Music Review: Neethaane En Ponvasantham

Director Gautam Menon's movies have always had great music. This time it is maestro Ilaiyaraaja who has taken over the reins as music director. Are you in for an aural treat? Let's find out! Saayndhu Saayndhu, with a guitar base, is brilliantly melodious, especially the interlude portions. But the dampener comes in the form of Yuvan Shankar Raja, who seems to be a wrong choice, not that he is terrible. A soothing voice would have perhaps added more allure to the song. However, Ramya NSK salvages it to some extent.

Karthik proves his vocal prowess with Kaatrai Konjam - superbly composed (particularly the saxophone and clarinet bits!), it instantly takes you back to the evergreen Raja compositions of the bygone days. Stunningly employing violins to great effect, the beautifully arranged Mudhal Murai sees Sunidhi Chauhan in super-effective form and her Tamil diction is surprisingly very good with every word clearly standing out. Ilaiyaraaja aces Vaanam Mella in his trademark style, but Bela Shende's rendition is quite passable in an otherwise gorgeous track.

The rock based Pudikale Maamu has Suraj Jagan on the mic, and he does a good job too. Proceeding on a steady rhythm, singer Karthik intervenes midway to give the song a folk touch with trumpets blaring in between. Brass and synth rule Yennodu Vaa Va, the soundtrack's another high point; the sedate and calm melody working like a charm. The orchestration is captivating and Karthik does a mind-blowing job. Yuvan Shankar Raja makes another appearance, and in solo, in the plaintive Pengal Yendral; and he once again fails to create an impact. Sattru Munbu, the last track of the OST, is masterfully orchestrated and is sung nicely by Ramya NSK. Except for one major foible (choosing Yuvan for Saayndhu...), Ilaiyaraaja delivers a spectacular musical feast for NEP.

Note on the Telugu OST Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu: Though my opinion on the rest of the songs remains unchanged, Yedhi Yedhi (Telugu equivalent of Saayndhu Saayndhu) gets its due big time thanks to Shaan, who replaces Yuvan Shankar Raja. Sublime!

First published: Sep 1, 2012

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