Music Review (Tamil/Telugu): Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy

Music Review (Tamil/Telugu): Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy
Music Composer: Amit Trivedi

Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is one of the highly anticipated movies of the year with the brilliant line of actors Chiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachan, Vijay Sethupathi, Sudeep, Nayantara and Tamanaah. Amit Trivedi marks his south Indian debut with this soundtrack and the composer undeniably leaves his stamp in the tracks but with the mixed bag of tunes.

Paaraai Narasimha Nee Paaraai/ Jaago Narasimha Jaagore starts off beautifully with the serene prelude with the mellow Vishnu Vijay's flute paves way for the thunderous chorus sections. Though the tune is strictly perfunctory and dominated by percussion, Amit Trivedi packaged with the gorgeous Dilshad Khan's Sarangi and Seenu's strokes. Shankar Mahadevan, Haricharan and Anurag Kulkarni easily ace the rendition of Karky/ Srivennela Seetharama Sastry's glorifying lyrics about Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. Angam Unnidam/ Andam Ankitam: The tune fits well with the Anantha Sriram's lyrics than Karky's, however, the tune falters after an initial high. Nevertheless, Shashaa Tripati shines with her hypnotic rendition and ably supported by Vijay Prakash. Once again Amit Trivedi easily scores with the arrangements and this track is adorned by Kishore's Sitar and Punya Srinivas's veena especially look out for the melange of sounds amidst the jathis by Shashaa.

O..Syeraa: As expected the title song has a pompous orchestration but comes off as generic one except for the Seenu's contribution from the Saz/sarod in the interludes. The composer brings together Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal despite the latter appears only for the 40 seconds towards the end. Amit Trivedi ends the soundtrack with the anthemic Swaasalona Desame/Suvasamaagum Desame and though the track sounds too modern for the period of the movie, the composer did a wonderful job with respect to the arrangements especially the splendid first interlude with the thrumming percussion segues beautifully with the Naveen Kumar's stunning flute solo. Haricharan aces the rendition as usual

Verdict: Amit Trivedi matches the grandeur of the movie and the tracks are packaged well with the arrangements nevertheless one wishes that tunes could have been much better.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Andam Ankitam, Swaasalona Desame

Music Review (Tamil): Seethakaathi

Music Review (Tamil): Seethakaathi
Music Composer: Govind Vasantha

Govind Vasantha gave the soundtrack's best song and also stunning opener of the album with Avan. The roaring semi-classical melody is an affecting piece especially with the chant like chorus throughout the background. Harish Sivaramakrishnan of Agam fame does an exceptional job behind the mic while composer brilliantly employed Bavani Prasad's Veena. Govind enters into hard rock genre for Ayya song crooned by Vijay Prakash and Thiyagaraja Kumararaja deserves special mention in writing the lyrics in pure Tamil. Bala's Nadaswaram in the interlude is the towering highlight of the track with respect to arrangements. Govind Vasantha harks back to 96 mode with Uyir crooned by the composer himself and the moving tune gets life with Karthik Netha's lyrics and Bavani Prasad's exquisite mohana Veena in the interludes. Karthik Netha's lyrics 'Kaanale Meyyagi Pazhagivittaal EEeramai thodum Nadhigal Silirpadhundo Ulle' is the best and most affecting line in the track. Kozhi Onnu is a perfect stage play song backed by Vikram's Kanjira while Pushpavanam Kuppusamy easily scores crooning Yugabharathi's wonderful amusing lyrics. The remaining three songs are instrumentals where Govind Vasantha created an impressive poignant work. The best of the lot is undeniably Journey of Ayya where Govind's violin and flute conveys the emotions beautifully. Theme of Seethakathi is a spin-off from the journey of Ayya while Vishnu Vijay shines in another moving instrumental Isai. 

Verdict: Govind Vasantha delivers a stunning follow up to this year's best 96 and the melodies shines with ample support from the lyricist. It's heartwarming to see both in 96 and Seethakaathi, lyrics and tune blends beautifully and complements each other.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Pick of the Album: Avan, Journey Of Ayya, Uyir, Ayya 

P.S You can listen to the songs in JioSaavn.

 

Music Review (Tamil): 96

Music Review (Tamil): 96

Music Composer: Govind Vasantha

Anthaathi starts as a breezy note and soon turns into the heady rock mix towards the charanam portions while building up the tranquillizing rhythms in the backdrop of Bhadra Rajin's blissful Carnatic Panjavarna Bootham portions. Loved the manner Govind brought in Kaadhale Kaadhale hook towards the end of the song before C Prem Kumar's poem recital begins. Karthik Netha's lyrics about the immortality of love adds another beautiful layer to the song especially with the exquisitely carved out words like prathyega Kaadhal and ithyadhi Kaadhal. 

The Life of Ram's guitar-laden soundscape and the brilliant bass line is a delight to listen. Pradeep Kumar brilliantly evocates missed out love and once can easily picture Vijay Sethupathi's feelings after meeting his love after a long time. Karthik Netha scores easily with the brilliant lyrics depicting the delayed realisation of love. Govind brings out his best with the violin solos in the interludes. Gowri TP of super singer fame croons the minimally arranged effective haunting short piece Yean and the lead singer along with the strings sections lingers in the listener's mind even after the song ends. The minimal keys and the rousing high pitch portions make this one compelling listen. The minute-long extended prelude where Naveen's nifty bass line and guitar strums pave way for the Chinmayi's splendid rendition of Vasantha Kaalangal. The serene minimal soundscape turns out to be the astounding success for the track and the unconventional tune which Chinmayi aces like a pro. 

In Thaabangale also Mithun Raj's guitar work is the show stopper especially don't miss out the guitar played with the Carnatic twist in the first interlude while Uma Devi's wonderful lyrics interplayed between Chinmayi and Pradeep Kumar in an exceptional manner. The charanam portion instantly takes me back to Kabali's Vaanam Paarthen another song depicting the searching and longing for love coincidentally crooned by unimitable Pradeep Kumar. If Mithun Raj owns the Vasantha Kaalangal and Thaabangale, then Rajesh Vaidya owns the Iravingu Theevai while Govind's Jazz tinged background which reaches crescendo towards the end along with Pradeep Kumar vocals. The pièce de résistance of the soundtrack comes in two versions of Kadhale Kadhale, the atmospheric sounds teleport the listeners in the midst of the forest with Govind's violin to show us the way among the blissful natural soundscape. Kalani Menon's punchy vocals bring out another dimension to this soulful track of the album.

Verdict: 96 is a musical masterpiece by Govind Vasantha of  Thaikkudam bridge fame and the composer brings out the beautiful uncoventional tunes with the help of  two exceptional singers crooning the beautiful lyrics by Uma devi and Karthik Netha. 

My Rating: 9/10

Pick of the Album: Whole Soundtrack!!

P.S You can listen to the soundtrack in Saavn.