Newbury Street, Panda, Philosophize, Me and You & Ocean – Ocean (Nischay Parekh)
I came across Nischay’s music completely by chance, via a Facebook reco by composer Sandeep Chowta. Considering I like Sandeep’s musical sensibilities, I assumed he might be recommending something he likes… and as a result, I may like it too. I wasn’t wrong in my assumption – I was immediately hooked! More than his vocals, Nischay’s musical sense was something I found very appealing. Panda, for instance, is my favorite from the album. And the musical piece from 01:48 to 02:06 strongly reminded me of my favorite number from Sandeep Chowta – ‘Short & Sweet’ from the Telugu film Kedi! Some of Nishcay’s lines are very interesting too, like ‘I got a New York state of mind, in Indian Standard Time…’ in Philosophize! The best part is that when you like some music, you an instantly buy it online… in this case, it was available on OKlisten!
London thumakda, Badra bahaar, Taake jhanke & Harjaiyaan – Queen (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)
Despite all the shrill accusations flying in all directions about Amit Trivedi repeating himself (Yeah, what a surprise! No other composer has repeated himself ever!), Queen remains a solid soundtrack. The tunes are consistently great and the sound is very, very Amit.
Padhiye – Aaha Kalyanam (Tamil – Dharan Kumar)
My favorite from this Yash Raj’ed Tamil soundtrack. That ‘Arai nizhalodu naan pogiren’ line immediately took me back to Ilayaraja’s Oru raagam paadalodu, from Anandha Raagam. Shaktishree’s singing too is perfect here!
Kattu mooliyo, Ee mazha megham & Mounam cherum neram – Ohm Shanti Oshaana (Malayalam – Shaan Rahman)
Shaan is on a roll and this is yet another example of how he flourishes when Vineeth Srinivasan is around (though, he has proven to be good even without Vineeth, in a couple of examples like Karaliloru from Kuteem Kolum and the Kannada film Nam Duniya Nam Style). Good music all through!
Kaboom, Baat kya hai, Khushfehmiyan, Sheher mera & Khuda na khasta – One By Two (Hindi – Shankar Ehsaan Loy)
The film is out and has garnered terrible reviews (except from Subash K Jha, who seems to be the last resort for producers intending to add *some* positive line about the film on the newspaper ads). And with those reviews goes yet another fantastic soundtrack down the drain, sadly. This is a great soundtrack with more than adequate gems from the trio’s rich sound. Thoroughly unfortunate situation for the soundtrack!
Phatakha guddi, Maahi ve & Tu khuja – Highway (Hindi – A R Rahman)
Good soundtrack, though pales in front of some of other recent Rahman soundtracks. I have complained adequately about Rahman’s new fangled singing in Phatakha Guddi’s male version. The song perhaps deserved a more authentic voice, like say Hans Raj Hans or Gurdas Maan, or even someone like say Daler Mehndi. The rest of the soundtrack is oddly average at best, with only occasional shades of brilliance.
Maelae maelae – Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal (Tamil – Harris Jayaraj)
Surprisingly, despite aping Rahman’s tune from Kadal, Harris gets this one right! He resists the urge to expand the song’s sound and keeps it to the minimal rhythm state and that adds a lovely effect to the song!
Mosale mosale, Neeyenna periya appatakkara, Muttaalaai & Puthiya ulagai – Yennamo Yedho (Tamil – D.Imman)
Like Shaan Rahman in Malayalam, Imman is on a roll in Tamil. His consistency seems too good to be true and it is great to see him straddle both urban sounds, beyond his staple of great faux-rural/folk tunes!
Mizhikaloro rithuvasantham & Chemmana chelurukki – Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 (Malayalam – Rahul Raj)
After being somewhat overshadowed in London Bridge, by Sreevalsan Menon, Rahul Raj proves his mettle yet again here. It’s just that his projects are so away from each other that he hardly seems present for most times when other composers like Shaan are ruling the scene with a fairly regular output stream. Add to that… this film’s release and tepid response!
Kannadi vaathil & Venmegham – London Bridge (Malayalam – Rahul Raj & Sreevalsan Menon)
Here’s a soundtrack where Sreevalsan, with just 2 tracks comes up sounding better than Rahul, though Rahul’s Kannadi vaathil is a clear winner. I do look forward to more from Sreevalsan, but the one I heard of him immediately after London Bridge – Shaji N Karun’s Swapaanam – isn’t something that I liked.
Mashooqana, Main dhoondne & What a feeling – Heartless (Hindi – Gaurav Dagaonkar)
After years of being in the sidelines, amidst multi-composer soundtracks, Gaurav Dagaonkar finally gets a solo soundtrack. Despite some awkwardly indulgent singing by the film’s producer, Shekhar Suman, Gaurav manages to produce a listenable soundtrack!
Nuvvante naaku – Heart Attack (Telugu – Anup Rubens)
I heard that the film is terrible. The music wasn’t that bad, really. Nuvvante naaku is an easy winner! I do wonder if the homage to Rahman’s Jeans number (Anbe anbe kolladhey) was intentional, though!
Jashn-e-ishqa, Tune maari entriyaan & Jiya – Hindi (Gunday – Sohail Sen)
For a composer who hasn’t had much success despite working with big time directors like Ashutosh Gowariker, getting a steady flow of big budget films is a surprise. But Sohail proves to be adept at the commercially ear-friendly music here! Instantly appealing music, at least for most parts of the soundtrack.
Neelangarayil – Pulivaal (Tamil – NR Raghunandhan)
With its strong whiff of Charukesi, the song, with its almost old world’ish appeal, is lovely! This is pretty much the only solace in the soundtrack, however.
Kaichachu – Darling (Kannada – Arjun Janya)
Darling is a sign of Arjun getting really repetitive and cornering himself into a box. Kaichachu is the sole exception, though not by a huge difference.
Manchala, Zehnaseeb, Ishq bulaava & Shake it like Shammi – Hasee Toh Phasee (Hindi – Vishal-Shekhar)
A pretty solid soundtrack from Vishal-Shekhar, as if making up for all the midding-to-average work in recent times. The extra dimension in the melodies (three, in particular) really stands out, away from most of their recent soundtracks.