Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist. Week 52:
On Saavn | On YouTube
12 songs this week. Both playlists have 11 songs, but not the same 11 🙂 YouTube is missing just Mayakkadha from Silukkuvaarpatti Singam, which is available on Saavn. And Saavn is missing just one song – a blasphemy to miss Thala’s Adchithooku, from Viswasam! What ra, Lahari Audio, what you doing? This is also a week which has just one Hindi song, and even that is a remix of a 1989 Hindi song!
A note on the songs in the playlist.
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Adchithooku (Viswasam, Tamil): One heck of a rabble-rousing song by Imman. But even beyond the conventional kuthu idioms, Imman adds an interesting musical layer that sounds both alien to the kuthu template but also adds a new perspective to it! Good job!
Mayakkadha (Silukkuvaarpatti Singam, Tamil): The only song that worked for me, from Leon James’s latest. His music in his Telugu debut, Next Enti was very underwhelming. This song has a nice, captivating hook and some spritely backgrounds. Very well sung by Sudharshan Ashok.
Kerala Song (Natpe Thunai, Tamil): Hiphop Tamizha converts actor Vivek’s iconic comedy scene from Budget Padmanabhan into a frenetic mash-up of a song that is as over-the-top as it is enjoyable 🙂 While at it, he also mixes Pallivaalu bhadravattakam skillfully into the mix.
Varalama & Peter Beatu Yethu (Sarvam Thaala Mayam, Tamil): I was mighty underwhelmed with the film’s first teaser – I was left wondering why this plot (of which there was precious little to comprehend) for Rajiv’s return after 18 years! But this Chennai Times interview of Rajiv Menon, by Suganth, helps appreciate the plot like the teaser didn’t! Now, after reading the interview, the new song makes a lot more sense and generates interest. In some ways, it is like Sangamam’s conflict, between actor Rahman and Manivannan’s art and Vijaykumar’s art. The song is nice, in a way Rahman’s music usually is, but not in a very deep way, in my view. The composing credit for the song is for Rajiv Menon, while Rahman has been credited as ‘curator’. I found the sound superficial… or synthetic, with a more modern outlook to the emotions it is trying to depict. But that superficiality is just my own opinion, for a lot of younger folks, this is authentic and deep… and eventually, another generation will appear in the future for whom even this would seem superficial because something else would have taken shape by then.
Peter Beatu Yethu is kuthu, Rahman-style, where he incorporates a lot of world-music sounds to complement the rhythm focus of the film’s theme. The core tune did remind me of Kaadhalar Dhinam’s Enna Vilai Azhage – this line: “Viraivinil vandhu kalandhidu
viralpada mella kanindhidu
udal mattum ingu kidakkudhu
udan vandhu neeyum uyir kodu”
and
“Dhinam dhinam unai ninaikkiren
thurumbena udal ilaikkiren
uyir kondu varum padhumaiyae
unaivida illai pudhumaiyae”
Maari’s Aanandhi (Maari 2, Tamil): For a melody this beautiful, and one that almost alludes to the delightful prelude humming from Raja’s Kaadhalin Dheepam Ondru from Thambikku Endha Ooru, I really it was sung by someone who didn’t have to strain so much. Raja’s vocal strain is so obvious that it is painful to hear. Great job by Yuvan, though, with the sprawling melody and orchestration that keeps it all together.
Hrudayam Jaripe & O My Lovely Lalana (Padi Padi Leche Manasu, Telugu): After the first 2 singles, here’s the full soundtrack! Ironically, my least liked song from the soundtrack is by Sid Sriram (Emai Poyave). Hrudayam Jaripe easily works, with its energetic guitars and hook, and a fantastic veena layer. The other winner is Oh My Lovely Lalana, where composer Vishal Chandrashekar uses Karur Shivaramaiah’s English-Telugu Javali in Karaharapriya as base for his version. Stays true to the original with some nifty musical additions! Superbly sung by Sindhuri, Vishal’s wife!
Yemainado (Mr. Majnu, Telugu): Thaman scores pretty well here with the sparse backdrop and the use of Chennai Strings, to add a sprawling musical layer on Armaan Malik’s singing of the highly melodic tune.
Nuvve Nuvve (Hushaaru, Telugu): The second song by Sunny M.R. in Hushaaru. I’m glad to see him back in Telugu! This one’s also sung by Arijit Singh, no less. The tune is as intimate and touching as you’d expect a melody from Sunny. In Arijit’s voice, it transforms even better as it progresses and the rhythm kicks in.
Vasundhare (Nathicharami, Kannada): Composer Bindhumalini returns after Aruvi, albeit without Vedanth Bharadwaj. And song lives up to the Aruvi high in every way! She not only sings it incredibly beautifully, but she also adorns it incredibly with a lovely saxophone-loaded jazz feel and a smattering of Latino. It all works so very well together in that whispery serene tune!
Gali Gali (KGF, Hindi): Tanishk Bagchi strikes for the umpteenth time. In a film that is billed as a multi-lingual but they are way too scared to even refer to the actual composer of the film in any title or YouTube description, Instead, composer Vijay Basrur is adequately hidden in all promos. Not that his songs are any good – they seem loud, garish and pointless. Gali Gali, though, works purely on the charm of the original that it attempts to remix – it is telling that Kalyanji Anandji’s original from almost 3 decades ago is still so good!
