Or, Cain Breaks With Tradition. Even when the tradition is her own.
August the twenty-third is a day we all look forward to in more ways than one. No matter how you write it - 23/8? 8/23? 23/viii, in my pedantic way? - it's a magnet in time, drawing all activities before and after it towards itself, and becoming, for a month or two, the centre of our universe.
In the intellectual matrix of time, space and millions of thoughts from thousands of minds, August the twenty-third is the one point that unites us all.
It's a phenomenon.
And it's all because of him.
We've all felt it at some point - We're special. We're not a group of people who listen to whatever's on the radio and like it because everyone else does - we're not a group of people who accept things as they are - we're more intellectual, more capable than that. We question; we reason; we analyze, and we're not just a fan community - we're firm friends. We may be a close-knit bunch of diehards - but that isn't all we are.
And KK may be a playback artiste, but that isn't all he is.
It isn't enough, you see. It isn't enough to stay in key, to perform intricate convolutions of voice and tone. If it had been, Autotune would long ago have made singers of everyone.
There's so much more to KK's voice than just those notes. True, he stays in tune so effortlessly that one has to actively think about it in order to find the breath to marvel - but it's his passion for the music, his dedication to aural purity, his sheer joy in what he does that makes him a true singer - and that makes us love him so.
I'm going to break my own mould today. In this post I'm going to concentrate, as much as on his songs, on the man himself.
Let's begin.
Item one. In my last reviewing-all-the-latest-tracks post, I completely forgot to mention
Tum Ho Mera Pyaar, so here it is.
It's from Haunted 3D (don't forget the 3D, if you please), which is - naturally - a horror film. What kind of thrill the population of our country gets out of these weird horror movies I'll never understand - but as long as they have songs like this, I'm certainly not complaining.
The beat and intro instrumentals are a little like Haan, Tu Hai, but overall Tum Ho Mera Pyaar is like Sajde - made so much better. It isn't because of the lyrics in general, because I like a lot more subtlety - it's a case of him making it better, plus Urdu words.
Where Sajde is merely consistently good, Tum Ho Mera Pyaar has flashes of brilliance. Raat din dekhna tujhko aadat meri...yun tujhe chaahna hai ibaadat meri... is one such flash; the subtle electric guitars are another. The ending of the song is a third; it's done extremely well.
Apart from his glorious, glorious voice, his pronunciation plays a major role here. It's usually just a delightful add-on, something which is an integral part of the song but which only a nitpicker like me would notice (and fetishize, and think is adorable), but in this one it quite rescues it: no one else could ever say Jism se rooh tak like that - no one else could convey love and lust in the same breath with his calm certainty.
This track is the classic case of romance-turning-into-passion; it would have fallen completely flat without him. And as we all know, songs that could never have happened without him are often the ones which are most beloved.
Also recently released, the title track of
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.
It's completely insane and completely awesome in ways that no one else could ever have fathomed. The lyrics are chauvinistic, as expected of a matrimonial ad - but he sings them with a sort of delicious, under-the-radar sarcasm that tells you he knows exactly what rubbish that idea of the 'perfect bride' is, and so do you.
It's yet another reason I love him - he has a way of subtly implying things you'd never know were there if you weren't looking for them, but which you feel anyway.
The lyrics are also crazy - and he loves it. Catch anyone else thoroughly enjoying themselves over Dil se Dilli ho vo, dhadkan se ho London! It's cheesier than an Antenna could ever be, and he plays it that way. And no one else ever could.
Also, that quick flash of intensity in Soniye...meri jaan ve... is breathtaking.
Item two:
Coke Studio. This has excited all of us considerably, not least because it involves us seeing him - as well as new audio.
The general idea seems to be that it's turned out...well, a little tame compared to what we'd imagined. I'm not denying that - what I'm saying is that it's still awesome.
Now I think I understand what the constraints of Coke Studio are. It's an extremely high-pressure environment - Kailash Kher has owned as much, and to a temperament such as KK's, that has got to be a dampener.
I've been in situations where people have grabbed me (hell, teachers have hauled me out of class) and said, 'Can you quickly write such-and-such a thing for me?', and in those situations I've either gone completely blank and then written something terrible to get rid of the person, or gone completely blank and then freaked and refused. Rarely have I managed to turn out something good in those flash five minutes, because slowly, in comfort, searching for exactly the right words, is simply the way I work. And from what behind-the-scenes footage I've seen of him recording, KK works that way too. He likes to take his time, get everything exactly right, pause for confirmation if necessary, not have people staring at him; Coke Studio rips that comfort zone away - and doesn't even apologize. After several rehearsals, it's a one-time thing and the songs are freakin' nine minutes long; cues and perhaps some lyrics have to be remembered, the music is there at the behest of someone who's coordinating the entire show and not just a track or two, there are lights flashing everywhere and cameras everywhere else, and there are other artistes involved - what if that spark, that camaraderie isn't there? Any of us would have collapsed under that strain.
