Aamir
Khan
made
an
interesting
comment
a
few
weeks
back.
He
said
that
when
he
decides
to
work
with
a
filmmaker,
he
is
least
concerned
about
his
(director's)
past
work.
Instead,
he
is
interested
in
knowing
that
what
he
has
to
offer
in
future.
Of
course
this
is
a
non-conformist
approach
as
99%
of
industry
would
want
to
go
with
the
past
record
of
an
artist
than
promise
of
the
future.
I
guess
this
is
what
everyone
expects
from
A.R.
Rahman
as
well
when
they
rope
him
in
for
their
films
as
a
music
director.
After
all,
right
from
the
days
of
Roja
to
Rangeela,
Dil
Se,
Saathiya
to
Yuva,
his
success
rate
has
been
impeccable.
Of
course
there
were
occasional
setbacks
as
well
but
then
they
were
for
relatively
smaller
films
(Dil
Ne
Jise
Apna
Kahaa,
Lakeer,
Tehzeeb,
Dil
Hi
Dil
Mein,
Vishwa
Vidhata).
Otherwise
when
it
came
to
bigger
films,
he
never
failed
to
deceive.
However,
the
situation
is
different
today.
The
shocking
part
is
that
though
Rahman
is
working
in
the
biggest
of
the
films,
the
music
isn't
quite
turning
out
to
be
the
biggest
of
successes.
Yes,
his
loyal
fans
are
still
vouching
for
him.
Yes,
critics
too
are
wary
before
totally
giving
up
on
a
soundtrack.
Yes,
there
is
still
audience
sentiment
that
conveys
-
'It's
okay,
hear
them
a
few
more
times,
the
songs
are
going
to
grow
on
you.'
The
question
though
is
-
'Till
when?'
In
the
times
when
composers
like
Pritam,
Vishal-Shekhar
and
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
are
churning
out
at
least
a
couple
of
chartbusters
in
every
big
album
of
theirs,
it
is
nothing
less
than
disappointing
to
see
soundtracks
like
Jhootha
Hi
Sahi,
Robot
and
Raavan
not
quite
turning
out
to
be
the
rage
that
one
expects
from
an
album
that
has
a
name
'Rahman'
attached
to
them.
No,
one
is
not
commenting
on
the
quality
of
the
songs
here.
Not
as
of
now
at
least.
However,
when
it
comes
to
that
single
'chartbuster' that
makes
an
album
stand
out
from
the
crowd
at
the
music
stands,
it
is
sadly
missing.
In
this
week's
'Reflections',
let's
bring
on
the
debate!
The
phase
Every
creative
individual
has
a
phase
when
he
looses
his
touch.
Sachin
Tendulkar
had
a
bad
phase
where
he
was
out
of
action
for
long.
Amitabh
Bachchan
had
a
period
of
low
as
well.
Amongst
filmmakers,
even
directors
like
Manmohan
Desai
and
Prakash
Mehra
lost
their
touch
after
being
on
the
top
for
long.
Sadly,
they
could
never
recover.
Same
seems
to
be
the
case
with
Subhash
Ghai
as
well.
However,
there
are
some
who
continue
to
reinvent
themselves.
Salman
Khan
showed
that
in
Dabangg.
Ram
Gopal
Varma
has
recently
done
so
with
Rakta
Charitra.
Pritam
keeps
changing
his
sound
every
two
years
to
be
ahead
of
the
competition.
However,
if
one
looks
at
last
half
a
decade
journey
of
A.R.
Rahman,
it
has
been
patchy
to
say
the
least.
Of
course
the
supporters
are
bound
to
come
out
with
their
daggers
at
this
point
itself.
Slumdog
Millionaire
-
they
will
scream.
'He
got
us
multiple
Oscars'
-
they
will
remind.
This
is
the
point
where
one
goes
back
to
the
funda
shared
by
Aamir
Khan.
'Do
we
want
to
be
content
with
past
achievements
or
do
we
want
to
now
look
into
future
and
see
what's
new
in
the
offing?'
