Alvida & O meri jaan – Metro (Pritam, Hindi)
KK literally powers Alvia and O meri jaan, while Pritam works his magic in the backgrounds. The build-up to both the songs are truly inspiring. Metro finally showcases an Indian doing very good Indi/ Hindi rock without depending on our friends from across the border, who seem to have already mastered this art.
Woh ajnabee & Zindagi ne – The Train (Mithoon, Hindi)
Any more comments from about Mithoon would amount to gushing unabashedly. As if I haven’t done so already! The point is that we have another worthy composer, who’s music we can confidently look forward to. The fact that he’s just 20 something and that he sings both these tracks is the icing on the proverbial cake!
Naram pookkal – Urchagam (Ranjit Barot, Tamil)
Whoa! Ranjit Barot zaps Tamilians on this one. Nandini Sarkar is almost flawless when she sings, ‘Edhai kandu en mel maiyalutranai’. Been ages since we heard since pure Tamil in, well, a Tamil soundtrack! Ranjit brings back quality fusion – it had gone on a world trip recently and did not want its name to be tagged with many recent Tamil songs. Guess now it’d be happy to be back!
Baarish – Kisi din (Adnan Sami, Hindi)
Why is that nobody talks about any other song in a pop album except the one featured in the video? I’m not sure if Adnan has plans to shoot a video for Baarish but I love it! Its got some punchy rhythms and his singing is very neat here. I prefer this one more than the 2 songs in the video!
Manasa mannichamma – Aadavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule (Yuvan Shankar Raja, Telugu)
Yuvan is on a roll. This Telugu soundtrack is proof enough. One of those rare soundtracks that is uniformly and thoroughly enjoyable. Karthik sings this one almost nonchalantly and that adds a special layer to its appeal, besides Yuvan’s excellent work behind his vocals.
Kaiyetha kombathu – Vinodayatra (Ilayaraja, Malayalam)
Raja, it seems, reserves his best for everything other than Tamil. Thats what I personally come to believe after listening to Vinodayatra. That its a Sathyan Anthikad film matters considerably too. The intricate sounds weaved by the veteran composer here makes all the difference, and that helps in masking a rather simplistic rhyme-like tune.
Indha nimidam – Pallikoodam (Bharadwaj, Tamil)
I’ve gotto confess. I love the raag Charukesi. Personal weakness. If you can identify – regardless of carnatic or hindustani – at least 3 of your fave raagas in film songs, consider your life well lived. Ask people around; try to learn some shortcuts; identify more songs in the same raaga; but make sure you know your 3 raagas and that you can identify them without much help or prodding. Trust me, it’s bound to be a revelation when you can fix this undeniable base for the reason why you seem to like a few songs more than the others! Bharadwaj did an excellent Charukesi in the film Thiruttu Payale earlier – for the song, Thaiyatha. He does a convincing encore, here.
