Paa - Introducing... Ilayaraja. Well, Not Really.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to the songs from Paa. I was very intrigued the first time I received a forward about the movie. Well, anybody would be when the star cast of the movie says 'Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan and introducing... Amitabh Bachchan'.

Paa is about a child with a rare genetic disorder called Progeria. The result of the disorder is early aging. The child hence looks like he is 60 years old, when in fact, he is just 13. Big B plays the role of Auro, the child. Abhishek and Vidya play the role of his parents. A very rare father-son, son-father movie indeed.

The first thing that struck me was the Big B's disguise. It is truly noteworthy. If the titles didn't mention him, I would never have guessed, just like you wouldn't have from the picture above until you read it. I am looking forward to watching the movie solely for Big B.

Sadly, I cannot say the same for the music. I was looking forward to listening to the songs because they were Ilayaraja's compositions and I kind of liked the track they played in the promo on TV. With deep regret of having taken the pain to download the songs (even if it was free download done through office internet :D), I inform that it really wasn't worth it.

We South Indians have literally grown up listening to the maestro's music, which only pushes us to expect more out of him each time. There is no denying that he has given us the most enthralling melodies. Well, not this time. I noticed his repetition of tunes in Cheeni Kum, but never dwelled on it, attributing it to a 'tune-block' phase that they go through. But now, it has just gone too far.

The album consists of eight tracks. In brief - almost ALL are repetitions. Either of his older compositions from Tamil/Malayalam, or of each other.

Muddhi Muddhi appears thrice in the album. Two versions are by Shilpa Rao and one by Shaan. Both the versions by Shilpa are peppy, while Shaan's has an unplugged feel. They are good in their own way, nice to listen to. Only you get bored of listening to the same tune again and again masquerading as three different songs. It is not like a remix or a reprise. Just the very same tracks. So similar that while downloading, I thought I was saving the same song too many times by mistake when I saw the similar names.

So that's 3 out of 8. Easy way to increase number of tracks I say. :P

Hichki Hichki sung by Sunidhi Chauhan is an average number. Frankly, it didn't impress me much. I just found it to be a random mixture of beat and rhythm.

The next original track in the album is Paa, rendered by Big B himself. He has modified his voice to suit that of a child. Aside from the baritone of his voice evident in a few places, it is pretty hard to make out that it is him. It is more like reciting poetry than singing, which is okay considering that it is a child singing according to the story. The emotions he has put into the words are really good. This song will truly have its impact when watched in the movie, I hope.

Halke Se Bole and Gumm Summ Gumm are rip offs from his compositions in Tamil, both super hits in their time. The last track in the album is the Paa theme. Nothing much to write about it. Just usual theme music that you can expect in an album.

Ilayaraja has been one of our very first smash hit music directors. It is surprising that he is fending off of his own compositions now, which only makes me think that he is out of new tunes. Even if the songs were not going to break records, it would have been better if they were at least new, original pieces. He must be well aware of the fact that Hindi movies are widely watched here. The tune might strike a chord in the North (I really don't know in how many places), but it is just old wine in new bottle for us, which might diminish its takers here.

Well, I have never been a die-hard Ilayaraja fan anyway. This post is just an outcome of the mild frustration that I felt upon hearing the tracks. I was appalled at the dearth of new tunes.

Mr. Maestro, a small piece of advice. Music does not die with age or time. It is okay if you are not able to come up with new tunes now. But please don't reuse your old tracks to such an extent that one day all you might hear is 'Oh that guy? Yeah, once upon a time his music was good. Now I find it hard to explain to my kids that these new tracks are not original.'