Keda Kari / Kata Kata

Earlier, I had an opinion that a composer must have been totally uninterested and hasty while scoring, if he did not compose any new musical themes and has used just the instrumental versions of the melodies of the songs, throughout the background score of a film. However, soon I realized that a composer’s decision on whether to compose new melodies or use the melodies of the already composed song for the background score depends on how the film uses the song in its narrative. The usage of Keda Kari / Kata Kata in Raavanan/Raavan is a classic example.

In the opening episode of Raavanan, the Policemen are attacked by different people at different places at the same time. The percussive postlude from the Keda Kari song in its entirety plays as the background score of this episode. Before watching the film, when we heard the song on audio CD, we had assumed Keda Kari to be a song of Celebration and festivities in a typical rural Indian wedding Ceremony. It was slightly incongruous and discomforting to listen to the parts of that song playing loudly in the scenes where there is no trace of Celebration or festivity. The same piece is again heard when Veera and his gang storm into Dev’s camp to steal the arms and create havoc. These are moments with no mood for euphoric rhythms.

However, later, when the song Keda Kari, unfolds in its entirety, we get to see the chaos unleashed by the Policemen in Vennilla’s Marriage Ceremony. The Policemen enter the scene towards the end of the song, precisely when the percussive coda begins to play. All that happens in the opening episode of the film is Veer’s revenge for the chaos created by Policemen in Marriage ceremony and what they eventually did to Vennila - Veera’s sister. The score composer (A.R.Rahman) is linking an action and a reaction, a sequence and its consequence with the same piece of music, though they unfold on screen, in the reverse order.

P.S: Raavanan special Edition CD pack is available in stores now. “Kalingathu Bharani” (The Pain and War), The Lament of the leaves (as I expected, the Theme of lust features in this track), Naan Varuvaen (Easily the song of the year), Restless Mystic (this Oud piece is prominently heard when Ragini tries to escape, just before Yaaro Evalo song) and Yaaro Evalo (Theatrical Version of Kaattu Sirukki) are the 5 additional tracks included in the CD.