First of all, listen to this.
Whatever can I say more than this. It’s like an arrow through your heart and then you are in heaven, all in a split second. Just like love. : )
This part —2:06 – 2:44 — is the sound of confusion your heart makes when separation makes no sense. I have been there. Haven’t you?
This part — 3:06 – 3:22 — is the voice of your heart when you know you have lost and accepted defeat, but the pain is now permanent.
Haricharan’s ringing voice in Sathyam is an experience I will not forget in my life. The background music is deeply entrenched in my brain, and I can feel it flowing through my veins. This was before I saw the movie.
Watching the face-off between Aditha and Nandhini unfold with this song in the background absolutely tore my heart into two. This reprise version choked me. Hear the ongoing piano in the background. Then the violin that appears out of nowhere. Is your heart broken yet? : )
The scene itself is spine-chilling. I was no more sure whose side I was on. I was not even sure whose side those two were on. It’s a cinematic masterpiece, and it is worth watching this movie in the theatre a dozen more times only for this scene. It is climactic perfection delivered, with two star crossed lovers — one wants to kill, and one who wants to die, both know there is no way to go back and change anything in the past. And Rahman’s music! It will put a dagger into your heart just as Aditha makes Nandhini do that to him. And as the camera pans into them falling as one, Khatija’s voice will strike again and destroy whatever is left of your heart. : )
Please just go watch it. It’s an experience you should not miss in the theatres. : ) I feel privileged just to be born in this era where Mani Ratnam decided to visualize this, and Rahman decided to infuse music into this classic.
Of course, I am just a biased fan of Mani Ratnam and Rahman, but everything about this movie is an experience that breaks my heart. The movie could be about Ponniyin Selvan, but for me it was always about Nandhini and Aditha. The second movie where Ash and Vikram are lovers who cannot unite. I loved their terrific chemistry in Ravanan, but this is next level.
I am not a big fan of big budget, flashy movies, but I still find myself lucky to have seen such a classic piece of Tamil literature come to life through Mani Ratnam’s eyes. Everything was just right, neither more, neither less. The characters, the setting, the story line, the camera, and the music. Oh the music! : )
When PS 1 came out, someone told me that A R Rahman was not the right choice for this movie. I smirked and decided not to engage in this kind of negativity. I wish people could just close their eyes once and listen to this album. It will transport them, to another world if not to another cosmos. : ) But who has that kind of time? We just want quick dopamine and we will go back to passing dumb comments from our limited comprehension.
I loved Aga Naga when it came out, and I loved it more when Chinmayi gave Shaktishree a shout out for her terrific singing. Ironic because all I could imagine was this song in Chinmayi’s voice. : )
Even with Shaktishree’s supremacy in this song, Rahman shines with an evergreen melody yet again that lets the singer take the centre stage with minimal arrangements in the background. : ) Who’s the real genius here?
Now, I cannot not talk about Veera raja Veera. Always always loved Shankar Mahadevan’s singing for Rahman. It’s like Rahman brings out his most powerful, most masculine voice out. *Ganeer* – we have a word in Tamizh. Shankar’s Ganeer voice comes out with Rahman. : )
Also, most happy to see Chinmayi sing for Rahman in the telugu version. I listened to it a hundred times in Telugu too, only for her. What a voice! : )
I was just sitting in the theatre like a fool long after the movie ended just to make sure I heard the whole of this song. I had no intention to leave.
Check out this bit: 2:03 – 2:23 – Can you believe that transition?
And then Chinmayi begins. Uff!
I am watching it again in a couple of days. Will come back with more fan girl drama. Until then, let’s all go die a thousand deaths in Khatija Rahman’s voice in this.
