Serene Night: Khamosh Raat

Rahman has been constantly reinventing himself since he began composing film music. He can be called a master of innovations. His style of composing cannot be categorized into one formal pattern. For me I would prefer calling it the Rahman genre of music. It will encompass all sorts of music, rhythm, sound etc. that can be ever thought by human brain. Something that constantly puzzles me is that he has never stuck to a particular style of composition or a genre of music and yet gives a unique treatment classified as Rahman sound. After evaluating all possible reasons for this uniqueness I found one aspect consistent with his composition and i.e. Melody.
Thakshak as an album is any music lover's delight since one can find an amalgamation of different types of songs:

• Classical : Rang De
• Goanese folk: Jumbalika (originally from En SwasaKatre)
• Rain song : Boondon Se Baatein
• Punjabi folk: Dholna

It is difficult to pick one song for review but I found something unique about Khamosh Raat. It was just not possible for me to fit this song in some particular genre. So lets dissect this song a bit.

The lyric of this song is written by Mehboob and sung by RoopKumar Rathod. Initially it was little surprising to see his name but after listening to the number I don't think anybody else could have done justice to it.

The song starts with a smooth guitar strumming. The initial part sounds like someone is just getting the chords right and doing some checking of the instrument. The tune starts from 0:28 and one can feel that the person is ready to mesmerize you with the rhythm. This tune captivates the listener for a brief period of 7 secs. The melody in this tune is absolutely mesmerizing and forms the backbone of the song. In fact the entire number is based on the rhythm created by a guitar. RoopKumar Rathod begins singing from 0:37 and it starts off indeed slowly with no accompanying beats at all.

The song genuinely progresses in a step by step manner where beats get on added as one goes through the entire number. Rahman's tunes are so complex that it is difficult to understand in the first hearing itself. The simple reason is that he never follows a set pattern of antara mukhada type of a song. On top of it the layering of orchestration makes it even more difficult to understand the tune of the number.

From 1:13 slow beats start accompanying the number : can't tell you much about the instrument but definitely not tabla or drums. The voice of the singer suits the mood perfectly and forms a serene atmosphere. Along with this Rahman starts introducing the Bass guitar along with the normal Hawaaian guitar. Its hardly a minute and a half into the song but the maestro does so many things. Absolute genius. The hint of some solid orchestration comes in the 2nd minute of the song. He uses some accompanying beats along with the guitar. Listen to the beauty of a Hawaaian guitar from 2:23 to 2:37. The beauty of guitar in the song lead me to do some research. It was found that Rahman collaborated with Nadaka, a French-Canadian, who calls his guitar a geet-taar (string of songs). A quintessential Indian in thought, he has several stage shows and albums in melodic fusion to his credit. He also lent additional vocals for this number. An ample proof of the fact that music has no barriers.

Now the beats have started in the form of claps accompanying the guitar. The best part (2:38) starts when the singer starts singing "Jhooki Jhooki Palkein Jab Uthi Nainon main thi madhyam madhyam". Wow. I am really in short of words to describe the tune here. The tune, singing, orchestration, lyrical brilliance seems to have culminated at this point in time. The entire combination simply enthralls the listener and makes one jump with joy. Rahman's songs can make you express the emotions which in itself is so difficult to capture in a number. The goosebumps starts again at 3:14 when the singer follows the same tune and sings,"Sooraj tha pe Noor sa ,Uski tham madhyam madhyam" and this time accompanied with the clap like beats. This time it sounds even better than the earlier stanza. Rahman knows how to add to the beauty of a song and this number is an adequate proof for that. The drums slowly take over from 3:50 when RoopKumar Rathod sings "Aur Door Kahin Roshan Hua,Ik Chehra". From an initial sombre mood of the song one gradually gets into the groove and starts swaying with the beats. As if this was not enough Rahman introduces a female chorus singing "Sa Pa Ma Ga Ma Pa..etc etc." just lifting the overall mood of the song.

The song as if comes to a standstill at 4:20 when RoopKumar sings "Jeene Ka tha Hum mein Dum Par nahin tha koi Humdum". A beautiful piece of poetry just magnifying the importance of one's beloved in life. Now the song gradually reaches the crescendo with more orchestration and beautiful usage of instruments. From 5:25 the song reaches it's high when violin is also played in the background. The chorus this time the male one probably Nadaka's voice joins to give the classical feel.

The entire song can be described as a journey of a lover. It begins with his infatuation, where he is still absorbed by the feeling of getting close to his beloved. Then it gradually progresses to his feelings and a greater passion to be closer to his lover. Ultimately it reaches a point where the lover feels, this is it, "Done, full and final".She is the one and then one is committed for life.

I just cant stop myself from writing but guess it's already a long post. I am hopeful to pick up the guitar one day and sing this song for my beloved. The underlying beauty of this number is again "Melody" as described earlier and this is what I call Rahman genre.