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Kodakkooli is Theepidikka redux, complete with the hot tone and Anoushka. Throw in a pinch of Raja’s Nethu raathiri and Yuvan has a winner. Good that Yuvan didn’t actually remix the yesteryear hit as was reported. Pedestrian orchestration that borders ludicrousness mars Tajmahal. Uyir piriyum is one of those neat Yuvan styled bit songs. Carries a bit of Selvaraghavan though! Yeno kangal is an interesting amalgam of sounds, and Yuvan sounds just like SJ Suryah - the leching tone et all! Ivan kattil naattu carries a curious 80s pop sound but is definitely catchy. Yuvan is in decent form here!

Lingusaami ditches Vidyasagar and tries Yuvan instead. And, Vidyasagar is whom you think of, during Gumthalakkadi. Yuvan follows Vidyasagar’s style to the hilt here. Jassie Gift continues to drone in Kettaa kodukkura while this psuedo-rustic track fails to register. Mundaasu sooriyane extols the virtues of someone/ some family in a loud annoying tune. The chords do add a new dimension though. Shaan manages to gulp a few Tamil words in Ennammo while the orchestration is appalling, at places, in this track. Yuvan salvages the album with Dhaavani potta. This is a simple and pleasant melody that should make Yuvan proud.

Teri yaad yaad has the now-perfected assembly line Himesh tune. Catchy? Maybe. Annoying? Big time! Sonu cries his heart out in Pyar mein tere, but this excuse for a tune merely evokes laughter. Aaargh, aren’t we already tired of mushy no-brainer lyrics covered with dholak-based tunes - Chaahenge tumhe and Dil ke maare hai go the whole hog in both departments. Koi aap sa is so drab that just one word sums it up - Bah! A 9:30 minute filmi Hanuman chalisa ends this soundtrack. Does the producer hope for Lord Hanuman’s miracles to save this album? Sounds highly unlikely!

Fitna dil is a cool dancy track with a pace more relaxed than some of Viju’s other high-energy tracks. Mere man sounds like a charming 80s track with its smooth flowing rhythms. Dheere dheere gets on one’s nerves with its nursery rhymi’sh tune while non-selling indi-pop singer Ash Chandler irritates in the English track, Vaga. Don’t expect another Hoshwalon in Jagjit’s Tu hai shikhar – falls way short! Megha re is a techno rain song but nothing novel apart from that. Aap ko samjha feels outdated leaving us wondering if Viju always requires a Rajiv Rai to bring out his chartbusters!

Apoorva Lakhia lifts Denzel Washinton’s Man on fire, here, and hopes to pull a Sanjay Gupta! Vishal Shekar’s title song is catchy. But that’s it! Amar Mohile’s music for the rest of the album is understandably insipid. Kailash Kher is in poor form in Barf khushi. The technopop Tere liye is annoying since Kunal sings the same way, for the umpteenth time. Soniye has a strong Salaam Namaste hangover and sounds as bad as the hip-hop They don’t know! Stranger on the prowl is better enjoyed with visuals. Amar Mohile will perhaps never ever be mainstream with scores like these!

Five tracks by Asian-Brit band Trickbaby and 2 by Iranian singer/composer Arash lends this album a unique flavour. Arash’s European chartbuster Boro Boro features with hindi words thrown in and is the toast of the album. But Arash’s next, Say na, while catchy, sounds Brit-Bhangra’ish. Trickbaby’s remix of Basu Manohari’s Sabse bada rupaiya is groovy, but their other tracks are too loung’ish for an Indian soundtrack’s comfort. Sameeruddin’s 4 tracks are situational but the Rahman’ish Gateway theme and Come fishing are impressive. And Abhishek just could not manage to pull a Kya bolti tu in Vishal-Shekar’s Right here right now.

Ranjit Barot resurfaces again with his trademark 90s indi-pop sound in Aashiyan. Khwaahishon se and Neele neele sound a lot more contemporary with groovy orchestration, carribean loops et all. The accordion bits in Neele, in particular, reminds one of Ranjit’s support to Anu Malik! You suspect this movie to be Pooja Bhat’s Dirty Dancing freemake when you hear Move with my body. Raqs kar le reiterates it. Nandini Sirkar, best remembered for her association with Trilok Gurtu, part composes Tu hai, which showcases Shreya’s vocal prowess. Ranjit’s solo Tauba and Sound of the future rounds off the fairly interesting album.

Both the Telugu flavored Kuthu songs - Soda bottle and Freeya vudu, are completely in sync with the mindless stuff Devi Sri Prasad (DSP) has been churning in the name of music. Dhrogam is a situational track that seems pointless in a soundtrack and Paakadha seems pointless in every other aspect. Nenjam ennum is a noisy melody, while its slower bit-song version is the only saving grace of this album. Thottutae is painful. Its a wonder that a market savvy producer like Saran and director Hari who extracted good music from Harris Jeyaraj, chose DSP despite his no-show in Tamil!

Boman Irani’s Title song, Gyaan guru by Vishal himself and the mishmash’ish Cuckoo are at best situational. So is Sanjay Dutt’s Maaya, which merely extends his street-smart persona to his vocals. Shaan’s Kaash, KK’s Chand ki roshni and Sunidhi’s Kushboo churaati are three trademark Vishal-Shekar numbers and they do not disappoint. Mellow, with indi-poppish orchestrations & fairly decent lyrics from Vishal, all three are in line with the Sujoy Ghosh’s school of melody ala Suno na of Jhankaar Beats. And the promo song - Happy diwali! Catchy, infectious, with a lot of verve, this track has everything going for it!

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan almost succeeds in making another Man ki lagan in the mellow Jiya dhadak. Jal & Najam Sheraz both get credit for Aadat and Yeh pal! And to think Aadat was just lifted in Chocolate by Pritam. And Najam was cross with Bhatt camp for using his track in Murder! Aadat is a great track and adds value to the album, while Yeh pal annoys. Murder hangover galore in the Anu-Alisha, retro-styled, Dheere. Anuradha Paudwal and Amit Sana impress in the ghazal’ish Thi meri dastaan. Lovely track, this one! Interesting album. Hats off for the original credits!