Friday, November 20, 2009

Dil Se

"Dil Se" has always been one of my favourite songs. Intensely passionate and of course, it starred my then favourite Shah Rukh. Was totally crazy about the video too.
Dil Se is based on the Raaga Jog. Jog is primarily (according to my interpretation) a mellow and romantic raaga. It's characteristics make it perfect for being sung at concerts that are usually scheduled to be held overnight. The genius of Rahman has transformed this subdued and romantic raaga into a master composition that portrays intense passion, flickers of helplessness and gullibility. All along, especially during the era of the 60's to the 80's, Bollywood composers have been using hindusthani classical raagas as a base for their compositions. You'd get the purest forms of most raagas in compositions of Shiv-Hari (obviously), Lakshmikant-Pyarelal, Naushad and composers of their times. I could have a heated debate about who used which raaga to perfection and without changing its character much, but here is a composition by Rahman that has changed the very character of Jog and made it bold, but made it sound appealing to so many people. I don't think anybody would dare to do this too often.

My favourite khayal rendition in Jog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlI3ZK3bHAc

2 comments:

Rene Lacoste said...

Goodness! I'd put Dil Se on loop yesterday for the entire day. And I'd been trying to decipher the song's brilliance...but then, you've done that for me now :)

Priyanshi said...

Coincidence? :D