Aaromale
Encyclopedia
"Aaromale" is a Malayalam song from the 2010 Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Telugu film Ye Maaya Chesave
composed by A. R. Rahman
, featuring lyrics by Kaithapram. The song is sung by Malayalam composer Alphons Joseph
. The song was well received upon release and was a chart topper.
was asked to score only six songs for the soundtrack, but later he suggested to include a song with Malayalam lyrics that was apt for the script. He himself suggested lyricist Kaithapram and the singer Alphonse
to whom he made an acquaintance during the audio launch of Alphons' debut album Vellithira
.
Alphonse said in an interview that Rahman had composed only the chorus portion before the recording and the remaining rock portion was composed instantly in presence of him and lyricist Kaithapram during the recording time. The lyrics were also written on the time of recording only. The song was made in about four hours.
Director Gautham Menon
picked this song as his favourite from the soundtrack. He said that he had listened to this song at least a thousand times prior to picturising it.
raga
Bageshri. Penned by Kaithapram, the song is high in instrumentation and quick changing rhythms. The song starts slow but goes on to pick speed slightly. The song has guitar scores that give the feel of country music. "Aaromale" is said to be regarded as one of the very few songs which use the variance of this raga in depicting the mixed emotions of rejoice and the waiting for reunion.
The song is said to be regarded as the first attempt to correlate the very different styles of music, Rock music
and Hindustani classical music
. The composer is said to prove the inspirations the origin of Rock music had from the very different style of Hindustani music .
The singer Alphonse, a Malayalam composer, had earlier sung certain songs for films and music albums, all composed by himself. He got notice outside Kerala only after this song. The rendition of Alphonse got high appreciations from fans and critics and Rahman made him to participate in his much anticipated world tour.
in Telugu. The song is picturized when Karthik, who was an aspirant to become a filmmaker completes his first script and plans further on it. It also features Jessy (Trisha
in Tamil and Samantha
in Telugu) for whom Karthik is waiting for a reunion with. The picturization of this track took place in Alappuzha
in Kerala
and Chennai
. The song depicts the mixed emotions, of the protagonist, of rejoice and the waiting for reunion with his beloved. The initial Guitar
strings and the female humming of the song were used in background music for many portions of the film. The humming in the background were rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. This was confirmed by the composer's music label manager, Mr. Vijay Iyer in the official yahoo group of A. R.Rahman fans. But, there were criticisms that the director who picturised all the songs in the film very well with his cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa
did not give any importance in the picturization of this song as dialogues and situational scenes interrupted the song. Also the second stanza of the chorus portion was not included.
Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...
composed by A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
, featuring lyrics by Kaithapram. The song is sung by Malayalam composer Alphons Joseph
Alphons Joseph
Alphons Joseph is a music director and playback singer in the Malayalam film industry who got a break as a film music composer after composing for the film Vellithira. Alphons is also noted for singing the famous song "Aaromale" from the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, which was composed by A. R...
. The song was well received upon release and was a chart topper.
Background
A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
was asked to score only six songs for the soundtrack, but later he suggested to include a song with Malayalam lyrics that was apt for the script. He himself suggested lyricist Kaithapram and the singer Alphonse
Alphons Joseph
Alphons Joseph is a music director and playback singer in the Malayalam film industry who got a break as a film music composer after composing for the film Vellithira. Alphons is also noted for singing the famous song "Aaromale" from the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, which was composed by A. R...
to whom he made an acquaintance during the audio launch of Alphons' debut album Vellithira
Vellithira (2003 film)
Vellithira is a 2003 Malayalam film by Bhadran starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Navya Nair.-Plot:A teenager girl named Thatha is living with her blacksmith brother Vakkathi Vasu and his children after the death of her sister in law...
.
Alphonse said in an interview that Rahman had composed only the chorus portion before the recording and the remaining rock portion was composed instantly in presence of him and lyricist Kaithapram during the recording time. The lyrics were also written on the time of recording only. The song was made in about four hours.
Director Gautham Menon
Gautham Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...
picked this song as his favourite from the soundtrack. He said that he had listened to this song at least a thousand times prior to picturising it.
