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Atrai thingal the soundtrack’s highlight for its exotic orchestration and clean, charming Taml usage. Mannaargudi rocks you with its incredibly catchy folk rhythm while Vidyasagar adds a true-blue rustic filler like Adi chandiran sooriyan and a rustic fusion sound in Maari Magamaayee & Poranthiruchu. Chithirayil is another gem with a Rahman’ish feel sung amazingly by Swarnalatha, while the thematic Kolaivaalinai is unique for its powerful lyrics. Kalloori sound misplaced with its techno sound, but it actually grows on you with its simple, hummable tune. The sheer range of genres Vidyasagar gives you in this soundtrack makes it an absolute must-listen.

Keywords: Sivappathigaram, Vishal, Mamta, Sivapathikaaram

Regardless of his tracks reminding us of some Rahman song, Harris Jeyaraj has been phenomenally successful in recent days. Back in Telugu, for Sainikudu, for the track Orugallu pilla, he apes Rahman’s Chaiyya to an uncomfortable level, almost akin to Anand Milind’s reformatting of some Raja songs. Barring that, other tracks are rather decent, with Sogasuchooda and Maayeraa being the highlights as far as melodies go. But the other three tracks carry a sound too similar to other contemporary composers despite sounding simple & catchy. Harris delivers what’s expected in a Mahesh Babu starrer, considering Sainikudu follows Pokiri’s mega success.

Keywords: Mahesh Babu, Trisha

Crazy kiya re has Pritam’s usual middle-eastern flourishes and that lazy ryhthm does get on to you. Its the Latin sound in Touch me, but its terribly predictable while My name is ali takes off where Dilbara left and barring those funny words, it is a worthy successor. Dil laga na has every possible Pritam cliche thrown in to make a bad kichdi. The utterly unimaginative Dhoom again with Vishal Dadlani’s vocals doesn’t even warrant a comment. The original Dhoom didn’t boast of great music…but it grew with the racy movie. Yash Raj Films may be expecting an encore here.

Keywords: Yash Chopra, Abhishek Bachan, Bipasha Basu, Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Uday Chopra

Jai jai money and Gustakh nigah sound pretty routine, but snazzy Pritam-styled sound and the overall catchiness of these tracks make it hear-worthy. I cannot vouch for the originality of the very arabic Gustakh nigah, though! Mika takes down Dil mein baji guitar along with his nasal twang, though Amit Kumar’s version is far more earthy and lively. The hip-hopp’ish Paisa paisa is pretty neat. So is Sania badnaam, if you ignore those cheesy lyrics! Aey ganpat is all sound and no point. After some great soundtracks (Woh Lamhe), Pritam slips a bit with no number worth raving about!

Keywords: Subash Ghai, Koena Mitra, Shreyas Talpade, Pritam, Riya Sen, Celina

Ovvoru pillayum combines a powerful sound with interesting theme-based lyrics. Star hotel & Mudhal mudhala sound at best like Yuvan rejects - clear overdose of unique sounds that overpower any interest in the tune. Rajesh Krishnan impresses in Idhu kaadhal which carries the usual Bharadwaj’ish guitars while Kalyani does a good job in the rhythmic Naana idhu naana. Unnai paartha is non-descript with annoying vocals by Shalini while the composer is supremely irritating in Yaar tharuvaar which hopelessly tries to recreate an age-old classic. The Bharadwaj-Saran combination may not have got the message after Idhaya Thirudan….this soundtrack just rambles on!

Keywords: Arya, Saran, Napolean, Keerat Bhattal, Adhisaya

Umrao Jaan is Alka Yagnik’s show all the way. But Anu Malik chooses to tread a safe path by using a time-tested original sound with very little innovation to depict the period in which the remake is being attempted. This doesn’t come out even in terms of orchestration which sticks to the archaic and adds to the overall tedium! Behka diya and Pooch rahe are the only two tracks that redefine the film’s period feel within a more modern sound. While I’ve little to protest about the rest, the clear lack of stretching any imagination is the soundtrack’s biggest undoing.

Keywords: Anu Malik, JP Dutta, Javed Akhtar, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachan, Muzaffar Ali