I’m aware of the fact that many people who follow this blog do so not necessarily for the reviews (hey, no hard feelings – people are free to use this blog as they see fit 🙂 ) but just to keep updated on which new music is out in the market. I started this blog with that as one of the main reasons… anyway!
So, here are some of the soundtracks that I’m keenly looking forward to, in 2015. Most of these are in this list because of the past track record of the composer, or the director, and some for no apparent reason but for the fact that I expect good things from the team behind the film! There are also many films for which the composing credits are not easily available, or is misleading (like A R Rahman’s name being tossed around for the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, Fan, directed by Maneesh Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra, but multiple sources say that he is not composing for the film). I’ve cross-checked the facts from multiple sources for the list below, as much as possible, but I’m sure there are more worth looking out for (for example – no information on Sean Roldan’s next, after 4 films in his debut year of 2014, or Nivas K Prasanna’s next, for that matter!).
Hindi
1. Dil Dhadakne Do – Shankar Ehsaan Loy (Zoya Akhtar)
Because Zoya’s last film (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) had excellent music by the trio!
2. Brothers – Ajay-Atul (Karan Malhotra)
Finally, a full-fledged soundtrack (hopefully solo) from the talented Marathi music duo. The film’s plot makes it interesting too, being the official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film, Warriors.
3. Jagga Jasoos – Pritam (Anurag Basu)
Because Anurag Basu and Pritam’s last film together (again starring Ranbir Kapoor), Barfi, had stupendous music!
4. Tamasha – A R Rahman (Imtiaz Ali)
Because A R Rahman. And Imtiaz Ali, Highway notwithstanding.
5. Mirziya – Shankar Ehsaan Loy (Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra)
After working with Anu Malik in his debut, Rakeysh went to work well with A R Rahman. But post Delhi 6, he picked the trio for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and the combination continues for this film too. That the film is the debut vehicle for Anil Kapoor’s son, Harshvardhan Kapoor and Anupam Kher’s daughter, Saiyami Kher, makes it rather interesting.
6. Shamitabh – Ilayaraja (R.Balki)
Any film of Balki will have music only by Ilayaraja – that’s a given. I’m curious to hear Raja’s music in Hindi again – will he produce only new tunes, or will he reuse one of his iconic songs again?
7. Piku – Anupam Roy (Shoojit Sircar)
Hindi debut of noted Bengali composer – enough said! But Shoojit Sircar’s music sense deserves a mention too, given the kind of music he generated out of his films in the past, like Yahaan and Madras Cafe (Shantanu Moitra).
8. Shaandaar – Amit Trivedi (Vikas Bahl)
Because Amit Trivedi. And Queen director’s next film!
9. Fitoor – Amit Trivedi (Abhishek Kapoor)
Because Amit Trivedi! And Kai Po Che director’s next film.
10. Bombay Velvet – Amit Trivedi (Anurag Kashyap)
Because the Dev.D combination is back working together (after that one episode in Bombay Talkies, of course). And because it is a period film!
11. Banana – Joi Barua (Sajid Ali)
Because it is Joi’s film debut, after a stupendous pop debut (Looking Out Of The Window) in 2011. And because the director is Imtiaz Ali’s brother!
12. Tanu Weds Manu: Season 2 – Krsna (Anand L.Rai)
I expect Krsna to get his magical form back, like he produced those super songs in the first part!
13. Saala Khadoos – Santhosh Narayanan (Sudha Kongara Prasad)
This film’s also releasing as Irudhi Suttru, in Tamil, but will anyway be Santhosh’s debut in Hindi!
14. Badlapur – Sachin-Jigar (Sriram Raghavan)
Given the kind of form Sachin-Jigar are in, and given the kind of music Sriram has been able to get from his composers (Ek Hasina Thi, Johnny Gaddaar and Agent Vinod)!
15. Nyodda – Vishal Bhardwaj (Meghna Gulzar)
Because Vishal Bhardwaj – that’s all.
Tamil
1. Masss – Yuvan Shankar Raja (Venkat Prabhu)
Venkat and Yuvan have damn good ‘tuning’ as evidenced by their past films. So!
2. Okay Kanmani – A R Rahman (Mani Ratnam)
Mani Ratnam and A R Rahman, in my opinion, the best director-composer combo in India at present.
3. Uthama Villain – Ghibran (Ramesh Arvind)
Most probably the first to release in the 3 films Ghibran is doing for Kamal Haasan. That’s reason enough!
4. Vishwaroopam 2 – Ghibran (Kamal Haasan)
The second film between the composer-actor, and will be interesting to see how Ghibran considers the film’s music, different from how Shankar Ehsaan Loy did.