If
one
does
that,
it
is
crystal
clear
that
post
Slumdog
Millionaire,
Rahman
hasn't
been
churning
out
marvellous
albums
with
as
much
consistency
as
he
did
in
the
earlier
years.
The
fact
Of
course
pre-Slumdog
Millionaire,
Rahman
did
have
a
good
phase
rolling
for
him.
If
one
looks
at
the
second
half
of
the
current
decade,
music
of
Rang
De
Basanti
and
Guru
was
much
appreciated.
There
were
quite
a
few
awards
coming
his
way
as
well
though
it
is
the
music
of
Rang
De
Basanti
which
is
played
more
than
the
others.
Jodhaa
Akbar
saw
mixed
reviews
coming
its
way
but
still
went
on
to
gain
popularity
over
the
weeks.
Jaane
Tu
Ya
Jaane
Naa
saw
instant
appreciation
coming
its
way
as
it
established
a
strong
connect
with
the
youth.
On
the
other
hand,
Yuvvraaj
was
a
mixed
bag.
It
was
not
a
patch
on
Subhash
Ghai-Rahman's
earlier
collaboration
Taal
and
was
picked
up
only
by
hardcore
fans.
Ghajini
was
good
but
it
worked
as
instant
coffee.
Today,
except
for
a
song
or
two,
Ghajini
doesn't
quite
find
many
listeners.
Now
let's
look
at
the
albums
which
have
been
released
after
Slumdog
Millionaire.
Delhi
6
was
actually
an
even
better
album
and
it
is
one
of
the
unfortunate
cases
of
a
soundtrack
not
quite
getting
its
due,
because
of
the
failure
of
the
film
at
the
box
office.
Whatever
impression
that
the
album
managed
to
make,
it
was
mainly
due
to
its
own
merits.
Otherwise
on
the
part
of
the
makers,
they
seemed
to
be
least
bothered
about
killing
a
wonderful
song
like
'Rehna
Tu'
with
an
unimaginative
picturisation
which
did
more
harm
to
it
than
helping
its
cause.
Lack
of
mass
appeal
However
post
that,
Rahman
is
yet
to
deliver
a
soundtrack
that
worked
with
the
masses.
Again,
some
of
these
albums
did
boast
of
good
songs
but
then
paying
public
didn't
share
similar
sentiments.
Blue
didn't
make
much
inroads
into
audience
hearts
and
just
like
the
film,
the
music
too
went
down.
Though
much
was
expected
from
the
soundtrack
here
in
terms
of
commercial
returns,
the
results
were
not
as
expected.
Early
this
year,
the
soundtrack
of
Raavan
released
and
though
the
music
was
as
per
the
film's
setting
and
was
appreciated
by
the
critics,
audience
weren't
much
enticed.
The
music
didn't
pick
up
much
before
the
release
of
the
film
and
its
disastrous
response
at
the
box
office
meant
that
there
were
no
hopes
left
whatsoever
for
the
soundtrack
to
show
any
resurgence
thereafter.
What
was
worse
was
the
fact
that
it
was
the
coming
back
of
Mani
Ratnam-Rahman
combination
after
Dil
Se
and
Yuva
but
still
lack
of
a
single
mass
appealing
chartbuster
track
meant
that
'Raavan'
was
relegated
to
being
a
classy
album
but
that's
about
it.
Robot
was
worse.
There
are
talks
about
the
music
being
successful
down
South
and
to
be
fair
to
the
album,
it
makes
sense
as
well
since
the
soundtrack
had
been
composed
primarily
for
a
Tamil
film.
Still,
if
a
film
is
as
massive
as
a
Rajnikanth-Aishwarya
Rai
starrer
and
has
been
planned
for
a
dubbed
Hindi
release
as
well,
one
does
expect
something
that
catered
to
universal
audience.
This
didn't
turn
out
to
be
the
case
for
Robot
though
with
critics
as
well
as
audience
giving
the
music
a
big
thumbs
down.
