Weekly Earworm (10/01/2021)

 Sreekaram (Telugu): Mickey J Meyer: Sandalle Sandalle: Mickey J Meyer brings back his Happy days Mojo in Sandalle with respect to the tune and the folksy lyrics by Sanapati Bharadwaj Patrudu helps a lot. The alluring chorus along with Mohana Bhogaraju's rendition elevates the song from its familiar vibe.

Carvaan Lounge Tamil: Flute Navin: Kunguma Poove: Flute Navin's heady techno dance floor mix of iconic Kunguma Poove is undeniably catchy. Apart from the unnecessary processing in Chinmayi's vocals, the track is adequately engaging. Thanks to the Navin's flute solos and Chinmayi's playful rendition, the song does wonder. Though nothing much of similarity, the flute solos, Chinmayi, and the techno beats instantly takes me back to Ghibran's underrated Allari Pillagada song from Ungarala Rambabu.

Eeswaran (Tamil): Thaman: Velli Nillave: Velli Nillave is the only song that is refreshing in an otherwise largely tepid album that has Thaman's signature loud passable songs. ML Gayathri aces the rendition and Thaman aptly kept the arrangements minimal which accentuates the beauty of the song further.

Sashi (Telugu): Arun Chiluveru: Okey Oka Lokam: This track is a wonderful throwback to Rahman's early days, the rhythm sections, interludes screams Mozart's influence a lot. The tune is definitely engaging and Sid Sriram props up with his quintessential improvisations and the tune turns lovely especially with the ninna monna phrase in the charanam.

Yuvarathnaa (Kannada): Thaman: Neenaade Naa: Thaman's output in Telugu and Kannada seems to be marginally better because he moved away from his Signature sounds at least in Telugu considerably. This soft rock ballad benefits largely from the stupendous rendition by Shreya Goshal and Armaan Malik 

P.S The songs are available as playlists on youtube.

Music Review (Tamil): Maara

Music Review (Tamil): Maara
Music Composer: Ghibran

Maara, a remake of the Malayalam hit film Charlie and it is heartening to see Ghibran composing for the musical. Ghibran who gave soulful albums during the start of the career shifted to background score dominated movies and with Maara composer returned back to his stellar form. Though I miss the lovely sax prelude of Gopi Sundar's Pularikalo, Ghibran compensates with the 10 tracks for this album. 

Composer collaborated with Padmalatha in his earlier movies and gave few brilliant songs to her. In this soundtrack also, Ghibran gave one of the best songs (Theeranadhi) in the album to her, and Padmalatha aces the rendition as usual. One wishes that she gets to sing more often. The slight tinge of Muslim flavored tune and the layered arrangements especially lovely classical second interlude. Padmalatha aces the Charanam while Ghibran does his magic with the rhythm. Kaathirundhen sounds more like a conventional melancholy drowned with violin pieces in the arrangements. Srisha Vijayasekar who featured in Ghibran's spiritual series fares much better than Ananthu. But the tune doesn't quite hit off and stays low-key. Ghibran's first rap song Pagada crooned by Shabir and the track is adequately engaging. Thanks to the short two-minute length and also sprightly techno beat to gel well with Shabir's vocals. Deepthi Suresh's whispery vocals for Unnaithane works marvelously and one wishes that Ghibran could have made this a full-length song. Ghibran segues in Oh Azhage's chorus towards the end while Deepthi Suresh hits the crescendo with the title hook.

Ghibran's love for the Orchestral score is apparent in Maara & Paaru as well as in Search of Soul. In the former, the composer starts with the Yaar Azhaippadhu melody's key version associated with the strings and harmonies. Loved the way the melody is build up and reached the high with the strings sections. The keys provide the haunting tone to the track while strings go berserk behind the lovely harmonies. The search of soul is also bombarded with string sections but falls a tad lower than Maara and Paaru. Nevertheless worthy addition to the soundtrack.

The remaining three rich melodies released as a single earlier. The quintessential Sid Sriram in Tamil album, Yaar Azhaippadhu has an enticing tune and Thamarai's profound lyrics on the vagabond protagonist fits perfectly. Though Sid Sriram's diction irks at places, Ghibran's tune and arrangements make up for it. The tune hits its magic especially with the phrase 'Alaivaar avarellam Tholaivar phrase'. Oh Azhage also follows the lilting buoyant texture of the soundtrack especially with its punchy rhythm and ambient sounds. Benny Dayal is effortless with his high notes and the arrangements too easily lift up one's mood. Ghibran's spellbinding layered arrangements coupled with ambient sounds warrant a multiple listen definitely. The song's Hindi version O Ajooba sung by Yazin Nizar is equally good but anytime prefers Thamarai's lyrics than this one. Oru Arai Unadhu is a definite winner and the best song on the soundtrack. The enticing Celtic arrangements notwithstanding, Ghibran's prolific tune coupled with Thamarai's interesting wordplay makes this one a lovely listen. Loved the way the composer employed Yazin Nizar and Sanah Moidutty's vocals especially the interplay. Sanah Moidutty aces the second half with her improvisations.

Verdict: Maara is Ghibran's best in recent times and the composer impresses with the lush lilting soundscape throughout the soundtrack.

My Rating: 9/10

Pick of the Album: Oru Arai Unadhu, Theeranadhi, Oh Azhage, Yaar Azhaippadhu, Maara & Paaru

P.S You can listen to the full album on Spotify