Haider - Hindi Music Review - Vishal Baradwaj

Aao Na** is brilliant opening track sung by Vishal Dadlani who is seen crooning lot of songs these days has rendered it brilliantly. He pulls of a "Bryan Adams" style of singing confidently with rock guitars and drumming adding the flavor. Inspiring and Motivational number. Bismil*** is deep and penetrative. Very vibrantly sung by Sukhvinder Singh, neatly maintaining the sufi style intact and expressing many shades of emotions ranging from joy, free sprited, peace, anguish, sorrow etc., clearly fulfilling Vishal's vision. Brilliant track. Aur Ek Bismil**, another version of Bismil,  is presented in Middle East/Arabic style that is totally contrasting to the original version. It is a composers delight even though I liked the first version better. Khul Kabhi***, a cool, soft melody soulfully rendered by Arjith Singh, is beautifully tuned and orchestrated with live strings and Jazz drumming offers a very beautiful listening experience. Legendary Mehdi Hassan's Gulon Mein Rang Bhare*** gets another color in the voice of Arjith Singh who gets another song and renders it well. I heard this song from Mehdi Hassan's Ghazals but not sure who composed it, Check it out :( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C03gLRHn6s ). Soul stirrer and a brilliant song. Vishal himself renders Jhelum** effectively and don't know what else he could do well. One more penetrative song this time basing Hindustani classical with very slow and deep interludes leaving tremendous impact on listening. So Jao is a short reprise of Aao Na in the unplugged version with acoustic guitars. Suresh Wadekar is so pleasing in Do Jahaan* along with the actress Shraddha Kapoor creating a lullaby effect even though the latter struggles to sing. Aaj Ke Naam* is a neat ghazal sung by, the talented wife of Vishal Baradwaj, Rekha Baradwaj beautifully. 

Verdict: Vishal Baradwaj the composer (also the film maker) stands right at the top of his music making abilities. Haider is a soulful, satisfying, musically rich and complete album of 2014 in Hindi film music. MUST LISTEN !

* indicates the rating on a particular song and not all songs get them.

Ennakkul Oruvan - Tamil Music Review : Santosh Narayanan

Endi Ipaddi** is extremely addictive, sung by Gaana Baala, who I think is a singing revelation in recent times in terms of expressing people's music with his raw, rustic, "untrained" talent. Very catchy and innovative. Manicka Vinayakam excels in Kutti Poochi**, a simple yet catchy folk tune orchestrated in very jazzy way with interesting fusion of superb guitars Nadaswaram - Highly innovative indeed. Poo Avizhum Pozhudil*** is just one example what Santosh is capable of. Mind blowing song. Brilliantly arranged/orchestrated with fantastic guitars, whistling, sharp soft beats to a superb tune is best of the album to me and confidently sung by Pradeep Kumar. Prabalamagavey** is a retro pop sung well by Actor Sidharth creates a trance effect, once again very different sounds, is a very interesting listen. Santosh creates an unplugged effect in Yaar** with beautiful piano backings, sung beautifully by Dhibu Ninan Thomas, also boasts very interesting, unconventional tune and orchestration yet remain soulful. 

Verdict - Santosh Narayanan, one of my most favorite composers in recent years in Indian Film Music Industry, delivers a cracker of an album. Ennakul Oruvan, a remake of Kannada film Lucia that also had Santosh's music for background score, is a brilliant album that is very rich musically. MUST LISTEN !

* indicates the rating on a particular song and not all songs get them.