Yes,
a
major
culprit
here
of
course
was
lyricist
Swanand
Kirkire
who
made
a
complete
mumbo-jumbo
of
the
album.
Still,
the
fact
remains
that
Robot
would
go
down
as
a
major
disappointment
in
the
repertoire
of
Rahman
music.
The
flak
So
far
audience
has
stayed
on
to
be
patient
and
expecting
Rahman
to
strike
big
sooner
than
latter.
However,
when
an
album
like
Jhootha
Hi
Sahi
comes
and
gets
panned
by
most,
especially
after
the
film
is
seen
in
screens,
it
is
crystal
clear
that
the
man
of
the
moment
-
A.R.
Rahman
-
is
going
through
an
all
time
low.
On
its
arrival,
one
didn't
mind
Jhootha
Hi
Sahi
even
though
songs
like
'Cry
Cry'
and
'Maiyya
Yashoda'
were
hardly
the
kind
of
songs
that
have
a
Rahman
stamp
or
a
chartbuster
appeal
to
them.
Rest
of
the
album
did
have
a
few
songs
that
could
have
been
liked
by
those
who
wanted
their
music
to
be
soft.
But
then
audience
wasn't
much
enticed.
Jhootha
Hi
Sahi
was
a
setback
for
them,
especially
so
since
it
came
around
the
same
time
when
Rahman's
song
for
Commonwealth
Games
was
being
panned
by
one
and
all.
The
cracks
had
started
appearing
a
few
months
back;
now
they
were
only
becoming
wider
album
after
album.
End
of
road?
Of
course
when
something
like
this
happens,
there
are
extreme
reactions.
Faithful
followers,
for
whom
Rahman
has
been
invincible,
aren't
willing
to
hear
anything
negative
whatsoever
and
only
end
up
becoming
far
more
vicious
towards
the
ones
who
are
pointing
a
finger.
On
the
other
hand,
the
ones
who
are
raising
a
finger
turn
totally
opinionated
and
refuse
to
look
at
any
redeeming
aspects
whatsoever.
This
is
where
one
is
required
to
look
at
the
entire
situation
in
a
rational
manner.
Yes,
Rahman
hasn't
delivered
a
chartbuster
album
for
quite
some
time.
Also,
his
songs
are
nowhere
near
his
best.
But
still,
they
haven't
been
out
and
out
poor
affair
either.
It
isn't
as
if
he
has
consciously
decided
to
let
go
of
a
few
opportunities
by
coming
up
with
half
hearted
attempts.
It
isn't
as
if
he
has
started
picking
a
dozen
odd
albums
a
year
due
to
which
quality
is
suffering.
A
R
Rahman
It
isn't
as
if
he
has
is
willing
to
let
go
of
Bollywood
due
to
his
commitments
out
there
in
West.
It's
just
that
he
seems
to
be
going
through
a
block
where
mass
appealing
chartbuster
soundtrack
is
difficult
to
come
by.
Blame
it
on
the
genre
of
films
that
he
is
working,
the
way
filmmakers
have
picturised
his
songs,
the
bad
run
of
many
of
his
movies
at
theatres
or
sheer
disinterest
from
audience
which
is
getting
its
staple
diet
of
popular
music
from
Bollywood's
own
like
Pritam,
Vishal-Shekhar
or
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
Whatever
be
the
case
but
all
Rahman
needs
to
deliver
is
that
one
popular
score.
It's
okay
if
it
follows
a
conventional
flavour.
It's
okay
if
it
doesn't
redefine
the
sound
of
music.
It's
okay
if
the
soundtrack
doesn't
catch
fancy
amongst
the
critics.
As
long
as
it
works
with
the
masses
and
sells
like
hot
cakes,
it
would
be
a
news
good
enough
for
Bollywood.
Will
Imtiaz
Ali's
Rockstar
(starring
Ranbir
Kapoor)
turn
out
to
be
that
one
album?
Let's
hope
and
pray!