The entire soundtrack! – Raanjhanaa (Hindi – A R Rahman)
I have possibly read every kind of opinion on Raanjhanaa out there. From people who hate Rahman’s singing in one song and use that to pull down the overall value of the soundtrack that they have reviewed in glowing terms, to confusing opinions that seem to love all the song but still call it a mixed bag… the sheer amount of opinions on this soundtrack is staggering! Then there is that persistent chatter if this deserved a 300 – I have already explained the word count part, so, not venturing there again.
Personally, this is an enormously satisfying soundtrack. Other Rahman 300s (namely, Rockstar and Delhi 6; not including the retrospectively 300′d Roja), they got the 300s, in my view, for being incredible genre benders, Delhi 6, in particular. Raanjhanaa is different – to me, it doesn’t break any new ground. But, it seems so seeped in non-urban music that Rahman has only fleetingly used so far, at least not to this immersive level. Again, the music is not plain classical-folk either – it is very much in Rahman-styled hybrid classical-folk. So, the title song has tiny nuances in the background that make me jump in excitement every time I hear it. And the best part is that it coexists beautifully with the classical-folk elements. And of course, the way he has extracted vocals in songs like Banarasiya and Ay sakhi are a wonder on its own. As I have mentioned earlier, there is so much to explore and dig in Raanjhanaa’s music… at least for me.
Listen to the songs from Raanjhanaa here.
Johnny mone johnny & Shivane – ABCD (Malayalam – Gopi Sundar)
Despite the strong Kolaveri-style simplification and sounds, Dulqar makes a confident singing debut in Johnny mone, aided generously by Gopi’s catchy sound. Shivane is pulsating and highly rhythmic – totally enjoyable. Looks like there’s no stopping this Gopi Sundar guy!
En poo nenjai – Naadi Thudikkuthadi (Tamil – Ilayaraja)
For some reason, this song stayed on my mind, despite the largely middling soundtrack from Raja. And it also reminded me of a song from Sirpi, from the film Mettukudi – ‘Indha poonthendral kaathu’. Same raaga? I don’t know!
Listen to the song here.
Sawaar loon, Ankahee & Manmarziyan – Lootera (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)
It was heartening to see Amit get back to his form after average (for his standard) work in films like Bombay Talkies, and to some extent Ghanchakkar. There is generous Udaan hangover (intended, given the director?), but Manmarziyan kills it big time!
Listen to the songs from Lootera here.
Lazy lad & Allah meherbaan – Ghanchakkar (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)
The title song’s lyrics are hilarious, but in terms of tunes, these 2 songs make the cut for me. Even these songs are a triumph of superb singing, by Richa Sharma and Divya Kumar, respectively.
Listen to the songs from Ghanchakkar here.
Kallaale senju vecha, Kaalayile maalai & Nandri solla vendum – Chithirayil Nilachoru (Tamil – Ilayaraja)
One of the best recent soundtracks by Raja, Chithirayil Nilachoru brings the composer together with one of the most under-rated commercial directors in Tamil cinema, R Sundararajan. He may have moved to full time comedy roles these days, but there’s no denying his incredible success at one point in time in Tamil cinema (though I found most of his plots outdated and silly, even back then!). For the soundtrack, Raja seems to have specifically evoked some of his iconic numbers from past and that only works to enhance the album’s appeal.
Aruvaakkaaraa & Kaathu kaathu – Kutti Puli (Tamil – Ghibran)
Ghibran’s hat-trick! A short soundtrack, but these 2 tracks are enough to assume that this composer definitely has something in him.
Bere yaro & Soundharya samara – Kaddipudi (Kannada – V.Harikrishna)
This Harikrishna is just everywhere in Kannada cinema – he’s perhaps the composer for every alternate film made in Karnataka. Quality, as a result, goes for a toss, but when one is working with Yogaraj Bhat, I suppose even Harikrishna has to fall in line and deliver. These 2 tunes offer plenty of clue in what Yogaraj brings to the table in terms of quality.
Listen to Bere yaro here.
Listen to Soundharya samara here.
Jeene laga, Hip hop pummy & Rang jo lagyo – Ramaiya Vastavaiya (Hindi – Sachin-Jigar)
This is one of the most market-friendly and commercially appealing soundtracks by Sachin-Jigar. There’s desi bubblegum pop all round, to be sure, but even here, the duo make a difference. If this soundtrack did not have Sachin-Jigar’s name mentioned, I’d have guessed Pritam as its composer!
Rabba, Karle jugaad & Ambarsariya – Fukrey (Hindi – Ram Sampath)
I’m glad Ram’s going from strength to strength and picking films too carefully. I can’t get enough of Karle jugaad and Ambarsariya!
Innum konjam, Enga pona raasaa & Kadal raasa – Maryan (Tamil – A R Rahman)
A soundtrack that sounds like a sequel to Kadal should be good and it is, but just not as good as Kadal, at least in my view. If Innum konjam offers a throwback to Indira days, Enga pona is Rahman’s world music style fusion at its best! Kadal raasa, is of course the soundtrack’s most accessible, aced by Yuvan in the vocals!
Hun nai hatda, Saiyyon asi, Sajan bin & Tum se – The Shah Hussain Project Vol 1 (Indipop – Vasundhara Das, featuring Mir Mukhtiyar Ali)
A terrific album, this! The music has an even texture that seems specifically cooked for this duo and the music by Vasundhara is consistently appealing! Her vocals continue to be a niggling issue, but the fabulous tunes more than make up for it.
