Songs and musician credits at the end.
At one point in its second half, Little Little bursts into a profusion of kuthu beats, and the mind went back to a similar transition in the gem that was Strawberry Kannae/Aankhein (I would really love to see Dhanush break into a dance à la Prabhudeva here!) – the composition does pretty much sit in the same quirky, laid-back zone, except with the drunk-romantic theme. I have never been a big fan of Dhanush’s singing, but this is a song that is pretty much down his alley and the man makes it work quite well (although I might have been still happier with another singer 😀 ). The arrangement is delightful – a bit bummed though that the clarinet from Sax Raja does not make another appearance after a corker of a solo early in the song. I remember a twitter thread once (unable to find it now found it thanks to @phanishankar), listing various instances where ARR has worked wonders with the delayed introduction of the second singer in a duet. Little Little is a worthy addition to that list – Hiral Viradia’s entry is just brilliant (that hiccup is an inspired touch); only wish she had a longer portion though, she sounds very promising. More 90s ARR throwback happens when the flamenco guitars kick off the proceedings in Toofaan Si Kudi (so happy to see Santhosh Chandran’s name against this one, having been a huge admirer of the ace guitarist – sample this, this and this to get a quick idea as to why), and it is indeed the guitars that turn out the highlight of the infectious song, even as A R Rahman appears to be having a lot of fun throwing in surprise percussive elements like dhols, ghatam, edaykka(!) and even manjira towards the end. Irshad Kamil chooses an interestingly contrasting mix of phrases as well in his lines, presumably to go with the wacky fusion on the musical front. The backing vocalists and choir do a fine job on the vocal front, it is Rashid Ali who doesn’t sound the same as he did back in his peak and proves to be the weak link. The album’s “massiest” track Garda, headed by Daler Mehndi, is the only song in the album that failed to impress me despite the lively brass orchestra. Even the novelty in the garda udaa diye quote by Himanshu Sharma (the movie’s writer, I presume) wears off pretty quick.
There is no way that you listen to the guitar strums that open Tumhein Mohabbat and guess the kind of song that is about to follow. Rahman keeps the arrangement minimal in this one to let the sombre, enigmatic melody (partly puriya dhanashree raga based I think) take the spotlight, and how it flows! Irshad Kamil is in fine fettle here – love the fact that the song is named after the phrase that appears at the very end, underlining the finality of the unrequited love (something that the composer conveys beautifully with his arrangement as well, or rather the lack of it). Arijit Singh often gets a bad rep for the melancholic songs in his portfolio, but few contemporary singers would be able to deliver this song as poignantly as he has. My current favourite from the album, this one. Going from the minimal to the most richly orchestrated song of the album – I wonder if there is a bit of a nod in the Murali Ki Dhun refrain in Tere Rang intended towards Naushad’s classic Madhuban Mein Radhika (guessing this based on the hameer raga, the genre and even the lyrical overlap in terms of Radhika, murli etc). The rest of the song is a lot different of course, and is a beautifully realised semiclassical piece at that, delivered fabulously by Haricharan and Shreya Ghoshal – it is a delight to hear the two play off each other in the second verse. Shreya is equally excellent at delivering the festive Chaka Chak, a song that is evocative of multiple ARR songs from the past. It makes for an engaging listen nevertheless, although given the quality of the other songs, doesn’t rate as high in the pecking order. Finally, Rait Zara Si has a melody that would fit snugly into an Ashutosh Gowariker movie, but is otherwise replete with Tamil elements, both arrangement-wise and lyrically (love that Tamil chorus!). Speaking of the arrangement, special mention to Kareem Kamalakar (flute) and Kishore (sarod) for being an incredibly soothing addition to the proceedings. Arijit Singh is back behind the mic on this one, joined by an equally competent Shashaa Tirupati.