All things considered, I think KK's done a pretty damn good job.
Pretty. Damn. Good.
Chadhta Suraj is, as I've mentioned before, quite heartrendingly beautiful. The Sabri Brothers discourse in clear, conversational tones, as they are wont to do - but it's KK who gives the song its warmth. It's plain that he's playing the role here of an undercurrent - a restrained force that gives this song all the depth it has. He's warm and fiery, maroon velvet with streaks of magma at its heart, and you can hear him restraining himself, reining himself in to prevent his power from surging up and overwhelming all else. That restraint is present throughout the song, and it makes a greater impact than one would have thought - because he's so powerful even in metaphorical chains that you know what would happen if he broke free. And you know that only a force such as his own can keep a force such as his own in check.
And then there's a place, around 6:40 of my version, where the chains begin to crack. At around 6:44, they break entirely and are cast off - and he is unleashed. And it is glorious.
Sabri Brothers or no Sabri Brothers, KK is the embodiment of the essence of the song: the fact that everyone has his or her time, which will come - and that every moment of that time is precious. Live, damn it - live!
Also, the way he moves to the rhythm? Gorgeous. And the way he sort of does this *wave-wave-thumbsup* gesture to the Brothers from behind his microphone? Adorable. XD
Dhal jaayega...
...Also, has anyone else noticed the freakish similarity between the words 'itraana' and 'iteration'? Holy foxtrot.
I will admit that
Tu Aashiqui Hai sort of freaked me at first. It does take a little getting used to: this is because of the chorus girls, who are extremely squeaky. Also one of them pronounces aashiqui with a 'kh', and it's annoying. (It's at times like this that you realize how important KK's own perfect diction is - even if he does say aashaqui sometimes, which, incidentally, is extremely cute.) Anyway, that's sorted out as soon as he starts to sing.
The variations in tune are a beautiful way to take advantage of the unexpected, turning it into pure pleasure - and that's a damned hard thing to do. The pace is slower, the beat shallower - which, incidentally, could have been worked with to make it just a little more soft-rockish, because his movement, his gestures both in body and voice, practically exuded the aura of that setting. It's like what I read somewhere about some car - those retro dials would have looked great in a more futuristic interior. Apparent incongruity can be used to create seamless beauty - particularly when you have KK around, because in situations like this he has an instinct for melding with the music - for being one with the music - and that would make it even easier for everyone else involved.
The violinist, incidentally, is fantastic.
The highlight of this track, for Cain, was at the beginning of the second stanza - that little pause before har nazar mein. Suddenly a comma becomes a dash - Har safar mein, har nazar mein becomes Har safar mein - har nazar mein - and the whole thing becomes so much more intense, so much more urgent - so much more compelling, all in the blink of an eye.
And what's more, you know he did it intentionally. It was instinctive, the decision taken barely consciously, but it was intentional - and that makes it all the more brilliant. That's yet another thing I love about him: his ability to instinctively interpret what he's saying - what he wants to say, what he needs to say, what he has to say - and convey it in no uncertain terms - and no clearly definable ones.
He comes into his own during the last Tu hai aasmaan mein segment - the descending Tu hi jaan bhi hai is extremely Billy Joelish, which reiterates my soft-rock theory (and also the fact that his old-world flirtation is quite delightful).
The last few Tu aashiqui hais, and the humming before the end, are unsurpassable.
Khilte Hain Gul has faced a lot of flak, mainly because it's a Kishore Kumar song and anyone who dares to resing a Kishore Kumar song (without, for some reason, being Shaan) is quite likely to be judged by the puritans.
Cain, however, is not a puritan. In other words, I like it.
Mathangi is surprisingly good. Her voice is a little harsh (I believe she's the Carnatic types?), but as I've said before of Aditi Singh Sharma, she's the kind who can hold her own with him in matters other than voice. It's easily visible that they're both enjoying the music, and they both have that instinct for rhythm that's so important if any two people are to be in sync; ergo, good couple. He even said it in the behind-the-scenes video: 'once you stand together and start doing the music, you speak the same language.'
