Sand, sea, sky in pink & orange hues, Ustad Sultan Khan’s vocals in the background, a lone boat, the couple – the girl clad in a salwar kameez and the guy in a blue t-shirt and jeans – and the wife’s name written on the sand by the husband. As the girl is about to bid adieu to her husband, the song begins. The location shifts from Bay of Bengal to the banks of Narmada River. Sand is replaced by a fort that is an architectural marvel. And yet the romantic atmosphere prevails.
The girl is now clad in blue – a simple plain blue saree and her husband in a beige sherwani matching the colour of the intricately-carved walls and pillars. Soft lighting, reflection of the blue of the saree on the sherwani and their faces, a beautiful female voice singing softly in exactly the way a rahasiya snehidhan has to be called. 🙂 A group of dancers are around the couple and yet remain unobtrusive. Hardly a minute into the song and yet there are numerous things to savour in these few seconds itself!
After the instrumental interlude, which has an equal share of scenes featuring the couple & the dancers, with the tempo of the instrumental matched perfectly by the visuals, the lyrics, the music, the lighting, everything becomes even more romantic and the expanse and the beauty of the location is also slowly unfurled.
The contrasting white and pink/lavender (what’s the exact colour of her saree?) of their costumes, the swing, the view of the steps leading to the river, the beautiful carvings on the walls and the slow transition from indoors to out into the water filled with exquisite romantic moments!
Forget about the full song. With just a trailer running for only a few seconds having visuals in colour with black beautifully juxtaposed and white visuals, didn’t Mani Ratnam show what a mellifluous romantic melody this was going to be?
If I as an audience can find so many things to observe and enjoy in this song, I wonder the numerous details and nuances which Mani Ratnam would have thought about when he was conceiving the visuals for this song! How I wish we could get a sneak peek into the screenplay for the picturization of a song! 😉
An A.R.Rahman song like this definitely deserves a Mani Ratnam’s picturization!
hmmm well written..I feel like listening to the song again. I sometimes feel maybe only a director like mani can take ARR’s music to that level which will match your imagination about the song when you first heard it. Can’t wait for RAAvan.