Vande Mataram (album)
Vande Mataram | |
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Bharatbala |
Vande Mataram is a 1997 studio album by
A critical and commercial hit, the title song from the album is one of India's most popular songs of all time. Sung by Rahman himself, the song has come to represent a feeling of patriotic unity for India and has been performed or played at several national and regional events in the country. The track also holds two
The album won the 1998
Background
In 1997, when Rahman had gone to
A. R. Rahman conceptualized the album to commemorate the fifty years of India's independence and to pay tribute to India. Prior to the release, Rahman said: "I dedicate this album to the future generations of India. I wish that this album inspires them to grow up with wealth of human values and ethics that this country is made of".[8] Several postcards were supplied with the album, so as to spread messages of aesthetic values. The themes were
- Freedom
- Love
- Harmony
- Peace
Development
Sony asked him to choose from any of its international stars to work with and supposedly even suggested the name of Celine Dion. But Rahman settled, very appropriately, for the Pakistani Sufi music singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Sting's guitarist Dominic Miller. Rahman had decided that he would definitely work with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan after he attended his performance in Delhi. Explaining his choice, "I don't want to collaborate with just a name. I must feel something for the person and relate with his work. I've seen several famous names collaborating on songs and albums , but they remain just two names. There's no chemistry. It's like oil and water. They can' t come together." He went all the way to Pakistan to record the "Gurus of Peace" number with Khan.[7] This is supposedly the first time that an Indian and Pakistani artiste have come together to create this kind of music.[8] Rahman worked overtime for this prestigious project that his film assignments went behind schedule.[7]
About the development of "Maa Tujhe Salaam", Rahman says: "In late January, on the 27th day of Ramzan, an auspicious time when legend has it that angels open the gates of heaven and all prayers are answered, I descended on
Rahman chose Mehboob, who had written songs for Bombay, Rangeela etc. for Rahman, as the lyricist. He was given an instruction: no archaic verse. Don't create anything that "youngsters would respect but never sing", says Mehboob.[1]
Chaiyya Chaiyya was originally composed for the album. But as it didn't fit it, it was replaced for the film Dil Se..
Release
In March 1997, amid Sony Music executives in Mumbai, came a sort of penultimate test. Sridhar Subramaniam, director, marketing, Sony Music India says: "Everybody was really nervous. It's an exhausting song and Davis Martin, head of Sony Music Asia doesn't speak a word of Hindi, but in 40 seconds we knew. It was fresh, new." It got better. In May, at a Sony conference in Manila, where the bigger the name you can drop means the more attention you get, they got 20 minutes. When the songs from the album were played, pre-release, at the Sony Music conference in Manila, Sony Music executives representing various Sony Music sub-labels reportedly went berserk and clamoured for the international rights of the album. They played the song; pandemonium reigned. The head of
Amid great hype, the album was released on 12 August 1997, three days before the 50th anniversary of Indian independence. The Indian release had only 7 songs while the international release had two additional songs "Masoom" and "Musafir". Later "Masoom" was released in India in the album Gurus of Peace and "Musafir" in the album MTV Total Mix.
In 2009, The international version of album with 9 songs was re-issued by Varèse Sarabande in North America.