She speaks the same language he does; that is rare. He makes her blush - that is not. XD
Khilte Hain Gul starts on a very nineties, Channel-V-ish note (does anyone else remember that steel-drummish version of Roop Tera Mastaana by Shaan, or am I just crazy?) but the electric guitars save it from total descent into the whole 'reggae' quagmire.
KK is obviously having a little fun by now; witness the air-guitaring and slightly frisky vocals, complete with grin. He knows what he's doing here, he knows exactly which direction he wants to take this song in, he's got a decent duet partner, and damned if anything else matters; he's beginning to settle in. And you can see he doesn't like the flashing light - he sort of squints at it at one point, and it's endearing. X)
Also, the little 'whoa, yeah' thing he does during the stanza? Awesome.
Kal rahe naa rahe...Mausam ye pyaar ka...
The chorus girls are a little less squeaky here (and there aren't any q's to mispronounce); they also all seem to have fallen for him by now, because they're totally batting their eyelashes. Not, you know, that I blame them or anything. XD
Tu Hai Yahaan, I freely admit, is my favourite of the lot. It's got an aura that's sort of the eighties and sort of Pal - like Ishaara, it wears a veneer of friskiness that only strengthens the foundation of intensity it's built on.
He's enjoying himself to the hilt now, because he's in more familiar, solid territory and experimenting at the same time - he needs his cornerstones right in order to be comfortable. You see, it's become his experiment now, not the music director's alone - and that, to an artistic soul such as his, makes all the difference. "Tailor-made for me," he says; he's so damn right.
There's a part where they're all saying Tu hai kahaan, tu hai kahaan in chorus, and there's a shot of him shrugging at Mathangi in a sort of 'kahaan' action. It should be illegal to be this adorable. XD
All that thought, though, came afterwards. A mere two lines into the song, I was officially sold.
Tu hai - tu hai yahaan - do saanson ke darmiyaan... *grins into microphone*
Yup. I was sold. XD
Item three:
It's a video of the band rehearsing for Auckland - an informal session consisting of Teri Yaadon Mein, at which I was gleeful; O Jaana, at which I swooned; and O Haseen Zaraa, at which I pretty much died.
KK's wearing this white-and-navy-blue hooded sweater thing with red cuffs, and it's so adorable I don't even know. And his shoes have red soles. I don't know why I'm fixating on the red thing, but it's...just so adorable. It's just like him - that dash of a warm colour that comforts you, reassures you, while energizing you at the same time.
And he's air-guitaring. It is sexy.
As with Coke Studio, it's delightful to see him move to the music. And I'd totally raised my arm at the same note he did - before realizing he had too. Also, "Rinku Rajput on the keys!" XD
So we're all settling in for the rest of Teri Yaadon Mein, and suddenly "Tu jo mujhe mil gayi..." *sheepish grin*
No one can make forgetting lyrics so adorable. Particularly when he totally knows he's forgotten them and shouldn't have, so he looks sheepish and promptly air-pianos instead. XD
...And then descends into this gibberish that shouldn't be sexy but totally is.
The masterful way he gave the cue to switch the score to O Jaana swept me off my feet. Just a swift, non-verbal command and everyone knows what he's saying - gorgeous.
(Also, I love how 'follow me, okay?' means 'back me up'. SO AWESOME.)
He proceeds to remember the stanza of O Jaana. Everyone is surprised. XD
(Har shab mujhi mein tu hai! *points*)
And even when he isn't in the frame, you can hear his grin. The man's grin is audible. Audible, I say!
I was a little thrown off at O Haseen Zaraa at first, because I had trouble remembering they're working with the unedited version, with the 'Luk chhup jaana' between the lines. Then I settled down with it.
He didn't remember a word of it except the chorus.
The chorus was enough to kill me with ecstasy.
He is glorious.
Three aspects of his music that are grounded in his firm ideological base, three aspects so similar and yet so different, so full of the things we love so much about him.
His ideal is one to kneel before.
His voice is deep and warm and noble; his passion echoes in each note he sings. Verbally or not, he says everything there is to be said, and leaves the unexplainable in delicious ambiguity. He's frisky and intense, stable and crazy, so adorable that someone should grab him and put him in an argyle sweater and, at the same time, drop-dead gorgeous.
Art, as the Latin phrase goes, is in the concealment of art. Making everything seem effortless, sometimes to the point where it is effortless - that's what KK does. Devastating honesty - living in the moment he's singing - baring his soul to his audience - melding with his music like there's no tomorrow - that's what KK does.
We love you, KK. We all love you so much. We all owe you so much.
Know this, my darlin', and know it with certainty: that you are and will always be loved.
Happy birthday.