Atrangi Re. A R Rahman delivers another winner with Irshad Kamil! Incidentally the second Bollywood soundtrack in just over a month to carry a Southern flavour to it, the other one of course being Meenakshi Sundareshwar, which was also a brilliant album – perhaps this is the magic ingredient to make Bollywood albums sound good from here on? 😉
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: Tumhein Mohabbat, Little Little, Tere Rang, Toofan Si Kudi, Rait Zara Si
Album Credits
Rait Zara Si
Song Composed, Arranged and Produced By A R Rahman
Singers: Arijit Singh, Shashaa Tirupati
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Music Supervisor: Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Flute : Kareem Kamalakar
Sarod : Kishore
Bass Guitar : Keba Jeremiah
Additional Voice : Arjun Chandy, Nakul Abhyankar, Hriday Gattani, Hiral Viradia
Rhythm : Kaviraj, Ranjith magi, Hariprasad, Krishna Kishore, Tumba Raja, Mani, Venkat
Strings : Chennai Orchestra & Sunshine Orchestra
Conducted by Jerry Vincent
Score Transcription by Karthik Manickavasakam
Additional Programming : Karthik Devraj, Suryansh
Additional Rhythm Arrangement: Kumaran Sivamani
Sound Engineers:
Panchathan Record Inn,
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Nakul Abhyankar, Pradvay Shivashankar
ARR Studios, Mumbai
Dilshaad Shabbir Shaik, Hriday Gattani, Nitish Kumar
KM Showcase Lab: Riyasdeen Riyan, Aravind Crescendo
AM Studios : Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS, Krishnan Subramanian
Mixed By: T R Krishna Chetan
Mastered By : Suresh Permal
Masters For iTunes : Karthik Sekaran
Musician Co Ordinators : Samidurai R, Abdul Haiyum, TM Faizudeen, Siddique
Little Little
Song Composed, Arranged and Produced By : A R Rahman
Singers : Dhanush, Hiral Viradia
Lyrics : Irshad Kamil
Music Supervisor : Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Rhythm : Ranjith, Hariprasadh
Clarinet & Alto Sax : Sax Raja
Solo Violin : Anna Kondeatenko
Chennai Orchestra & Sunshine Orchestra
Conducted by Jerry Vincent
Score Transcription by Karthik Manikavasagam
Additional Vocals : Hriday Gattani, Nakul Abhyankar, Arjun Chandy
Additional Rhythm Arrangement : Kumaran Sivamani, Suryansh
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record Inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Pradvay Shivashankar
ARR Studios, Mumbai
Dilshad Shabir Sheik, Hriday Gattani, Nitish
KM Showcase Lab, Chennai
Riyasdeen Riyan, Aravind Crescendo
AM Studios, Chennai
Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS, Krishnan Subramanian
Mixed By : Nakul Abhyankar
Mastered By : Suresh Permal
Masters For iTunes : Karthik Sekaran
Musician Co Ordinators : Samidurai R, Abdul Haiyum, TM Faizudeen, Siddique
Toofaan Si Kudi
Song Composed, Arranged and Produced By : A R Rahman
Singers : Rashid Ali
Additional Vocals : Mayank Kapri, Varun Uday, Nisa Shetty, Pooja Tiwari
Lyrics : Irshad Kamil
Music Supervisor : Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Guitars : Santhosh Chandran, Vijay Joseph, Matt Beacon
Flute : Kareem Kamalar
Sarod : Kishore
Choir : El Fè
Strings Chennai Orchestra & Sunshine Orchestra
Conducted by Jerry Vincent
Score Transcription by Karthik Manikavasagam
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record Inn,
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Nakul Abhyankar, Pradvay Shivashankar
ARR Studios, Mumbai
Dilshad Shabir Sheik, Hriday Gattani, Nitish
KM Showcase Lab
Riyasdeen Riyan, Aravind Crescendo
AM Studios
Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS, Krishnan Subramanian
Mixed By : Nakul Abhyankar
Mastered By : Suresh Permal
Masters For iTunes : Karthik Sekaran
