Music at MICA : Rockstar
Image: When I went to watch Rockstar with Tavleen and Arpita
Read previous parts here:
Music at MICA : Part – 1
Music (and Dance) at MICA : Part – 2
Last night, while having dinner with my family, I found the Hindi movie Rockstar playing on a GEC. Oh yes! We call the popular TV channels as GECs. I realize, all those jokes about MBAs loving jargon are not wrong after all. For the uninitiated ones, GEC stands for General Entertainment Channels a.k.a. the Stars, Zees and Sonys of the world.
So coming back to Rockstar, it brought me back to my 1st year at MICA. Rockstar was released in November, 2011. The music was released way before and was a huge hit. I didn’t like the music so much initially but after watching the movie, it made so much more sense. Like most of A. R. Rahman’s work, it slowly grows on you. It blended so well with the story that the effect was completely different. Actually, I didn’t even like the movie at first, majorly due to really bad and confused editing and the back and forth pace. Also, because of that robot known as Nargis Fakhri, who played the main female lead with just 2 emotions in an otherwise awesomely deep character. Plus she had Ranbir – in his career-best performance till then -opposite her, making the contrast look even more in face.
Even though most songs are pretty good in their own right, there are 4 songs from the album which have special memories for me:
A. Sadda Haq
This one is for the obvious reasons. Great music, awesome video to support, Ranbir’s heart-wrenching random loud cries, very different lyrics and a lot of subliminal and brilliant symbols (after MICA, I know it as Semiotics). I still trip over this song. It still invokes strong emotions. This one song made me understand the complicated character of a rebel-without-a-cause played by Ranbir in that song. He stood for nothing and still he felt so much for so many things. This song perfectly captures the essence of that. For me, this song is the window to Jordan of Rockstar.
B. Hawa Hawa
This is such a lively song. The lyrics are so different, mischievous yet with deep meaning. There is so much variation in the music. It’s so playful yet there is so much yearning for life in it. It’s such beautiful journey of one soul meeting, freeing another one. And ah those gorgeous locales of Prague. This is one special song and those don’t come by so often. One word to describe it is Hindi, ‘Alhad’.
C. Katiya Karoon
This folk song for marriage is so full of fun and yet with a little touch of Sufi. The voice of the singers (Harshdeep Kaur and Sapna Awasthi) is so deep and soulful. I’ve a very special memory of this song. In those days whenever, I went out with my friends Arpita and Tavleen (all 3 of us are crazy dancers) in one of the autos, we used to dance all the way to our destination. Yes, in that auto. It used to be so much fun. That awesome breeze on our faces, messing with our hair, Katiya Karoon blasting on full volume, and all 3 of us dancing in the auto, in the middle of crazy Ahmedabad traffic. Onlookers used to give us that look of part awe and part shock. That craziness was pure bliss. Whenever this song plays, I get transported back to those times in auto.
D. Kun Faya Kun
This is a magical composition by A. R. Rahman. Sufi is one of my favorite genres and this song is pure awesomeness. I soaked in the beauty of this song on one particular day. During a particularly low phase, after being upset for many days, I was feeling kind of drained out and oddly fresh for the same reason. I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands with absolutely nothing to do. I felt free after a long time. After a long time, I could just simply listen to music without wondering about deadlines and stuff. So I started playing random music and was enjoying. After some time, this song started playing. I was listening to the complete song for the first time. It was so soulful and so soothing; I just closed my eyes and started singing along. Without even realizing I was so high on its music and went on a totally different level. I had no awareness of my surrounding and was just completely absorbed by that moment.
After the song got over, I opened my eyes feeling absolutely calm and blissful. My roommate was standing near me and looking at me. She smiled sweetly. I asked her when she came as I had no recollection of it. She told me that she came a while ago and just so me in this totally different state. She felt so good that she didn’t want to interrupt and felt really nice herself. I can’t describe it in words here, what I felt that day. There is a beautiful word in Urdu (ah you beauty!), Roohani, which I guess is closest to that feeling. This song will always be so special and close to my heart.