Rahman peps up dull Games song

Just days after the Commonwealth Games theme song composed by music maestro A R Rahman was given a lukewarm reception, “O Yaaro, India bula liya” is being tweaked. The song is to be made more racy for its video launch, which is now slated for this week.

The changes have been made by Rahman himself. Taken together with the visuals, the video’s effect is expected to be more electric than at the time the song was released. The video is being given the final touches in Mumbai with subtle variations in beat and rhythm to pet it up.

Sources said the Games’ creative team, headed by Bharat Bala, is overseeing the theme song’s final avatar. The video will help make up for the lack of energy that seemed to be the main complaint of many who heard the song and failed to be moved by the Rahman touch.

The song patently does not have the verve or pace of Shakira’s ” Waka, Waka” which became a global hit during the recently concluded football world cup. The attractive Colombian star figured in a slick video as well. “O yaaro” is clearly not in the same league and falls well short of Rahman’s own rousing hits in the past.

The visuals for the video are expected to do their bit to spice up the music and the organizers say they hope this generates much needed, if belated, public excitement, thereby building a buzz.

Following the song’s release, Rahman had to face criticism, some of it searing, that the “gem” he produced for the Games opening ceremony lacked lustre and was either the result of a hurried job or that the composer’s powers were no longer as potent as before. A Rs 5 crore fee did little to assuage the feeling that the public had been shortchanged.

Though the group of ministers approved the song, its members were frank about its lack of fizz even though they did not want to stand in judgment over the musical wizard. It was made clear the six-minute composition, a key element in the opening ceremony, would not be scrapped as this would only create a fresh and unsavoury controversy.