Kaththi - Tamil Music Review : Anirudh Ravichandar, A R Murugadoss

Aathi*** is second time collaboration of Anirudh and Vishal Dadlani (Of Bollywood's Vishal-Shekar) where the latter once again proves why he is an awesome singer as well. Quirky interesting rap bits with good melody backed up by "NextGen sounds" makes this a super listen. Hiphop Thamizha and Anirudh join hands to sing Pakkam Vanthu*, a peppy number that is dominated by Hiphop Thamizha's rap singing, which makes it interesting to listen, jammed with soft beats backed by lot of electronic sounds and Nadaswaram, creating a Bhajan effect, that shuffles between folk and western, with Anirudh singing the melody portions, is definitely a slow burner. Vijay's singing in his movies continues in fun filled SelfiPulla with Sunidhi Chauhan for a typical dance folk number. Anirudh intelligently keeps the tune simple and catchy to accommodate Vijay while Karky spices up with his innovative trendy lyrics. Paalam, sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Swetha Mohan, is a fusion of sorts between carnatic, parade and folk is interesting. Kaththi Theme (The Sword of Destiny) is short but effective. Bad Eyes* (Villain Theme) makes an interesting theme music in the combination of Jathi, Flute and Veena but heavily Ilayaraja inspired. Nee Yaaro*** is a sincere Ilayaraja attempt in evoking human emotions is indeed sincere, to an extent to what Anirudh could do, aided by the golden voice of K J Yesudoss.

Verdict: Anirudh firmly establishes himself to be the latest whizkid in the block and continues to be interesting despite sounding monotonous off late. Kaththi cant be seen as his best work (which, to me, is still "3") however it is definitely interesting and make a very good, fun filled and trendy album over all in the lines of Maan Karaate and VIP.

* indicate the rating on a song.

Govindhudu Andarivadele - Telugu Music Review: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Neeli Rangu**, another "Allanta Doorala" (from AMAV) attempt in folk style backed up by some lovely strings and passionate singing by Hariharan,  is a very pleasant listen. Gulabi* has interesting and catchy pallavi with lengthy pharses; Javed Ali, a surprising choice, restores the faith and responds well in both singing and diction in this "controlled" orchestrated song despite the usage of electric guitars and rock beats. Chinmayi owns Ra Ra Rakumara* completely emoting what was required in this well composed melody despite a strong Ilayaraja flavor. Prathi chota* starts like Raja Rajathi (Agni Natchathiram) and transforms into a "Micheal Jackson inspired typical funky pop Yuvan" style and makes it enjoyable. Bavagare Choope, another usual folk that is sung by group of Yuvan usuals - Ranjith, Vijay Yesudoss, Surmukhi, Srivardhini, has nothing spectacular to boast about. Kokkokodi is sung well by Karthik and Haricharan, promises a beautiful mix of techno and folk fails to keep its initial impact.

Verdict - Yuvan delivers clean no nonsense soothing music for Krishnavamshi, that might work favorably to this family rural drama, and continues his good run in Telugu in the lines of Oye, Panja, Denikayina Ready(2 songs) despite his recent middling form in Tamil.

I - Music A. R. Rahman, Shankar

Ladio**, a song that will probably kick start the movie likely showcasing the fashion industry, will make one to forget it is a Tamil or rather an Indian song. A “Fanaa” kinda song (from “yuva”) except the words are thrashed much harder here. A free spirited Rahman with high techno beats and apt singing by Nikitha Gandhi is sure to captivate charts. Ennodu Nee Irunthaal***, love ballad at its best, orchestrated with lively piano, guitars and 80’s English style drumming with superb singing by Sid Sriram makes both the versions highly listenable. Aila Aila*** is a scream; highly innovative and experimental showing glimpses of choir, opera, hip hop, pop and bangra; Aditya Rao and Natalie Di Luccio (a singer from Canada)’s free style singing helps elevates the song. While most of the album is highly westernized, Merselayiten** will clearly satisfy the masses with sweeping lyrics and the soup boy Anirudh adds color that sounds more like his song infused with Rahman’s innovative violins. That leaves the pick of the album - Pookkale Sattru Oyvedungal***, a simple yet beautiful melody (isn’t the melody, tune and its structure matter after all the music glitz),which is orchestrated to supersede his own styles and superbly sung by more classical Haricharan and Shreya Goshal. 

Verdict: "I", even though is not the tallest in Shankar/ARR combination, is very effective and a cracking album. A R Rahman, who usually doesn't fail to satisfy the needs, continues his repertoire!