~A.R. Rahman

Oh yes indeed, there certainly does happen to be a very justified reason for all the euphoria Hindi music fans are experiencing—two words: Rahman. Blue.

Okay, okay! Arrey yaar, don’t have a panic attack! I won’t leave you hanging mid-air with just those two words. I’ll take you through my listening experience for all 7 tracks! As Rahman himself suggests, “Drown into the music of Blue.” As you wish…

FYI, Resul Pookutty is the sound designer for Blue. Thought I’d throw that information out there!

It’s no secret. We’ve all heard news buzz about actress and pop singer Kylie Minogue singing for Rahman in Blue. Yup, the name of the track is Chiggy Wiggy and the very talented Sonu Nigam also joins her for the musical joyride. The female to-too-too-too-too-too's are rather contagious and upbeat, and Kylie’s vocals are really refreshing to listen to. The beats are catchy, heck, this entire song is catchy, and the big surprise is when Sonu comes in 2.14 into the song shouting “Gore!!!” and the song fuses Punjabi beats and lyrics with Kylie’s western rendition. Grab someone and sing, “I wanna chiggy wiggy with you!” It’s nice how Abbas Tyrewala paid attention to using alliteration—so many “k” and “kh” sounds: Khaatoon, Khidmat, Kaatil, Khilaadi, Kaatilanaa. One of my favorite stanzas is, “But I don’t’ need a shining star, And I don’t want to be rescued, No neither frog, nor charming princes, Nor my summers barbecued…I wanna chiggy-wiggy with you boy!” Sonu’s “oye’s” and the stretched out “rabba” at the end will make you smile. Welcome back, Sonu! Hope to hear more of you regularly.

Shreya Ghoshal. This girl has been surprising us all with her amazing versatility as a singer (just take a look at the two extremes—Bhor Bhaye/Delhi-6; Latoo/Ghajini). It’s nice to hear her modulate her voice for a more chilled-back effect in Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai. Mayur Puri’s lyrics are rather average though (“aaj din gustaakh hai, paaniyo pe aag hai, dhadkan bhi betaab hai”), and the song does take repeat listens to get into. Sukhwinder Singh doesn’t really shine much in this song…honestly, Rahman could have easily taken Hariharan or Suresh Wadekar and it would still have had the same effect. Okay, okay, not trying to be mean or anything! There are plenty of people credited with backing vocals: Benny Dayal, Hentry Kuruvilla and Shi Millhouse, Raven Millhouse. Sanjeev Thomas does a nice job with playing the guitar. The piano also stands out in the song.

Stresed out lately? Chhodd naa yaar. Fiqr not, Fiqrana is here! The song starts off initially reminding me of Kaise Mujhe from Ghajini. Vijay Prakash (Manmohini, Jai Ho, Paal Paal Hai Bhari) takes the mic for this song. The stanza going “Jeet-te hai adh adh adh ke hum” brings back mild memories of a crossover of Hum Honge Kaamiyaab and Illayaraja’s Chal Chalein Title Track. Lyrics are by Ajit Arora, who also wrote lyrics for Singh Is Kinng and dialogues for Om Shanti Om, and honestly, it’s cool to hear a phrase like “khaamaa khaa,” but that's just about the only phrase that stands out in the lyrics. There are lots of electronic sounds used, and Shreya doesn’t have much to offer in this track, unfortunately.

Awesome! Rashid Ali (Kabhi Kabhi Aditi, Kahin Toh Hogi Woh, Ishq Ada Hai, Naadhir Thinna) is back in Bhoola Tujhe. Kavita Baliga, a teacher at Rahman’s music school, is also credited with “Yeri Voice.” It’s nice to hear Rashid’s soulful voice, and even the questioning tone of Abbas Tyrewala’s lyrics are beautiful...The song starts off with mesmerizing strings (Chennai Strings Orchestra) and then the guitar (Sanjeev Thomas) comes in followed by the trumpet (Kishore Sodha). Tension continues to build up with drums joining in at 1.54 into the song. But, honestly speaking, the lyrics and Rashid’s style of singing doesn’t really mesh well with the music…or, perhaps that is the point…to indicate a sense of internal tension going on…

Oh. My. God! Blue Theme is one BIG party!! People went crazy with Jai Ho—make ‘em listen to this. So much is going on in this song…not just in terms of instruments but even singers. We have two lyricists (Sukhwinder Singh for the Punjabi portion and Raqueeb Alam for the Hindi portion) and we also have SIX singers: Blaaze, Raqueeb Alam, Sonu Kakkar, Jaspreet Singh, Neha Kakkar and Dilshad. Just try not to dance when this song is blasting through your speakers—you just can’t resist! I have to draw special attention to lyricist Raqueeb Alam (Jiya Se Jiya/Connections; Ringa Ringa/Slumdog Millionaire; Ishq Ada & Meherbaan/Ada)—he manages to write lyrics to a fun-filled song but he doesn’t sacrifice poetry and imagery--“bekhauff nigaahein,” “rangeen sharaare,” “bearish ke taarein,” “bedaagh vafaayein,” “saagar ke dil mei jitney khazaane, dil ke saagar mei, utne afsaane.” Wow!

