By Mr. N.Murali Mohan courtesy www.rajahasan.com
The first time I happened to see Raja Hasan, he was singing "Allah Ke Bande Has De" and needless to say I was impressed. I was sure here is an artist to watch out. An artist in the mould of Mr. O. S. Arun, a wonderful stage performer. Mera Mann Kah raha tha ki "Yeh Dil Mange more!". And to my surprise he was eliminated that night which left me wondering if other singers were better than him. Were they, really? Well, if so, I wanted to see how better they were. And there was another week in which he was again eliminated and he was bidding farewell and jate Jate phir gaya "Allah Ke Bande". Honestly, I was depressed to see the youngster being eliminated. How on earth could that happen? Here is a singer with such gifted voice and classical background. It appeared sheer injustice. Then came the Brahmastra and I was so delighted to see him back and promptly voted for him. The truly gifted artist must be in, I thought. If not for him, I would not have watched the programme all these days. He is in and the rest is history and a bright future ahead for him. I can listen to him for the next forty years.
Raja Hasan is a natural singer. Singing comes naturally to him. The effortless ease with which he sings the aalaap and the crisp and delicate gamakas that he embellishes is simply amazing. I remember, when I first saw Azharuddin's batting even before he made his Ranji debut in 1982, I was excited to see individual brilliance in his batting. And after 25 years, I was equally excited about a talented youngster oozing individual brilliance. Azhar had golden wrists and Raja Hasan has a golden voice. It requires tremendous amount of discipline to sustain the voice that he is gifted with. And that is reflected in his humble nature. I am sure he must be doing some yoga to come up with such tremendous lung power that Lara Dutta was mentioning when he sang "Sun Le Maahiya" song. The guy is quite matured for his age and comes up with such matured and down to earth answers when confronted with.
To such brilliant singers you don't impose rules saying this is the only way one should be singing. They are always there improvizing. Just look at the way he sang the Aalaap in the middle of Sun Le Maahiya song. Within the rules of the game, that is, Shruthi, Laya and the Raag, Raja seems to always look for ways of improvizing. This indicates he thinks through the song and tries to see what feels better. I would say this means the guy is trying for excellence. That is the hallmark of a great singer. He strives for and pursues excellence.
Another feature of Raja Hasan is the feel that he gives to the songs. This emphasises that he tries to understand the lyrics and gives the appropriate expression for the right words at the right time. As Vishal puts it this makes the job of a Music Director easy. When a lyric and tune is given to the singer, the singer is expected to think through the song and give the right expression at the appropriate places. To be able to sing an entirely new composition which he never heard of and deliver his best requires good musical sense and classical background that Raja possesses in abundance. Also, Raja exercises great control over his breathe. Breathe control is the most essential and vital for singers. And for film music one should have a trick or two up your sleeve like changing the voice for each singer and if he could sing with a lady voice, I am convinced that Raja is a complete and natural singer who has come to stay.
Raja, we are with you. We look forward to hear you singing for the next forty years. God bless Raja Hasan and God bless good music.
Anupamaa
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