5. Paapanaasam – Ghibran (Jeethu Joseph)
And the third, though the original film, Drishyam, hardly had any potential for music or good music, for that matter. But Ghibran evokes anough curiosity on his own anyway.
6. How Old Are You? Tamil remake – Santhosh Narayanan (Rosshen Andrews)
I’m curious to see how Santhosh interprets the plot differently from Gopi Sundar in the Malayalam original.
7. Demonte Colony – Keba Jeremiah (Ajay)
Because it is Keba’s composing debut!
8. Andhaghaaram – V Pradeep Kumar (Vignarajan)
Pradeep was Milliblog composer of the year, in 2014 for Telugu. This is his Tamil debut!
9. Urumeen – Achu Rajamani (Shaktivel Perumalsamy)
The return of Achu in Tamil, who, despite giving a fantastic soundtrack like Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathiley, is still getting better work in Telugu.
10. Kai Neelam – Santhosh Narayanan (Nalan Kumarasamy)
The Soodhu Kavvum sequel – that’s reason enough, right?
11. Mayavan – Santhosh Narayanan (C V Kumar)
The man-with-the-midas-touch producer of Tamil films, C V Kumar’s directorial venture, besides Enakkul Oruvan. Santhosh is his regular anyway!
12. Naanum Rowdy Dhaan – Anirudh (Vignesh Sivan)
Anirudh’s music for a Vijay Sethupathy starrer!
13. Orange Mittai – Justin Prabhakaran (Biju Viswanath)
The debutant of Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, in another film starring Vijay Sethupathy.
14. Maari – Anirudh (Balaji Mohan)
Balaji Mohan moves from Thaman (Kaadhalil Sothappuvadhu Eppadi) and Sean Roldan (Vaayai Moodi Pesavum), to Anirudh! And the film stars Dhanush!
15. 10 Enradhukulla – D.Imman (Vijay Milton)
Imman’s music again, for an A-list star (after Vijay starrer Jilla, perhaps?).
16. Oru Pakka Kathai – Govind Menon (Balaji Tharaneetharan)
Balaji’s debut, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kanum, had middling music, but his second stars Jayaram’s son (Kailash) and has music by Govind Menon of Thaikkudam Bridge fame!
17. Thaarai Thappattai – Ilayaraja (Bala)
Because Ilayaraja and Bala together, again.
18. Iraivi – Santhosh Narayanan (Karthik Subburaj)
From the director of Pizza and Jigarthanda!
19. Sagaaptham – Karthik Raja (Surendran)
This is the launch vehicle for Vijaykanth’s son, Shanmuga Pandiyan. So it’s bound to be a no-expenses-sparred production. The last time Karthik Raja was composing for such a venture was JD-Jerry’s Ullasam, when Amitabh Bachchan’s new production house lavished everything and the composer produced stupendous music!
Telugu
1. Docheyi – Sunny M.R. (Sudheer Verma)
Swamy Ra Ra director Sudheer’s next, starring Naga Chaitanya no less. Thankfully, the director retains his favorite composer, instead of opting for so-called ‘saleable’ big names.
2. Baahubali – M M Keeravani (S S Rajamouli)
Tough call – I did not particularly enjoy the music of Rajamouli-Keeravani’s earlier outings, but the film evokes confidence, overall!
Kannada
1. Santa Kabira – Ismail Darbar (Narendra Babu)
Ismail Darbar’s Kannada debut!
Malayalam
1. Vineethamayi Apekshikkunnu – Vidyasagar (Sathyan Anthikad)
Sathyan Anthikad’s second film with Vidyasagar, after Oru Indiyan Pranayakatha.
2. Double Barrel – Prashant Pillai (Lijo Jose Pellissery)
Lijo Jose Pellissery’s 4th film with his regular composer, Prashant Pillai, with whom he always seems to deliver fantastic music!
3. Oru Vadakkan Selfie – Shaan Rahman (Prajith Karanavar)
A film which has Shaan and Vineeth Srinivasan working together, again! That’s reason enough.
4. Aadu – Oru Bheegara Jeevi Aanu – Shaan Rahman (Midhun Manuel Thomas)
Shaan Rahman, and an intriguing title!
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What did I miss? What else should I look for? I know I’ve not listed several films that are multi-composer – like Hawaizaada (including Vishal Bharadwaj), or the myriad films that have music by Jeet Ganguli + Ankit Tiwari + Meet Bros Anjjan, who come more like a package deal these days. Let me know what else I should look forward to!
