Chandra's world

"Fanaaa......."

Once in a while, there comes a song that merits a separate review of itself, instead of the album in which it is showcased. And that song has come out this year. It's "Fanaa"!
A song that stands out for its superior music and lyrics.

In every A.R.Rahman - Mani Ratnam movie, there is always one song that will catch your attention right from the start. In the case of Yuva, its unmistakenly "Fanaa...." (An analysis of the other movies and songs is a story for another day...).

But what exactly is this delightfully infectious song ??

Before understanding that, a small introduction to the uninitiated that the Tamil lyrics are written by Vairamuthu and the Hindi lyrics have been taken care of by Mehboob.

The opening strains of the song get your attention immediately with Rahman crooning "Fanaaaa.." in the background and slowly the tempo builds up with techno beats...

After the first line is sung i.e. "Yakkai thiri...Kadhal Sudar", the entire atmosphere of the song is built up with the heavy thump of the techno beats rythmically pounding in the background. In the case of the Hindi version, the corresponding line is "Hone do Dil ko Fana"

This same line "Yakkai Thiri....Kadhal Sudar" is repeated with a lot of emphasis in the entire song some n number of times.....and I initially did not realise the significance of this line as I am unfamiliar with the tamil language...After making some enquiries, I found out that this line means: "My body the wick, your love the flame!" ( A great analogy to express the relationship of love between two individuals!)

The corresponding lines in the Hindi song "Hone do Dil ko fanaa.....Hone do dil ko tabah" dont quite measure up to the terrific standard of Vairamuthu's lyrics here. Perhaps Gulzar or Javed Akhtar would have done a fantastic job here, expressing the true meaning.....instead of a bland "hone de, dil ko fanaa "

The ending of the song is more electric than the starting. With all the lyrics fading away and the female chorus getting relegated to the background, its left to Rahman who sings away the ragas to glory and typical of himself, we get a feeling that he is singing from his soul.....And somehow, I just cant shake away the feeling that the ending lines have been sung by Rahman with an undertone of pain in it.

So, what is the connection behind the lyrics and Fanah ??

The whole connection is this:

The general theme of the song is that love leads to a higher plane..and that higher plane is Fanah, because Fanah is an Urdu word that is used to refer to that state in which a person achieves self actualization...or simply put, a state where in a person loses himself. Is it not true of love ?? In true love, we all know that a person loses himself....

Perhaps, If i can use an analogy to describe the song and its vocal rendering, it could be like: A dam has burst open and water is torrentially flowing sweeping away everything in its path....An unadulterated, unabashed outpouring of vocals and great music expressing the highest state a person can reach in love!!!!!! the state of Fanah!!!!!! A song to be heard and cherished for a long long time to come!!

A salute to the master A.R.Rahman and the terrific lyric writer Vairamuthu!Hats off!!!!!