About the song
The song begins with the elements of Blues and concludes in a psychedelic rock fashion. The chorus portion is based on the HindustaniHindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
raga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
Bageshri. Penned by Kaithapram, the song is high in instrumentation and quick changing rhythms. The song starts slow but goes on to pick speed slightly. The song has guitar scores that give the feel of country music. "Aaromale" is said to be regarded as one of the very few songs which use the variance of this raga in depicting the mixed emotions of rejoice and the waiting for reunion.
The song is said to be regarded as the first attempt to correlate the very different styles of music, Rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
. The composer is said to prove the inspirations the origin of Rock music had from the very different style of Hindustani music .
The singer Alphonse, a Malayalam composer, had earlier sung certain songs for films and music albums, all composed by himself. He got notice outside Kerala only after this song. The rendition of Alphonse got high appreciations from fans and critics and Rahman made him to participate in his much anticipated world tour.
Music video
The song features Silambarasan in Tamil and Naga ChaitanyaNaga Chaitanya
Naga Chaitanya is an Indian film actor who has appeared in Telugu films. He made his debut in the 2009 college film, Josh His second film, Gautham Menon's Ye Maaya Chesave became a commercial as well as critical success, with his portrayal of a love-torn film director winning him critical acclaim...
in Telugu. The song is picturized when Karthik, who was an aspirant to become a filmmaker completes his first script and plans further on it. It also features Jessy (Trisha
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
in Tamil and Samantha
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Samantha Ruth Prabhu is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Born to Malayali and Telugu parents, Samantha was brought up in Chennai and pursued a career in modeling during her late teens...
in Telugu) for whom Karthik is waiting for a reunion with. The picturization of this track took place in Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...
in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
. The song depicts the mixed emotions, of the protagonist, of rejoice and the waiting for reunion with his beloved. The initial Guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
strings and the female humming of the song were used in background music for many portions of the film. The humming in the background were rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. This was confirmed by the composer's music label manager, Mr. Vijay Iyer in the official yahoo group of A. R.Rahman fans. But, there were criticisms that the director who picturised all the songs in the film very well with his cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa
Manoj Paramahamsa
- Biography :He was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Educated at the Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu at Chennai, he received his early training from the cinematographer S. Saravanan. Manoj started his career by assisting in films such as Pammal K...
did not give any importance in the picturization of this song as dialogues and situational scenes interrupted the song. Also the second stanza of the chorus portion was not included.
Female version
A female version of the song, sung by Shreya Ghoshal, was released on 19 November. This track was released as part of the collector's edition of the soundtrack, titled A. R. Rahman Collectors' Edition Pack of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. Shreya Ghoshal had also performed the song when it was used in the background score of the film.Professional reviews
- Behindwoods:"Oh, this song just defies description! But it has a Rahman-esque addictive charm that cannot be ignored. Sad and pleasant moods alternate. A curious blend of guitars and malayalam lyrics. The gentle rhythms that break out with the line ’swasti swasti sumuhurtham’ cut into the sobriety of the song in a refreshing manner. You need some repeated listening to savour this."
- Indiaglitz:"A full-length Malayalam song in a Tamil movie sounds interesting. Since the female lead Jessi played by Trisha is Malayali Christian, obviously the song finds a place in the album. Acclaimed Malayalam lyricist Kaithapram has penned the song with Malayalam music composer Alphonse singing it. High in instrumentation and quick changing rhythms, the song makes one brisk at the first listen itself. Mixed emotions flow as we listen to it."
- Radiomusic:"Passionate singing by Malayalam music director Alphonse Joseph and amazing guitar play make the song grow on you after the first hearing itself. A Malayalam track with a feel of country music, Aaromale is an experimental track by Rahman. The song has a perfect fusion of western and Indian."
- Lordoftheweb:"A song that starts slow, goes on to pick speed slightly and makes you say Wow after listening to it. Thats Aaromale! With amazing guitar scores that give you the feel of country music, and invigorating malayalam lyrics, this song will be quickly liked by the music aficionados. This song’s popularity will be like the song itself -slow, but will start to rise once people have listened to it a fewtimes. This is a true fusion of western and south Indian music, something that Rahman always wanted to capture."
