A R Rahman recently composed theme songs for 2 states – the first was for Gujarat, scored for Gujarat’s Golden Jubilee celebrations and the second was the theme song composed for World Classical Tamil Conference. Now, what would be the shelf life of such songs, composed for specific occasions?
In case of Bharatbala’s Vande Mataram project, it was meant as, and marketed as a commercial pop album and hence it worked wonderfully, with phenomenal shelf-life. But, what do these one-off theme songs give Rahman, who’s music is always expected with feverish perseverance by his fans?
Money? Possibly, but that is the least of Rahman’s considerations given his global standing. An association with the state heads or the cause the theme songs are supposed to represent? Very possible – since there is time-based/historical significance to these events, and hence, possibly, the songs too.
But really, how often are these songs played? At least in case of the Tamil World Conference, it is nothing but an ego-massage by the current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and it is sad to see Rahman pandering to such blatant abuse of power when there are many more worthy causes that are crying for attention. Tamil Nadu is a state where there seems to be a unofficial diktat to hold at least one conference/meeting every week with Karunanidhi as chief guest – it is a cycle actually, since the exclusive TV rights of such weekly conferences/meetings go to Karunanidhi-owned Kalaignar TV and slots are sold to sponsors immediately, completing the money circle. But Rahman is from Tamil Nadu, and needs to act like one, beyond personal beliefs – if that means doing a theme song for a Tamil World Conference, so be it.
I’ve nothing personally against the conference and love my mother tongue quite adequately that I chose Tamil as 2nd language all through my studies, while my classmates had incredible fun with Sanskrit. But I’m befuddled with the idea of using a celebrated, globally renowned composer for scoring a theme song that may never be used or remembered beyond one evening. If this was a film project, would Rahman agree? Or, would he use his discretion to see the pointlessness of the exercise and focus on better projects? I cannot answer that hypothetical question and I suppose neither will Rahman – even if he has an answer. That is called being politically correct.
The song for Gujarat seems to have slightly better significance – after all, 50 years is not a small milestone – and, roping in a celebrated composer to mark that occasion with a special song is a great idea. There are murmurs about Narendra Modi doing this tactically, given his much-maligned past the composer’s religion, but such parochial assumptions insult both the occasion and the composer, who is known for his religion-agnostic outlook.
The Gujarat song and the Tamil conference theme are predictable to a large extent – rousing music that builds gradually; assortment of singers and state/culture/language-specific instruments used for obvious reasons; jingoistic lyrics, again, for obvious and rightful reasons – Rahman’s fans are happy that they have something from their idol. But, what exactly are these theme compositions meant to achieve? And for whom?
I personally believe that these initiatives gain more from Rahman’s name attached to them than Rahman gaining anything from them. That, of course, does not make it any less important for Rahman to decline such opportunities, but I really wonder why an incredibly busy composer who has top-ranked directors and producers waiting in queue outside his house to sign him for their projects, agree to such one-off efforts that may be used once in their life time and revered only by fanatic followers? Hell with being politically correct – at least online.
