Music Briefs: 100% Kaadhal, Adutha Saattai, Ayngaran, Batla House, Dear Comrade, Evaru & Gimmick
New music from G. V. Prakash Kumar, Justin Prabhakaran, Ankit Tiwari, Sricharan Pakala and Arjun Janya...
Ayngaran - Another forgettable outing from G. V. Prakash Kumar, whose music career seems more like an afterthought with every passing soundtrack. While it's always a pleasure to hear from Hariharan, I just wish he was given a better song.
100% Kaadhal - Colour me suprised! Just when I had almost given up on G. V. Prakash, he pulls off a neat effort is his second release of the week — a remake of the Telugu film 100% Love (which had music from Devi Sri Prasad) — and it might as be his welcome return to form after a very long time, although it doesn't represent a progression so much as a broadening of what he has already proven himself to be capable of as a composer. Kannum Kannum Plus is a lovely classical-pop banger, while Yeanadi Yeanadi has Super Singer contestant Keshav Vinod beautifully rendering the dulcet melody. Suchith Suresan and Sudharshan Ashok ace the breezy bubblegum pop Oh Balu, and in Nenjellam Nindrayae, Vijay Prakash's flawless rendition accompanies the groovy acoustic composition. Of course, not every song works, but whatever works, works well.
Batla House - A short, unexciting multi-composer soundtrack, but Ankit Tiwari crafts a lovely melody with a tinge of melancholy in Rula Diya that gains from a pitch-perfect blend of dholak, ektara and shehnai.
Evaru - A film with just one song in Telugu is unheard of, but that's exactly what Evaru features — a haunting, hypnotic cut Ennenno tuned by Sricharan Pakala that's a landscape of brooding synthetic sounds while beautifully blending in Chinmayi's superlative vocals.
Dear Comrade (Telugu/ Tamil/ Malayalam/ Kannada) - With Dear Comrade, Justin Prabhakaran pulls off a pan-South Indian soundtrack that strikes a balance between accessible and experimental, while keeping it all engaging. There's the punchy Comrade Anthem, the expansive pathos-soaked Yetu Pone, the folky Canteen Song, and the exuberant Genda Phool-throwback Gira Gira. The musical nuances are undeniably interesting, yet it never feels more than the sum of its parts. Thankfully, Prabhakaran scores big time with Nee Neeli Kannullona, Kadalalle and O Kalala Kathala — each of them an intoxicating fusion of sounds that's by turns soft, intricately layered and melodious — and he has excellent help from Gowtham Bharadwaj, Sid Sriram, Sathyaprakash and Chinmayi.
Adutha Saattai - Coming off the high that's Dear Comrade, Justin Prabhakaran's Adutha Saattai is a massive dampener. Not just because it merely hits all the expected beats, but because I was expecting a lot more. There is a soulful romantic ballad Avan Varuvaan that comes midway through the soundtrack, but that's about it. Such golden moments are, however, few and far between. More often than not, the album is simply lacklustre.
Gimmick - Sanjith Hedge, as is the norm, lifts the breezy Lachmi Lachmi, but doesn't Arjun Janya's composition remind you of Vishal-Shekhar's Lover Also Fighter Also?
Ayngaran - Another forgettable outing from G. V. Prakash Kumar, whose music career seems more like an afterthought with every passing soundtrack. While it's always a pleasure to hear from Hariharan, I just wish he was given a better song.
100% Kaadhal - Colour me suprised! Just when I had almost given up on G. V. Prakash, he pulls off a neat effort is his second release of the week — a remake of the Telugu film 100% Love (which had music from Devi Sri Prasad) — and it might as be his welcome return to form after a very long time, although it doesn't represent a progression so much as a broadening of what he has already proven himself to be capable of as a composer. Kannum Kannum Plus is a lovely classical-pop banger, while Yeanadi Yeanadi has Super Singer contestant Keshav Vinod beautifully rendering the dulcet melody. Suchith Suresan and Sudharshan Ashok ace the breezy bubblegum pop Oh Balu, and in Nenjellam Nindrayae, Vijay Prakash's flawless rendition accompanies the groovy acoustic composition. Of course, not every song works, but whatever works, works well.
Batla House - A short, unexciting multi-composer soundtrack, but Ankit Tiwari crafts a lovely melody with a tinge of melancholy in Rula Diya that gains from a pitch-perfect blend of dholak, ektara and shehnai.
Evaru - A film with just one song in Telugu is unheard of, but that's exactly what Evaru features — a haunting, hypnotic cut Ennenno tuned by Sricharan Pakala that's a landscape of brooding synthetic sounds while beautifully blending in Chinmayi's superlative vocals.
Dear Comrade (Telugu/ Tamil/ Malayalam/ Kannada) - With Dear Comrade, Justin Prabhakaran pulls off a pan-South Indian soundtrack that strikes a balance between accessible and experimental, while keeping it all engaging. There's the punchy Comrade Anthem, the expansive pathos-soaked Yetu Pone, the folky Canteen Song, and the exuberant Genda Phool-throwback Gira Gira. The musical nuances are undeniably interesting, yet it never feels more than the sum of its parts. Thankfully, Prabhakaran scores big time with Nee Neeli Kannullona, Kadalalle and O Kalala Kathala — each of them an intoxicating fusion of sounds that's by turns soft, intricately layered and melodious — and he has excellent help from Gowtham Bharadwaj, Sid Sriram, Sathyaprakash and Chinmayi.
Adutha Saattai - Coming off the high that's Dear Comrade, Justin Prabhakaran's Adutha Saattai is a massive dampener. Not just because it merely hits all the expected beats, but because I was expecting a lot more. There is a soulful romantic ballad Avan Varuvaan that comes midway through the soundtrack, but that's about it. Such golden moments are, however, few and far between. More often than not, the album is simply lacklustre.
Gimmick - Sanjith Hedge, as is the norm, lifts the breezy Lachmi Lachmi, but doesn't Arjun Janya's composition remind you of Vishal-Shekhar's Lover Also Fighter Also?
Comments
Post a Comment