Idhuvare njan, Azhakolim mariville, Kannivasantham & Chendalire – KQ (Malayalam – Stephen Devassy)
To be honest, I had no idea who Stephen Devassy was, till I had made an entry in my ItwoFS website about a musical piece of his being used by Vidyasagar as a prelude to his song from Raman Thediya Seethai – the song, Ippave ippave. has a piano prelude (played on piano, in the film, by Pasupathy. That was an exact replica of the opening of Devassy’s track ‘Forgiven’ from the album ‘Romanz A‘. I discovered the album as loved it! Then I tried Devassy’s songs from his debut film, Hariharan Pillai Happy Aanu and was disappointed to not find the Romanz A standard in it… and moved on. Now, the man is back with a vengeance, in his only 2nd film – KQ! This is a wonderful soundtrack that seems like Devassy has put in his everything to ensure that people know what he is really capable of. Highly recommended!
Mera mann, Saadi galli, Tu hi tu, Dramebaaz & Dil ki – Nautanki Saala (Hindi – Mikey McCleary, Falak Shabir, Ayushmann Khurana and Rochak Kohli)
Nautanki Saala is one of the best recent soundtracks I have heard. This is the kind of soundtrack that keeps on giving, almost endlessly and I discover something new in it with every listen! My personal favorites are Saadi galli, Tu hi tu and Dramebaz… I somehow keep listening to them on repeat! Of course, as comments on my review point out, Falak Shabir’s Mera mann seems like it is highly inspired by (not copied, since the actual tune is indeed different; but at least in terms of the overall construction and genre) Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo’ole‘s Somewhere Over The Rainbow. The so-called original makes for a wonderful listen too, by the way!
Konjum kili – Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga (Tamil – Yuvan Shankar Raja)
Konjum kili is as much as Yuvan’s win – with a fascinating melange of the folk’ish tune and celtic music – as it is singer Velmurugan’s! Yuvan also makes a difference in the tune of anupallavi and it stands out really well!
Ura mandhi – Whistle (Kannada – Joshua Sridhar)
There are news reports that Joshua could be in trouble fr recycling his own song from the Tamil film Veppam, as Ura mandhi, in Whistle, the official remake of the Tamil thriller Pizza. That’s the irony in our copyright laws anyway, where the creator doesn’t own his work. In any case, Kaatril eeram was my favorite song from Veppam (unlike many who loved Mazhai varum arikuri) and I’m glad it is getting a second lease of life in a Kannada version.
Kaise bataoon, Khalbali & Bulbuliya – 3G (Hindi – Mithoon)
Mithoon’s Indipop outing, with a realy long name that I don’t care enough to recall now, seemed like he had run out of stock. He did a few non-descript films where he had just one song, but nothing really matched the high he left with Anwar and The Train. There was a Lamha in between, but nothing solid after that. Thankfully, 3G promises better things. The tunes seem confident and so is his orchestration – the sound is not from his usual template and that is a very positive sign! There was news earlier that he was going to do music for the Chashme Baddoor remake, but that hasn’t been the case. Hope he picks up the thread now.
Ajnabi – Jolly LLB (Hindi – Krsna)
Krsna’s 2nd album is a massive disappointment and that seems particularly hard to accept after the stupendously wonderful debut that was Tanu Weds Manu. Ajnabi is the only track that demonstrates that is it the same composer and that we don’t need to lose all hope.
Etho maayam & Ariraro – Nirnayam (Tamil – Selvaganesh)
Etho maayam is the kind of music that I associate with Selvaganesh – strong whiff of raaga (in this case a toss up between Nalinakanthi and perhaps Shankarabharanam). Very listenable! Ariraro is a song that I like for a strange reason – it reminds me so strongly of Ilayaraja’s brilliant lullaby from K Bhagyaraj’s Mundhaanai Mudichu, Chinnanchiru kiliye – both are based on Charukesi, a raaga that one can seldom go wrong with.
Punjabiyaan di battery & Main senti hoon – Mere Dad ki Maruti (Hindi – Sachin Gupta)
One heck of a lively and foot-tapping Punjabi pop sound by Sachin Gupta. The good part is that the songs don’t follow earlier templates of filmy Punjabi music!
Kuru kuru, Amma Wake Me Up & Kanna kanna – Vathikuchi (Tamil – Ghibran)
I have already upped my 100 word review of this soundtrack to 200 – it is THAT good! The songs (the tunes) and the sound is so inventive that it really listens multiple listens to sink in and once it does, they refuse to go away! Kuru kuru is my personal favorite, but the unique Shivaranjani in Amma Wake Me Up, along with its hilarious lyrics makes for a compelling 2nd fave!
Idhar gire & Kona kona – Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (Hindi – Sandeep Chowta)
It’s good to see Sandeep in a mainstream Hindi film project again. And he does well! Idhar gire showcases Sowmya Raoh’s prowess as much as Sandeep love for bluesy tracks. Kona kona, though, is the soundtrack’s punchy best – absolutely gorgeous!
Title song, Maleyali minda, Aase aase & Ashada masadalli – Andar Baahar (Kannada – Vijay Prakash)
Yet another singer making his composing debut and I’m mighty impressed! This man should compose in other languages like Tamil and Telugu too – he IS good! The title song in particular is super and the choice of Vishal Dadlani as singer is bang-on target!
Arjuna arjuna & Edhathaan kanduttey – Settai (Tamil – Thaman S)
Arjuna makes a wonderful mix of Suchitra’s vocals and that shehnai-like sound, while Edhathan kandutte is the usual Thaman techno-kuthu that he gets it right most often than not! Gana Bala has great fun in singing this one!
Darbadar – I, Me Aur Main (Hindi – Sachin Jigar)
Despite the highly-used qawali/sufi sound, Darbadar stands out because of Monali Thakur’s fantastic vocals! The composers too work hard in ensuring that the song elevates beyond the template for such songs.
Manjha, Shubhaarambh & Meethi boliyaan – Kai Po Che (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)
It’s incredible that the director who had a solid and full-fledged soundtrack for his last successful film (Rock-On) opted for a 3 song soundtrack. But trust Amit Trivedi to deliver a knockout even with just 3 songs – this is a #200 in Milliblog parlance, but for the fact that there are only 3 songs to write about. Each of the 3 songs compete with each other in terms of the sheer imagination Amit has loaded into them! While I love all three, Shubhaarambh’s orchestration fusing bagpipes and shehnai is a particular weakness for me!
Node node – Autoraja (Kannada – Arjun Janya)
Arjun Janya strikes again in this single from Autoraja – it is no doubt belonging to the Bombay-Kehna Hi Kya school of music, but Arjun pulls enough strings to make it sound different and addictive!
Manasulona – Abbai Class Ammai Mass (Telugu – Skehar Chandra)
Very DSP’ish, but several shades softer. The lilting tune is a clear winner!
