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Sambhar Mafia - Cooked To Kill!

Friday, April 29, 2005

Anniyan Audio Rockz

WARNING: This is yet another Anniyan Audio Review like the many reviews you will read in the Blogosphere. If you are looking for something unique then you may not find it here. This is a long posting.

HJ Repeattu!

Harris Jeyaraj has been in a shell for the last nine months composing music for the most important project in the career (so far). HJ’s last release was Chellame. I was happy to see Harini making a comeback, Leslie Lewis (of Colonial Cousins fame) singing in Tamil for the first time and also the voice of Jassie Gift. No other album has played host so many big-ticket names like Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Kay Kay, Shreya Ghoshal.

Although some of the tunes resemble previous compositions by Harris Jeyaraj, I’m quite confident this music album will be a bigger hit than the songs of the Tamil New Year Releases. Shankar booked Harris Jeyaraj bcoz ARR was busy. Harris Jeyaraj doesn’t come cheap though. He does only 4 projects per year and he charges upwards of INR 1 Crore for each of them. Although initial reactions are going to be mixed, all said and done Shankar milks all his Music Directors. Anniyan Audio Rockz for sure but it may not recreate the “Shankar-ARR” magic which has captivated us in earlier flicks like Indian, Kadhalan, Mudhalvan, Jeans & Boys.

The album has a nice blend of Carnatic based songs (2), trendy dance numbers (2) and a folk song. Given the grand picturization that Shankar goes for, all songs will be played over and over again in TV and FM and hence it is bound to captivate the audience. Iyengaaru Veetu Azhagae, Oh Sukumari and Andankaka Kondaikari are sure runaway hits. The other songs will also attain this status after we hear it a few more times.


Oh Sukumari by Shankar Mahadevan and Harini

A pleasant relief to hear Shankar Mahadevan singing a melodious tune, the audience gets a respite from the usual fast songs which he sings for Vijay films. Harini also makes a comeback. The mandolin piece in the 1st BGM and the sax piece in the 2nd BGM are quite soothing. Some part of the charanam resembles the song “Baba Kichu Kichu thaa” from the movie Baba and also the “Breathless” song. More than all these, the orchestration of this song resembles “En Uyir Thozhiye” from Kangalal Kaidhu Sei.

I suggest that you listen to “En Uyir Thozhiye”, “Charanam of Baba Kichu Kichu Tha” and “Oh Sukumari” and judge for yourself. The rendition of the word “KoomAri” by Shankar Mahadevan reminds me of Playback Singer C S Jayaraman’s voice. Overall, a very nice composition for a duet song.


Kaadhal Yaanai by Nakul (of BOYS fame), Nelwyn (or is it Melwyn?) & G V Prakash (of Chikku bukku Rayilu fame)

The prelude reminded me of Vathikuchi Pathikichi Sattunutham ….Oyilu Oyilu (music by Aadithyan). The lyrics are typical Shankar style with a free flow of English words (often more than 50% of the whole song). The charanam looks like a rehash of the song Sariya Thavara from 12B (Harris Jeyaraj had scored the music for this movie as well). Some discussion forums say that the tune has been inspired by “The Ketchup Song”

In spite of all the above drawbacks, this song is sure to be a chart topper as Harris has a stronghold over peppy numbers. BTW why have they used the words “Yeh Dil Maange More” in the song when we all know that Vikram has signed up as Brand Ambassador for Coke.

I understand that Yana Gupta might be dancing for this song. The flight sound in the BGM gives me a feeling that this is the song that has been shot in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Malaysia. Shankar got special permissions to shoot the song in KLIA. Earlier, Sarath kumar has shot one of his songs in KLIA.


Kannum Kannum Nokia by Leslie Lewis a.k.a Lezz (of Colonial Cousins fame), Andreas and Vasundhara Das

Nice choices of voices. If I hadn’t read the name of singers I would have mistaken the male voice for Adnan Sami’s voice. Nice work on the guitar and drums. Any Shankar / Harris Jeyaraj foot tapping number has to have an overdose of English words and this song (like the earlier one) is no exception. BTW I didn’t influence them to add the words MAFIA extensively in this song. Ideal track for dances and also for future remixes. The song has a techno feel written all over it (A R Rahman influence?). HJ is bang on yet again


Iyengaaru Veetu Azhagae by Hariharan and Harini

The setting is the Thiruvaiyaaru Aaradhanai. I believe Shankar got leading Carnatic musicians (1000 musicians including the top ones) to be part of the video shoot. Nobody other than Hariharan could have done justice to this song. The modulations by Hariharan are out of the world. I wanted to write that this tune looks original and fresh. However something inside me tells me that this song has been inspired by “Narumugaiye Narumugaiye” from Iruvar. Still this song might turn out to be the best song in this album.


Andan Kaka Kondaikaari by Jassie Gift, Kay Kay, Shreya Ghoshal & Saindhavi

All the vocals rock. Jassie Gift adds that extra little “punch” to this song. The words “Randaka Randaka” keep on reverberating throughout the song. The beats are akin to “Gopala Gopala” kind of beats in the movie Kadhalan. This is a different breed of folk song when compared to other songs that are churned out these days. This might turn out to be the second best song in this album.

Very often we don’t like ARR / Harris Jeyaraj songs when we listen to them for the first time. Although I wanted to post the review yesterday, I took time to listen all the songs atleast 5 to 10 times so that I get over the first time blues.

