Jodha Akbar

Jodha Akbar is the final period film composition from Rahman, or so we are told. So I would like to give the score what it deserves, an effort to understand it from all possible angles – the conception, the technical specifics of the songs like the instruments used and the journey of the songs. Too bad I am not well endowed with enough resources for accessing all that information but I will try and see if someone can contribute in this effort.

Rahman has been showering us time and again with his prowess on diverse musical forms. From Punjabi Giddha & Bhangra to Gujarati Garbha to Carnatic to Qawwali to Devotional Bhajan to Arabic, he has been a constant teacher opening up these huge floodgates of scintillating music orchestrations and vocal styles, in his Midas touch and a knack for perfection. But one form that has been an undercurrent of all these manifestations is Sufi, a riddle that takes a lifetime to solve.

Coming back to Rahman,who started with a simple keyboard, he would strike the magic keys and these simple tunes would later take myriad wondrous forms, in all their flowing exuberance and glory.
When such a composer becomes so big for any project, the whole ball game becomes quite a spectacle to witness, it can swing either ways, and that risk adds life to the ‘critical’ projects.

It is no joke for the players in this game, they have no option than to win.
Rahman has been winning this game for as long as I can think, with minor exceptions or flaws. Lagaan, Swades, Guru, Yuva, Mangal Pandey, Rang De Basanti, Sivaji and now Jodha Akbar. When has the expectation from him being any less but the sky?

When I listened to Azeem-o-shaan shehenshah, it for a quick moment made me think of Rahman dressed in the Mughali Zirah Baktar(armoured dress) and battle all these expectations at the peak of fury and rage. Pretty short-lived moment of fun.

1. Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah - Mohd. Aslam, Bonny Chakravarti

This is one of the most visual track I have heard in recent times. The sound designed has to be heard on a good system to be believed, you will practically see a battle scene, the army being lined up, war cries in your living room. It feels as is few mad musicians and singers were let free in the recording studio and what came out is this mad track that goes from an aggressive war cry to a celebration of the grandeur, touching upon Mughal war cries in Urdu to a much dehati UP kinda paean genre. The song is a journey and will take many hearings to explore all the possible trips. For starters, try the Marhaba Marhaba trip or once just focus on the swords crashing and the non-musical sounds, or the one where you just focus on the percussion.
Or sample the pure rush when the chorus crescendos through the sargams and aalaaps to a climactic “Jalaluddin Akbar”. You almost feel here is a larger than life monster out on a prowl. OK bad comparison, but bottomline:It’s a mad mad world out there!

2. In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein - Sonu Nigam, Madhushree

In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein
Pakizah Se Rishte Hain
Koi Qalma Mohabbat Ka
Dohrate Farishtey Hain

A beautiful quartet, translates somewhat into this..

In the lap of these moments
Lie some lovely ties
Like a scripture or an ode to love
Which angels seems to be repeating endlessly


Khamosh Si Hai Zameen Hairaan Sa Falak Hai
Ek Noor Hi Noor Sa Ab Aasman Talak Hai

The earth is quiet
The sky is amazed
(Falak= Sky, Heaven, Fortune, Fate)
The skies are enveloped in a splendid hue/luster
(Noor= Bright, Light, Luminescence, Luster, Refulgence)

This song has three characters, one of a thoughtful lover(Raja), one the situations(represented by a dramatic chorus-Prajaa) and the third of a devoted female lover(Rani). And it’s the bold interplay of these three that give a distinctive dramatic element to the song. It moves through seasons of love.

After the violent interludes of the chorus, the same serenity is regained and its as relaxing as it could get. The poetry and language is very intriguing here, while you hear the male singer croonings mild Urdu sonnets, the chorus is very Hindustani classical(Dom Tom Tana Nana Dom Tom Tana Dom Dom Tom Tana Nana Dom Tom Tana)
While still sticking to the Urdu flavor. What follows is absolutely shocking and stunning at the same time. The mood moves from ‘Qalma’ and ‘Noor’ to the devotional strains of a Sitar with Madhushree doing what she pretty much always does – adding saccharine to a song at a time when it needs the most
Clearly, a stand out composition in its structure, treatment and execution.

3. Jashn-E-Bahaara - Javed Ali

This song comes in the league of soft Rahman tracks a la Ae Hairate Ashiquie(Guru), O ri Chhori(Lagaan), Saawariya(Swades) or Des ki Mitti(Bose). Since this category needs to have a distinctive element or two, it is Javed Ali’s affluent abandon of a voice that does the trick along with a Persian string accompaniment.
Rahman has this knack of presenting the ‘joy in pain(gham mein khushi)’ genre in the most hummable form possible. Sample a ‘Ae ajnabi’ or a ‘So gaye hain’(Zubeidaa), and that’s exactly what he does here. What’s rather funny is that everyone forgets the fact these are actually songs with an element of in them.

4. Khwaja Mere Khwaja - A.R.Rahman

How can a period drama’s score be complete without the Ustaad himself wielding the microphone? So here you have him in all his glory.
In the string of higher pitch tracks like Zikr(Bose), Al Maddath Maula(Mangal Pandey), or Piya Hazi Ali(Fiza), here Rahman serenades the Almighty, a paean to Khwaja ji(saint “piir e mughaan/wali”). Listening to Rahman crooning a devotional number is like watching Tendulkar play in Wankhede(pardon the Siddhuism).

Slow guitar strums open the mystique melody, which slowly gets an obliging tabla’s company and Rahman starts weaving magic, which is sure to have lasting aftertastes. His ‘khwaja jee’ thrown in equal measures almost pinches you that you are still here, its just a song.

5. Mann Mohana - Bela Shende

It would take one some time to come out of the heady web of Khwaja mere Khwaja to appreciate this simple bhajan, though its not a O Paalanhaare, it does have its moments. Mostly the way Bela’s vocals start at a high octave and then sober down with some decent work from Akhtar which shies away from the stereotypes much like Bela’s rendition does. This song should be a character-building aid for Jodha’s character and should play out in installments. Trust Rahman to give you miles and miles of symphony in a bhajan!