Musician Co Ordinators : Samidurai R, Abdul Haiyum, TM Faizudeen, Siddique
Tumhein Mohabbat
Song Composed, Arranged and Produced By : A R Rahman
Singer : Arijit Singh
Lyrics : Irshad Kamil
Music Supervisor : Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Chennai Orchestra & Sunshine Orchestra
Conducted by Jerry Vincent
Score Transcription by Shubam Bhat
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record Inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Pradvay Shivashankar
ARR Studios, Mumbai
Dilshad Shabir Sheik, Hriday Gattani, Nitish
KM Showcase Lab, Chennai
Riyasdeen Riyan, Aravind Crescendo
AM Studios, Chennai
Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS, Krishnan Subramanian
Mixed And Mastered by: Suresh Permal
Masters For iTunes : Karthik Sekaran
Musician Co Ordinators : Samidurai R, Abdul Haiyum, TM Faizudeen, Siddique
Tere Rang
Song Composed, Arranged and produced: A R Rahman
Singers: Haricharan Seshadri, Shreya Goshal
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Chaka Chak
Song Composed, Arranged and Produced By A R Rahman
Singer – Shreya Ghoshal
Lyrics – Irshad Kamil
Music Supervisor – Hiral Viradia
Choreography: Vijay Ganguly
Musicians
Rhythm : Lakshman, Raju, Krishna Kishore, Ranjith, Hariprasadh, Tumba Raja, Vedha
Shenai : Balesh
Nadaswaram : Mambalam Siva
Flute : Kareem Kamalar
Dotara : Pradipto Sengupta
Chennai Orchestra & Sunshine Orchestra
Conducted by Jerry Vincent
Score Transcription by Karthik Manickavasakam
Additional Rhythm Programming
T R Krishna Chetan, Kumaran Sivamani, Nakul Abhyankar
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record Inn,
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Santhosh Dhayanithi
Vocal Supervision
Dilshad Shabir Sheik, Hriday Gattani
KM Showcase Lab
Riyasdeen Riyan, Aravind Crescendo
AM Studios
Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS, Krishnan Subramanian
Mixed By
T R Krishna Chetan
Mastered By
Suresh Permal
Masters For iTunes
Karthik Sekaran
Musician Co Ordinators
Samidurai R, Abdul Haiyum, TM Faizudeen, Siddique
Garda
Song Composed, Arranged and Produced By : A R Rahman
Singer : Daler Mehndi
Additional Vocals: Himanshu Sharma
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Music Supervisor : Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Rhythm : Dipesh Varma, Keyur Barve, Omkar Salunkhe, Shikhar Naad Qureshi & Satyajit Jamsandekar
Clarinet : Sax Raja, Chris Whiter
Flute, Saxophones : Chris Whiter
Guitars : Keba Jeremiah, Fardeen Siddiqui
Choir : El Fé, Nivas, Sharath Santhosh
Sunshine Brass
Angelin
Karthick
Mohammed
Conducted by Lisa Sarasini
Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra
Score Performed by F.A.M.E.S Orchestra
Lead Orchestrator : Joaquin Badia
Indian Orchestra co-ordinator : Andrew T. Mackay/ Bohemia Junction Ltd.
Chennai Orchestra & Sunshine Orchestra
Conducted by Jerry Vincent
Score Transcription by Shubham Bhat
Additional Vocals : Nakul Abhyankar, Shenbagaraj, Deepak Blue, Lavita Lobo, Rakshita Suresh
Additional Rhythm Arrangement: Parag Chhabra, Dipesh Varma
Additional Programming : Ishaan Chhabra
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record Inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Pradvay Shivashankar
ARR Studios, Mumbai
Dilshaad Shabir Sheik, Hriday Gattani, Nitish
KM Showcase Lab, Chennai
Riyasdeen Riyan, Aravind Crescendo
AM Studios, Chennai
Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS, Krishnan Subramanian
Yashraj studios, Mumbai
Vijay Dayal
Assisted by Chinmay Mestry
Mixed By: T R Krishna Chetan
Mastered By : Suresh Permal
Masters For iTunes : Karthik Sekaran
Musician Co Ordinators
Samidurai R, Abdul Haiyum, TM Faizudeen, Siddique
Music Label: T-Series
