Originally published in The Hindu.
Andha pulla manasa – Adhagappattathu Magajanangalay (Tamil – D.Imman)
That mouthful of a title has gorgeous music by Imman, who seems to be channeling his inner Ilayaraja to fantastic effect all across the soundtrack. The raaga mix is heady – sounds of Simmendramadhyamam and Gowrimanohari seem more pronounced, even as Haricharan is stupendously good with the singing. Imman’s masterstroke is the wonderful twist after the first stanza, to gear up awesome guitars, changing the rhythm structure dramatically to a majestic new high, but retaining the soul of the tune so beautifully.
Payye veesum – Aanandam (Malayalam – Sachin Warrier)
Yet another singer turns into a composer! Sachin Warrier’s composing debut is both nuanced and accomplished. The soundtrack’s best happens to be Payye veesum, with its frothy, ebullient melody, delightfully orchestrated by Sachin, with a fantastic musical piece appearing four times, adding to the song’s overall appeal – prelude, the two interludes and the ending, where it gets a lovely veena layer too! Sachin’s choice of singers – his sister Sneha Warrier, and Ashwin Gopakumar, do a brilliant job with the vocals.
Mazhai ingillaye – Ammani (Tamil – K)
The resourceful and ever-interesting K strikes again in Ammani’s short, 3-song soundtrack. He ropes in Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for a Sahana raaga based Mazhai ingillaye and gives it a very interesting faux-classical—fusion, to put it vaguely—sound, with a languorous mridangam, morsing and a thumpy drum sound doing most of the work in impressive style. There’s the occasional solo violin too, expanding on the Sahana base really well.
Ela ela ela – ISM (Telugu – Anup Rubens)
Shakthisree Gopalan is the kind of singer that composers selectively hand over their best compositions given her range and style. Anup does the smart thing by handing over the best song of ISM to her – Ela ela ela. It’s a somber, immersive melody with a tinge of the kind of indipop music made popular by the band Euphoria. Shakthisree is magnificent handling the melody’s highs and softer notes, and the highly addictive Ela ela ela hook, all the while accompanying the lovely guitar phrase Anup concocts for the song.
Ei suzhali – Kodi (Tamil – Santhosh Narayanan)
Santhosh had a big month in October, with two of his soundtracks releasing in quick succession. Between Kodi and Kaashmora, the clear winner is Ei suzhali, a lilting, quirky ballad with a distinct retro-style synth orchestration that has an instant appeal. The best part of the song, though, is the relatively new and fresh voice of Vijaynarain – it is the kind of voice (a solo song, at that) that not only stands out, but also elevates the song’s overall charm.
