise kahen woh hain ya nahin hamare, Karten toh hain saath safar, Faasle hain, Phir bhi magar, Jaise milte nahin dariya ke do kinare." Javed Ali is simply superb, as he tunefully renders the spellbinding composition.
Sitar and rubab once again commences
'Jashn-E-Bahaaraa-Instrumental' though its backbone is some excellent flute piece by Navin (Rahman's favourite). It is definitely a novel effort and makes for a pleasant change from the mundane instrumentals of today.
According to the lead actor Hrithik Roshan, Jodhaa Akbar has the most romantic and intimate moments (sans the kiss of course!), and the next composition
'Inn Lamhon Ki Daaman Mein' is a testimony to those beautiful moments shared by the Emperor and his beautiful wife. The number starts as a simple love song, with Sonu excelling in the genre which has become his very own. But as Rahman's trademark magnificently executed crescendo takes over, the listeners are as always left awestruck with the massive arrangements, which only the maestro is capable of. The crescendo highlights the passionate relationship well. The chorus with its background taans and also singing and the lull that follows the mukhda are all breathtakingly beautiful. 'Madhur' (sweet) sounding Madhushree joins in the duet and sings in chaste Hindi(the princess is a Rajputani, remember!). Kudos to the musical genius!
After two beautiful love songs, its time to go spiritual with the Sufi qawwali,
'Khwaja Mere Khwajaa'. Rendered by the maestro A.R. Rahman himself, its an authentic qawwali, the kind heard in the shrines and dargahs. The musical instruments like harmonium, tabla, daf, along with well knit taans and sargams by the chorus will be appreciated by the connoisseur of this type of qawwali, who love it pure and unadulterated. The result is a superb devotional track that tugs at the heart, such is Rahman's rendition. It is a situational number. As is well known that Akbar visited the shrine of the famous saint Salim Chisti (Fatehpur Sikri), wept, pleaded and prayed there to be granted a son who would inherit his empire. His prayers were granted and he was blessed with son Salim, the next Mughal emperor after Akbar, known as Jahangir. But the lyricist Kashif has referred to the saint as Khwaja Moiunddin (Ajmer)/'Gharib Nawaz' and this is a big error on the part of the whole team, as Akbar visited the shrine of Khawja Salim Chisti and not that of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
The qawwali also has an instrumental version, and the instrument predominantly used is the oboe, a woodwind instrument (modified version – bassoon) played to perfection by Leighann Woodard, along with the sitar and organ sounds. This is a musical wonder from A.R. Rahman which can be labeled as an Indian Philharmonic orchestra. A real treat!
After the soulful qawwali, its prayer time once again, with
'Man Mohanaa', a bhajan or a devotional number, dedicated to Lord Krishna, God of love, also referred to as "Kanha" or "Man Mohanaa" (charmer of the heart), as in this number. It is obviously a situational track, sung during troubled times of war and revolt. The extremely talented, but underrated Bela Shende moves the soul with her rendition and makes this first, somewhat average composition (the tune has been heard many times before) from Rahman a soulful experience. In the context of the movie, the number will serve an important purpose in showing that Jodhaa was a woman of substance and she stuck to her own faith and religion and the emperor respected her faith.
So those were our impressions of Jodhaa Akbar, the audio album which finally hit the stores after many postponements, but when it did, the wait was definitely worth it! Rahman has done it again and his fans are savoring his masterly compositions. But isn't that always the case, even when it is served on time? Definitely and surely a must buy, as it may not be a classic, but will surely become one in the days to come!
Rating: 8.5/10
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