Saturday, November 15, 2008

The Phenomenon called Rahat Fateh Ali Khan!!



Ye mera geet,jeevan sangeet,kal fir koi dohrayega....when Mukesh gave voice to these lines little would he have realised that the wish expressed here will largely remain unfulfilled.In the years and decades that have followed the Rafi-Mukesh-Kishore era,no male voice came close to recreating the magic of these legends.I am often accused of being prejudiced against new songs,though I always have tried to maintain a balanced viewpoint on the issue.In fact I do like many modern ones,but they have failed to create(with a few notable exceptions) the magic of the evergreen oldies.Singers are pretty good,lyricists range from below par to brilliant,Music directors from very bad(Xerox machine pritam) to good ones.Even with several godly lyrics by Gulzar sir and music by likes of SEL and Rahman,songs came and went without creating themagic that my music loving heart craved for.Something was amiss,that extra spark which could make me fall in love with the song.There are several songs which I can easily listen to ten times at a stretch(during last sem,there was a period of half a month when I listend to 'zeehale muskin" for whole morning...everyday!!),but just a handful such from the last decade or so.


I remember downloading the ringtone of Jiya Dhadak dhadak on my cell phone when I had just heard it on a couple of occasions.This summer when one of my friends asked me about my favourite singer among the present crop,I named Kumar Sanu and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,which was a new name for him then.But now he is a big fan of his...and so am I.Slowly and steadily my admiration for this immensely talented,incredibly wonderful singer singer has increased."Bol na halke halke" took the liking to a certain fanatic level,while "Teri Ore" sung by my favourite contemporary combo intensified the feelings."Lagan laagi' was discovered a little late but again it was special. After listening to the song "mohabbat to ek javeda zindagi hai' for more than 30 times today,I realised what I had discovered.Now I feel that since Mukesh Mania happened 5 years back,no voice has had this kind of effect on me(this isnt comparable to the craze level I have for Mukesh songs,yet this is special).Hemlatas and Shreya ghoshals did sound very cute, but this is ultra special.Maybe this was the extra spark that I longed for.I may now start taking interest in newer music albums with a hope that it will have some "rahat" in the offering.This is one voice which can drive me to a level of appreciation where I can listen to it on and on and on .....I cant tolerate two similar songs from Atif but with Rahat,its special stuff.Mediocre lyrics may be forgiven and the similarity in songs would also not be looked upon by a critical insight,as this is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at his vintage best.In fact I appreciated Himesh for giving "teri yaad saath hai",though his music clearly wasnt the sole reason. Finally I have something in the music of my generation that makes me crazy.I have heard a few of his earlier non filmy ones,and they are only a shadow of what he is producing today.So credit must go to the composers who have known how to exactly use him.I earnestly hope that bollywood keeps on getting the best out of Rahat...for the moment...I will just enjoy....."Mohabbat ki hai daasta zindagi,mohabbat na ho to kahaan zindagi..mohabbat to ek javeda zindagi hai"

10 comments:

Ashish Gourav said...

I not much into music n all but I like the works of shreya ghosal and sonu nigam very much. Yeah I do agree that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
deserves everything which he has received and actually he'll get more............. u also gave me few song suggestions thnx as I've been bored of my collection and playlists.....keep writing

SGM said...

I was myself going to write something on Ustad Rahat very soon...but you have already done a great job...Think of songs with a certain amount of flavour in them and the only name cropping up today is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,the nephew and disciple of Ustad Nusrat F A Khan.....The important fact is that he is not yet exhausted...every time we think that this was his best performance ever,he beats himself :)

Wow man....Jiya Dhadak Dhadak,Mann ki Lagan,Naina,Main Jahan Rahun,Teri Ore,Jag Soona Soona LAge,**Bol Na Halke Halke**...Wow

Sajal Ehsaas said...

@ Ashish...I love Shreya though am not a big fan of Sonu...though I will suggest u to get into a little more of music...its really soothing...and do listen to Rahat...hes brilliant

@ SGM...nice to see our opinions matching again :)

rampy said...

About Rahatji, its his mesmerizing voice and texture and style and tone and pitching and what not, everything. He is one of the best.

But I am surprised how you, a man of real good taste in music, like Kumar Sanu? :) Personally, I do not at all. For me, Sunidhi Chauhan, A R Rehman, Shankar Mahadevan, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Shaan, Kailash Kher. Yes, I agree Sonu Nigam gets little irritating in many songs, else he, too, is good.

Plus, this new genre of songs that are coming now-a-days is something that gets me up. Pritam style. I know they are not original, but I atleast appreciate him for getting these Italian, Continental music to India. I do agree that we can directly hear them, but language being alien to us, we will not be comfortable listening to it.

Himesh Reshammiya, according to me, is a very very good composer. Leave his singing, I appreciate his talent to compose. Not those disco type, but these slow ones - Agar tum mil jao, and why not - Main Jahaan Rahoon... Composition is too good and Nusratbhai has done complete justice to it.

Incase you have missed this song, you must listen to 'Nainon ki mat maaniyon re...' from film Omkaara, music by Vishal Bharadwaj. That will take you to some different heaven. One of the links on 'Yeh Shaam Mastaani' on my Bog shows you Rahatji in better glory than the original of this song

Sajal Ehsaas said...

@rampy...1st of all thanks for making this visit :)

I have heard naino ki mat maaniyo re....omkara songs are wonderful...am not much into the new ones,just diff ppl diff choices...but Rahats voice has a soothing effect which is somewhat eternal...Kumar Sanu is another voice where I felt it suited the emotional ones...the voice has that extra tinge of nostalgic effect....maybe seein him in a critical light,wont appreciate him much...but I do enjoy his songs as I can feel many of them

Unknown said...

Great Singer.....but under-rated...I just hope he gets more bollywood songs...wat I think is that d music directors should encourage talents like Rahat Ji....n should also give d reality show singers as much opportunity as they talk about in the shows....so that we can have singers like him in India too....I hope many are in d process...in that way...the soul of music can appeal more ....not only to lovers of Rahat Ji but also to Himesh's lovers n fans.... : Hey Sajal ,surprised ?

Sajal Ehsaas said...

@ Naman..thanks fr the first comment..I agree wih whatever u said...appreciating rahat has again been something that we have gone through a lot together isnt it?

Sajal Ehsaas said...

@ all

'"mohabbat to ek javeda zindagi" has been sung by a singer named Kshitij and not by Rahat...sorry for the incorrec info provided
surprisingly no one ponted this out...but even he has to be a special singer to have produced such a fine work...though in the song he really does sound like Raahat ji...hope we get to listen more of such singers and they get moe recognition

Kavya!! said...

I knew that the song "mohabbat to ek javeda zindagi hai" has not been sung by rahat and was surprised at the post....before I thought of pointing it out,u corrected urself in comments... :-)
The song happens to be di's and mine most favourite among recent numbers....I must have listened to it innumerable times and yet crave for it...we share the same liking again when it comes to raahat...i agree with every word you have mentioned about him...I have exact thoughts as you do.we will discuss it someday in detail....:-) too less space here to pour out everything that my heart contains for him!

Sajal Ehsaas said...

am glad Rahat ji is being appreciated at such a large scale :)

I saw the movie with the song(Anwar) and I was surprised that only a part of the song is used in the movie and that too at the end of the movie...