You know, even if I didn’t know Rehnuma is for Blue, the first image that would have come to mind after listening to this song IS water! That’s one of the amazing qualities of Rahman’s music—they really do conjure up images and memories. Listen to Himalayas from Connections and bingo, that’s exactly what you’ll imagine. Listen to Rehnuma, and, yes, that’s right, you imagine the under-water world. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal come together for this song, and Abbas Tyrewala pens down lyrics once again--the only two lines that really grabbed my attention are "leher si yeh baahein" and "zulfo ki qaid mubaarak tujhe ho"...and, that's about it. The way Sonu and Shreya stretch each word and seem in no hurry has a relaxing effect. And, if it wasn’t already obvious by now, Sonu does a damn good job with loud vocals!

After the Blue Theme, Yaar Mila Tha has got to be my favorite track from Blue. It’s one of the strongest compositions—no wonder Rahman chooses two very gifted singers—Madhushree and Udit Narayan—for this song. Ujjayinee Roy, Shi Millhouse, and Raven Millhouse are credited with backing vocals. Abbas Tyrewala really excels in providing fun “roothaa-roothi” “chhedd-chaad” lyrics. Just take a look at these lines:

Raah takti thi toh khafaa ho gayi thi tu yaa bewafaa?

Ke panghat pe ghoonghat ke binaa,

Jaa baithi kaise tu woh bhi mere binaa?!

Ussi panghat pe jaahaan jhat se pehli baar thaami thi maine teri kalaayi, harjaayi!

Jaahan dhoop se hum bache the, jaahaan nache the apne kadam,

Aur besharam, woh kalayi,

Tu thamaa ke aayi,

Haathon mein naa jaane kis khotte ke, kis potte ke, mere hote se par sote se!

Par tu ne hi toh usse bhejaa naa?

Ke meraa pyaar piyaa ko de jaanaa.

When I heard Udit Narayan sing the word "khote" I couldn't help but giggle. The song is just so sweet and playful naa yaar! The electronic shehnaai sound is really fun to listen to and so are the “taa teenaa teen teen teenaa” chorus vocals. The percussion arrangements are perfect. Both Madhushree and Udit Narayan really get into the song, which is nice since these days most singers sing without any feel.

Rahman himself says he wanted to have “fun” with Blue and doesn’t want to get “typecast.” Yes, Blue does have some fun compositions such as the Blue Theme, Chiggy Wiggy and Yaar Milaa Thaa. And, composition-wise, the rest of the songs are also enjoyable to listen to…however, lyrics, for the most part, are a HUGE disappointment, and there isn’t consistency in terms of quality throughout the OST. While some songs grab your attention immediately, songs like Aaj Dil Gustaakh Hai will take a very long time to grow on you, and even then, it feels as if you’re forcing yourself to feel excited about some of the songs. All that said and done, it can’t be denied that it is really wonderful to have another Rahman OST to listen to, and there certainly is something for every listener in Blue, so you really DO have to give this OST a listen.

Gosh, I can’t believe you’re still sitting at your computer. Music is meant to be listened to, it is meant to be experienced. And, no review can compensate for that (Gasp! That wasn’t very politically correct, was it?). So, do yourself a huge favor by going through the “Rahman experience” on your own…that’s right y’all—grab the Blue CD and drive ‘em music blues far, far away!!

[Slight Side Note: Party time for Rahmaniacs--The music of Shekhar Kapurs’s Passage is also out and the music composer is none other than The Rahman. So do be sure to give that a listen as well!]

The special screening, believed to be the first for a Bollywood film, was to be attended by cinematographers Amir Mokri ("Vantage Point") and Mitchell Amundsen ("Mission Impossible III") and director Mihael Bay ("Transformers"), news reports said.

Blue, described as an underwater thriller, stars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan and Lara Dutta. It also features Katrin Kaif and has a guest appearance by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue .The film has been scored by A.R. Rahman and is set for a Diwali release, Oct. 16.

News reports said a print of the film was flown to Los Angeles for the screening, which was set for Oct 3. "Blue" is reportedly being mixed at the Warner Bros. studios. The bigbudget film has generated a lot of buzz, including some about the use of distinctive colors to express the personalities of the three leading men.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, in the film, Dutt sports shades of blue, Kumar can be seen in red hues and Khan is depicted in yellow.