Reception
The album was met with overwhelming responses. Rahman became the first Indian artist of popular music to go international when Vande Mataram was released simultaneously in 28 countries across the world. Rahman himself performed live at
Initially there was some negative criticism against Rahman for using phrases of India's national song "Vande Mataram" in the title track; "Maa Tujhe Salaam". With the immense popularity and widespread appeal for the song from all over India, much of this criticism was ignored. The song "Maa Tujhe Salaam" got repeated airplay in the world music category on radio and television channels across the world.[citation needed]"Maa Tujhe Salaam" was also nominated for International Viewer's Choice Award for MTV India in 1998.[12][circular reference]
Track listing
# | Song | Singer(s) | Length | Lyrics | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Maa Tujhe Salaam" | A. R. Rahman | 6:11 | Mehboob | Backing vocals by Rita Campbell, |
2 | "Revival" | A. R. Rahman | 7:40 | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee | Traditional Song Backing vocals by by Sara Prosser |
3 | "Gurus of Peace" | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, A. R. Rahman | 6:27 | Mehboob, Tim Cody & Dinesh Kapoor | Backing vocals by Katy Stephenson, Emma Bigwood, Gemma Austreng, Brittaney Love & Georgina Gill Acoustic guitar by Mahesh Tinaikar |
4 | "Tauba Tauba" | A. R. Rahman | 6:11 | Mehboob | Indian Rhythms by Laxmi Narayan, Neelakantan & Veda Shehnai by Appa Rao |
5 | "Only You" | A. R. Rahman | 5:40 | Mehboob | by Keith Peters |
6 | "Missing (Vande Mataram)" | Instrumental | 5:11 | ||
7 | "Thai Manne Vanakkam" | A. R. Rahman | 6:11 | Vairamuthu | Tamil version of "Maa Tujhe Salaam" |
8 | "Masoom" | A. R. Rahman | 6:08 | Gulzar
|
Sitar by Janardhanan |
9 | "Musafir" | A. R. Rahman, Faye | 5:43 | Tim Kody, Kanika Myer Bharat | Peter Lockett by Sara Prosser
Oboe |
- The tracks "Maa Tujhe Salaam", "Revival", and "Gurus of Peace" represent the three colours - saffron, white and green respectively - of the national flag.[8]
- "Revival" and "Missing" are both arrangements of Vande Mataram.
- "Musafir" and "Gurus of Peace" were partial reuses of Rahman's earlier film songs, "Karuththamma) respectively.
- "Gurus of Peace" was the only song sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for Rahman and this was one of the last songs of him as he died some months later. As a tribute to him, Rahman released an album titled Gurus of Peace.
Album credits
Personnel
- A. R. Rahman – vocals
- Percussion
- Percussion
- Mark James – Guitar
- Sara Prosser – Oboe
- Ganesh Rajagopalan - Violin
- Srinivasalu - Santoor
- Dominic Miller - Acoustic guitar
- Mahesh Tinaikar - Acoustic guitar
- Keith Peters - Bass guitar
- Appa Rao - Shehnai
- Chris "Snake" Davis - Saxophone
- Janardhanan - Sitar
Production
- Producers: Bharatbala
- Engineers: H. Sridhar, Paul Wright, Shivakumar
- Mixing: H. Sridhar
- Programming: A. R. Rahman, Yak Bondy
Post production
- Chetan Desai
Design
- Art direction: Sunil Mahadik
- Oil on canvas: Thotta Tharani
- Photography: Thejal Patni
- Inlay design: Manjiri Rajopadhye
Covers
Stanford Raagapella, a South Asian fusion a cappella group, has created an acappella version of the song Maa Tujhe Salaam.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e "A Song for India". India Today. 1 September 1997. Archived from the original on 2 March 1999.
- ^ "A.R. Rahman – Vande Mataram". Discogs. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- Screen India. Archived from the originalon 20 January 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- ^ "NRI songster storms into Guinness". The Hindu. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ AR Rahman Guinness World Record.
- Screen India. 23 January 1998. Archived from the originalon 3 July 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ^ a b c "Artist of the Month: AR Rahman". TFM. January 2006.
- ^ Rediff. August 1997. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
- ISBN 9788184758238.
- Screen India. 1997. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- Allmusic. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "Nominations for International Viewer's Choice Award for MTV India,1998".
- ^ "Stanford Raagapella". Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ "4-year-old girl's rendition of 'Maa Tujhe Salaam' has a new fan: PM Modi". The Indian Express. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ "Adorable and admirable: PM Modi lauds 4-year-old girl's rendition of 'Vande Mataram'". Deccan Herald. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Achom, Debanish (31 October 2020). ""Adorable, Admirable": PM On 4-Year-Old Singing "Vande Mataram"". NDTV. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Jaiswal, Umanand (3 November 2020). "Child singer wins Netizens' admiration". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 June 2021.