- Rediff:"A guitar strums lazily, reminding you very faintly of the old Wild West, and then morphs into something that might be an ancient native Indian chant -- that's Aaromale, sung by Alphonse. The lyrics in Malayalam seem to form a neat accompaniment to the general structure of the song. There's a soothing, gentle feel to the number, an experience that lets you sink into it. The song proper starts some time later, with a faint strain of violins somewhere far off. Even as Alphonse's voice rises to higher octaves, the refrain hugs the original depths, supplying a many-layered experience. An intense number, this."
- "Rahman does it again with this genius of a track. From the movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya starring Simbu and Trisha, Rahman's experimental malayalam track for this movie, in acoustic blues style may not appeal to the common man with a thing for fast beats and randomized choruses, but to a real music lover, Aaromale would be divine for the ears. Alphonse- the music director- has sung this track and one cannot help but notice the depth and passion in his voice. The chorus of the track is a very catchy "mantra" type chorus with Alphonse crooning the word Aaromale in the BG."
- Tamilgalatta:"The soft strumming of a guitar introduces this number. Alphonse's voice has a distinct heart-wrenching yearning in his voice. As Rahman said, the songs do not follow the strict patterns of Pallavi and Anupallavi, and 'Aaromale' confirms that. It is almost a spiritual experience."
- Musicaloud:"This is one of those songs that would make a Malayali music fan envious of the fact that Rahman isn’t into Malayalam music, and make bands like Avial thank their stars that Rahman isn’t into a lot of this kind of music, coz he would definitely be giving them a run for their money! The kind of fusion that Rahman presents in Aaromale is at an entirely different level altogether, there is rock, there is folk, and the occasional classical snippets, all melded together in a way only the man can. And Alphonse, what a fantastic job he has done on the vocals! In fact he sounded totally different from the way he usually does so I had difficulty believing it was indeed Alphonse. And the kind of octave range he displays in the song makes one wonder what the hell he was doing all this while, especially when he had such immense opportunities, having composed so many Malayalam songs himself. In Aaromale, he has once again shown why he is a league apart from other music directors of his time."
- "But Aaromale is everything you wish for – a dazzling boundary-pusher contained within the perimeter of a standard stanza-chorus construction, except that the stanzas aren’t quite stanzas in the way we usually know them, a block of music (comprising, say two individual lines of melody repeated twice, once by the male singer and once by the female counterpart). The non-chorus portions, here, are structured along the lines of blues-rock and country music (think Creedence Clearwater Revival’s recording of I put a spell on you layered onto an Ennio Morricone score for a spaghetti Western, and brushed lightly with the psychedelia of Pink Floyd) – and looping through the song’s lazy meanderings, you realise, once again, that Rahman’s legacy (in continuance with MS Viswanathan’s legacy of the “light music” melody line and Ilayaraja’s legacy of interstitial orchestration and arrangement) is not just the sound of his music, the clean, clear sound that’s the musical equivalent of a bracing breath of pure oxygen on a mountaintop, but also his systematic demolition of the constituents of a film song."
See also
- Shreya Ghoshal
- Alphons JosephAlphons JosephAlphons Joseph is a music director and playback singer in the Malayalam film industry who got a break as a film music composer after composing for the film Vellithira. Alphons is also noted for singing the famous song "Aaromale" from the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, which was composed by A. R...
- Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (soundtrack)Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (soundtrack)Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa is the soundtrack of the 2010 Tamil romance film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, directed by Gautham Menon. The original score and songs were composed by A. R. Rahman, first time collaborating with Gautham Menon...
- Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa
- Ye Maaya ChesaveYe Maaya ChesaveYe Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...
- HosannaHosanna (song)"Hosanna" is a Tamil song from the 2010 Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa composed by Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman, featuring lyrics by Thamarai and Blaaze. The song features vocals by Suzanne, Blaaze and Vijay Prakash, who is the main vocalist. It also features additional vocals by Vivek...