Request to Harris Jeyaraj

Some of the best songs of Harish Raghavendra have come under the music of Harris Jeyaraj. Some of them being Poove Vai Paesum (12B), Mughalai Mughalai (Arasaktchi), Mudhal Kanave (Majnu), Azhagiya Theeye (Minnale), Aagaya Suriyanai (Samurai). Although Harish Raghavendra is a good singer, it is quite strange to see him not geting good offers. Yuvan Shankar Raja also used Harish Raghavendra for movies like Kadhal Kondaen and 7/G Rainbow Colony. Please give more opportunity to Harish Raghavendra as I want to hear more of his mellifluous voice.

13 Comments:

  • Kaps, kalakkals review. Somehow whenever I think of Harris, all that comes to my mind is Vaseegaraa. Maybe it is his best ever. I will hear Anniyan and let you know what I feel.

    By Blogger Krish, at 4:16 AM  

  • how on earth you have time to write this big :) good review man :)

    By Blogger saranyan r, at 6:42 AM  

  • GV Prakash is going to compose music for a new movie.. latest info.

    so many young kids now in the field.

    By Blogger Ram C, at 6:50 AM  

  • BTW... I had to log out earlier, without sharing my views on your review...family man.. things come in prioriy, you know.....

    Anyhow, good to read the detailed review, eventhough mine was a short one ...கலக்கிடீங்க போங்க

    By Blogger Ram C, at 7:45 AM  

  • @Thennavan,
    Minnale was definitely a feather in HJ's cap. However he has come up with good scores in Samurai (the songs didn't become popular bcoz the movie bombed at the Box Office), Laysa Laysa, and Majnu.
    Kaaka Kaaka, Saami, 12B & Chellame were all popular hits. Arul and Kovil didn't do well as he tried to mimic the success of Saami with the formula songs.

    @Lavsubbu,
    Even the greatest of Music Director's repeat their old compositions. Ilayaraja used the Thai Mookambikai - Janani Janani tune to compose Amma Endru Azhaikadha (Mannan). Ilayaraja has openly accepted this. Everybody knows that "Amma Endru Azhaikadha" is one of the all time hits of Raja. The problem is also due to the unruly demands of directors / producers. If Manmadha Raasa becomes a hit, every director wants a similar song in his movie. Since "Kalyanamtham Kattikittu Odipolama" (Saamy) become a mega hit, HJ fell into a trap and composed similar songs in movies like Arul and Kovil. Even Yuvan Shankar Raja has used his dad's tune for one of his songs in the new movie "Arinthum Ariyamalum"

    @Saranyan,
    Music is my PASSION. I'm a half-baked keyboardist myself. I like to hear the tracks over and over again and try to see if i can relate to anything which I have heard before.
    I'm a big fan of HJ and hence I don't mind spend more time reviewing his albums. During his formative years HJ worked as a keyboardist for ARR and hence HJ's style would resemble that of ARR. I see it more like Sehwag's style (eventhough it reminds us of Sachin Tendulkar).

    @Ram,
    Good to see lot of young guys in the field. If you go strictly by age, Yuvan is the best. I would like to see more of Joshua Sridhar, Vijay Anthony, Devi Sri Prasad & Srikanth Deva. I hope they don't turn out to be one film wonders. I liked Srikanth Deva's compositions for Kuthu (Nibuna Nibuna although it was similar to Chanakya song in Dum) & M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi. Although people are criticizing Devi Sri Prasad, I feel he has done well in Mayaavi (SPB Charan makes a comeback in Kadavul Thandha, Pushpavanam Kuppusamy sizzles in Kathadi Pole vandhu) and Sachien (Kanmoodi Thirakkumbodhu).

    By Blogger Kaps, at 11:33 AM  

  • Among the current bunch, Karthik Raja was my favorite coz of DumDumDum. But he seemed to be in hibernation most of the time after that. Talking abt Jassie Gift, hope you listened to Lajjavathiye from 4 students..Outstanding!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:22 PM  

  • @Ravi,
    Thanks for dropping by. I have heard Jassie Gift in 4 Students and Sachien (Gundu Maanga song). I also like Karthik Raja...in Ullasam, Dum Dum Dum and Album. I also like the "Pandiyanin Rajiyathil Uyyalala" song in the Pandian. Although Karthik Raja had composed the music for this song, it was printed as Ilayaraja as Raja had done the music for the entire album

    By Blogger Kaps, at 4:11 PM  

  • fab stuff.. makes me rush for the CD now..

    By Blogger Chakra, at 4:45 PM  

  • A nice review Kaps. Yet to listen to the songs. Will go get it today and spend the weekend usefully!!!

    By Blogger PVS, at 4:46 PM  

  • woaahh!!

    Similar reviews! :)

    By Blogger Harish, at 9:54 PM  

  • Fantastic in-depth review. Thank you.

    My favorites
    a) - Hariharan's song.
    b) - Shankar Mahavedan's song.

    Only after reading the last paragraph did I realize that Harish Raghavedra doesn't sing a lot these days in Tamil ( Or am I wrong.?) Wonder why? He has such a wonderful voice.

    By Blogger Narayanan Venkitu, at 5:13 AM  

  • Great review..

    shankar mahadevan song best of the lot

    By Blogger Kay, at 9:28 AM  

  • Hi Kaps. Read your review. Somehow, I feel music might be the con of this movie. Some songs are definitely not upto the Shankar mark. But again, considering its Shankar, he would probably shock-and-awe us in his picturizations and sets.

    incidentally, i wrote a review too - not a lengthy one, i am afraid.

    By Blogger tt_giant, at 3:09 AM  

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