Listen to the song from this album here.
Mabbulu kurise – Mallelatheeramlo Sirimallepuvvu (Telugu – Pavan Kumar)
A little, out-of-the-blue soundtrack that offers dramatically unique sound for Telugu films.
Listen to the song here.
Ask me, Ponoonjalil & Kannin aayiram – Aaru Sundarimaarude Katha (Malayalam – Deepak Dev)
It continues to annoy me that Malayalam films still have only 2-3 songs and that the soundtracks do not release in predictable formats, but it seems most have started to release their music on YouTube! Like this film! Very good work from Deepak Dev!
Idhu enna, En kannukulle & Oru jaan vayithukku – Adithalam (Tamil – Taj Noor)
Glad to see Taj Noor finding his moorning in Tamil films, after supposedly promising debut and follow up. Oru jaan vayithukku is a startlingly Raja-like number that also build on the template well!
Listen to Idhu enna here.
Listen to En kannukulle here.
Listen to Oru jaan vayithukku here.
Maula maula & Padipoya – DK Bose (Telugu – Achu)
Achu delivered an outstanding soundtrack for the Tamil film Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakkathiley, though the film sank without a trace. He has some interesting songs in this film too, though his most recent release, Om (3D, Telugu, where he shares credit with Sai Karthik) is disappointingly average. But don’t miss Padipoya in DK Bose – kick-ass song!
Listen to Maula maula here.
Listen to Padipoya here.
Kaatru veesum, Evan evan, Thiruttu isai & Pistah – Neram (Tamil – Rajesh Murugesan)
A pretty good debut by Rajesh who makes sure that the variety in the soundtrack works very well! While Pistah is massy and commercial, there are others like Evan evan and Kaatru veesum where he makes his mark with highly imaginative interludes and tunes!
Listen to the songs from Neram (Malayalam version) here.
Barbaadi & Jigra fakira – Aurangzeb (Hindi – Amartya Rahut & Vipin Mishra)
It is sad that the film flopped and that took the music along with it. Vipin had some really good tunes here, particularly Jigra fakira!
Meliya saaral & Azhagendral – Theeya Velai Seyyanum Kumaru (Tamil – Sathya)
Competent and catchy masala stuff from Sathya who is turning to be a dependable commercial composer.
Manjuthirum Ravinullil – Hotel California (Malayalam – Shaan Rahman)
Yet another Malayalam film with one song! Highly intriguing video and a lovely tune that is really well sung by Vijay Yesudas and some fabulous use of instruments by Shaan!
Ya 7weneh, Wel loom ramani, Safina, Fish majal, Ween el-kalam, Ween min eSneen & Wyama – Ya Bay (Hayajan)
A recent album that I thoroughly enjoyed and still hooked! The tunes are superb and there’s a lot of global pop and Indian influences in them that makes them really pleasing. That mind blowing instrumental piece that arrives at 2:24 in Wel loom ramani, for some reason, takes me to Ilayaraja’s Ullaasa Paravaigal number, Azhagu Aayiram! And I can almost picture Shafqat singing the Hindi version of Ween el-kalam… such a strong Pritam’ness to it!
Listen to the whole album here.
Aa nadhiyoram (Che Guevara song), Kaal kuzhanju & Mindathe – Left Right Left (Malayalam – Gopi Sundar)
Typical Gopi soundtrack with a multi-genre variety. Aa nadhiyoram starts with Anna Katharina Valayil’s superb rendition of Hasta Siempre (that Karthikraja used so blatantly in Tuneega Tuneega’s Dhoodi pinja lanti pilla), but moves to his own lovely tune. The film’s writer Murali Gopi gets behind the mike for Kaal kuzhanju, and he gets the intonation really well here! Mindathe is frothy and makes good use of naadhaswaram.
Aaja aaja – Thillu Mullu (Tamil – Yuvan Shankar Raja)
It is said that MS Viswanathan composed (co-composed) al the 4 songs (he has already composed on his own 2 songs that were part of the original film). But, the first 2 songs, Aaja aaja and Kai pesi hardly sound like tunes MSV could have composed, so I’m not sure what the real deal is. Aaja aaja has a nice retro pop sound to it – thoroughly endearing.
Yaevaindho & Padipoyaanila – Balupu (Telugu – Thaman S)
In Yaevaindho, Thaman reuses the backgrounds he so beautifully used earlier in Paniye paniye from Ayyanar, to evoke the Ilayaraja sound. And SPB sings this one, so it sounds even better! Padipoyaanila has a distinct Harris Jeyaraj feel to it, but not in a droning, predictable way. So I guess Thaman spruces up the Harris sound!
Listen to Yaevaindho here.
Listen to Padipoyaanila here.
Dola dola & O kanu papa – Saahasam (Telugu – Sri)
I’m really glad about Sri’s comeback, whatever reason he went out of mainstream. Dola dola is every bit flashy and filmy in the dependable Sri-RGV combo style, while O kanu papa proves that Sri still has it in him to make fantastic melodies, despite the fact some portions of this track remind me of the way George Michael’s iconic song, Careless Whisper ends!
Listen to the songs from Sahasam here.
