Ovvondrai thirudugirai may well be a song from Ilayaraja’s Neethaane En Ponvasantham! But, at some point mid-way, it could have easily been a Raja song from his prolific Kannada sojourn in the early 80s! The tune is vintage Raja and even the orchestration Imman assembles so beautifully and thoughtfully is strongly reminiscent of the veteran – this is not so much of a copy but a wonderfully assembled homage! Oru rosa too gets the mix so right – Anthony Dasan’s mock-gaana layered with catchy Latino sounds! Abhay Jodhpurkar and El Fe Choir are superb in Oruthi mele – the tune itself is mesmerizing, but the choir makes it so much more interesting and enjoyable! That ‘Dheena ragajana’ chorus Imman puts forward repetitively in the funnily titled Sangi mangi is a masterstroke – Nivas handles the tune too really well, along with glitzy sound that Imman mixes. Veteran SP Balasubramaniyam makes Enge ponai‘s pathos incredibly heart-felt like only he can, with Imman handing him a Hamsanandhi based tune for maximum impact. The very short Netru naan is a lovely listen too, in Sathya Prakash’s pitch perfect singing. After Oru Oorla Rendu Raja, Imman strikes back again with a fabulously melodious Jeeva!
Keywords: D.Imman, Jeeva, 200, #200
