Originally published in The Hindu.
Kaathaaga – Idhu Namma Aalu (Tamil – T.R.Kuralarasan)
Kuralarasan’s composing debut comes on the back of his father’s illustrious run as a composer during his heydays. The young composer has a good set of tunes that definitely evoke interest, but the packaging is the bane of current day composers – it seems amateurish and less imaginative. It is in Kaathaaga that the composer does best, with a dual-identity tune that starts off as a lovely melody and morphs into a manic kuthu melody mid-way, before changing pace again. Silambarasan’s singing is heavily digitally processed, but, ironically, all that digital technology could not improve his terrible Tamil diction.
Itu rava – Padesave (Telugu – Anup Rubens)
Anup ropes in Haricharan for Itu rava, a pleasant, likeable pop melody. The tune is simple enough, but the composer builds the song’s progression very well, leading to a rousing hook at the end of the pallavi. The value of a really good singer like Haricharan comes to the fore when you hear the way he handles the tune, with total confidence.
Saala khadoos – Saala khadoos (Hindi – Santhosh Narayanan)
Saala Khadoos’ 5-song set is a great study in multi-lingual film music, if you compare it with the Tamil 5-song equivalent in Irudhi Sutru. The best example is the title song in Hindi, an angsty pumped up sound led by Vishal Dadlani, that is rendered more as a ‘I’m liberated’ song in Tamil’s Poda poda. But for the title hook, the pallavi in both versions are mighty different. You unwrap the lyrical nuances eventually – Vishal sings, ‘Mujhko sharam kaisi nanga hoon main’, while Praveen Kumar goes, ‘Idhayam maraikkum udagal illai, nirvaanamaai manam’ in a different line, indicating that the lyricists perhaps sat and decided the theme together!
Rosie – Monsoon Mangoes (Malayalam – Jakes Bejoy)
Rosie has all the hallmarks of a present day composer consciously and obviously using the 80s disco sound. It works very well, given Shreya Ghoshal superb singing (along with the composer’s backing vocals). The sound Jakes assembles includes a captivating horns section, an unhurried retro-style rhythm and some wonderfully wailing guitars in the background.
Kuchi mittai – Aranmanai 2 (Tamil – Hiphop Tamizha)
The Hiphop Tamizha duo do have a unique sound hitherto unheard in Tamil film music, though it comes out less often, in some of their newer soundtracks. A particularly catchy and interesting format is a simple, one hook tune that is repeated (like a ghazal couplet!) amidst a profusion of a lot of music. But the music is in complete harmony and produces a great effect, as it first did in Vaa vaa vaa vennila from their debut, Aambala. That was a hip-hop’ish tune, while Aranmanai 2’s Kuchi mittai pulls off a similar feat with a earthy and easily catchy folk tune!
