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Balleilakka has intentionally-likeable lyrics but is pretty mundane otherwise. Athiradee tests Rahman’s vocals and its unusual tune and orchestration pattern sounds interesting. Vaaji vaaji is very catchy thanks to a predictable rhythm sequence and Blaaze adds his usual mishmash in The Boss. Sahana is no doubt melodious, but a bit staid for a Rajinikant starrer, while Gomathi Sree is fantastic in Sahara! Style with its fragmented structure mixed well in a likeable package is the clincher. Vairamuthu’s lyrics take a safe route, but Rahman stands his ground by giving a soundtrack that doesn’t seem to immediately pander to Rajinikant’s image!

Keywords: A R Rahman, Shivaji, Sivajee, Rajini Kant, Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran

IndiaGlitz must be naive to do pieces like this. IndiaGlitz’s banner is very apparent in some shots of the film’s promo and it’s evident that they’re marketing partners for the film. Add to it, dumb sentences like ‘…such a feet has been achieved‘! And, ‘Speculations are that the album would stay in the Top 10 for a long while‘! Who exactly is speculating? And worse, ‘Yuvan has proved to be indeed Isai Gnani Ilayaraja’s long awaited success‘! What does that even mean? It’s appalling to see a so-called mainstream website brazenly misleading and using its users to promote their films!

Keywords: Chennai 600028, Yuvan Shankar Raja, India Glitz

Note: I’ve been planning to add a category called ‘piece of my mind’ for some time and this piece from IndiaGlitz helped me in making up my mind real fast. As usual, it will NOT be a long winded mumbo-jumbo….just 100 words. Th reasoning is standard - if I cant sum up my abrasive thoughts or excitedly happy feelings about some film/ music/ artist, I don’t think I’m respecting your time!

Allantha doorala with its simple rhythm and basic, but captivating interludes, is a nostalgia trip down to the Ilayaraja songs that we grew up with - SPB adding significant appeal. Adnan rocks in the romping Cheli chamaku. Yuvan brings his punchy techno stuff back, in the haunting Manasa mannichamma. Naa manasuki also adds pep with those little techno tweaks but this one’s a sweet melody worth the rewind. O baby sounds labored, but the sober Yemaindi rounds off the soundtrack well with its ambitious interludes and classical/ ghazal’ish feel. Yuvan does very well in AMAV, ably supported by Selvaraghavan’s unconventional approach.

Keywords: Victory Venkatesh, Venky, Trisha, Selvaraghavan, Sriraghava, Sri Raghava, Srikanth, Sriram

Request users to register once - just once - for commenting. When you try to comment, you’d get the ‘you need to be logged in to comment’ message - click on the link for ‘logged in’ and choose the ‘register’ option in the subsequent page…simple! I’ve had enough problems with names of people commenting getting mixed up. Did some Googling for a solution, in vain. Decided to enable ‘register for comments’ options. So, what happens now? One, the number of people who wish to comment comes down by half - since milliblog becomes ‘one more’ site where you need to register - a terrible chore. But, trust me, the registration is rather basic and you do it just once! This is also to avoid anonymous comments - what with the recent Kathy Sierra issue that has the blogging world buzzing endlessly! I should perhaps think twice before thrashing a soundtrack in the future

Judging by its intentions, PFMB would be way up there. Musically, Rahman treads a beaten path with a pop’ish sound wrapped in R&B influences. The tune is addictive enough and those desi tweaks are indeed charming. The video, despite the promise Bharatbala displayed in Vande Mataram and Hari Om, is a bit abstract, with gimmicky B&W montage and misses the crux of the song, almost always. The album’s packaging is top-notch with it representing the coming-of-age for the ’singles’ concept in India. And yes, Rahman could go easy on the oh-so-90s Jackson imitation and get himself a much-needed costume makeover!

Keywords: A R Rahman, Bharat Bala, Blaaze

Anushka’s husky overtones in Chamakuro are methodically slow and fetching. Kadhulu kadhulu starts of wonderfully well but the recycled parts from Pachaikili Muthucharam’s Karu karu catches you completely unaware. This, even as the soundtrack has a more direct, adequately modified, but ultimately mishmash, Telugu version of Karu karu in Baga baga! Shankar Mahadevan sounds quite bad here, in particular! Manasa nuvvunte and Vastava vastava, for all their sweet, rhythmic sounds are thoroughly contrived. Koncham koncham is nondescript. Even as he produces some excellent, but repetitive stuff in Tamil, his work in Telugu is downright uninspiring. First Sainikudu, and now this!

Keywords: Prabhas, Ileana, Dil Raju, Prakash Raj

It’s a rather strange dual dichotomy actually. Firstly, the man gives us his best in languages other than Tamil, namely Telugu and Malayalam. The second one is that while two of Vinodayatra’s tracks are embarrassingly archaic, complete with exasperating orchestration and obsolete tunes, the other two are vintage Raja-styled gems. Kaiyetha kombathu is an exquisite composition with intricately beautiful orchestration that flows as smoothly as it gels with a gorgeous, undulating tune. Mandarappoo, on the other hand is an effortless composition with an array of usual Raja ingredients used optimally. This Sathyan Anthikad films will gain immensely from these compositions!

Keywords: Dilip, Dileep, Meera Jasmine

Metro is Pritam’s finest effort yet – the composer gives us an excellent, themed soundtrack with the kind of sound we have come to love from Pakistani bands! Band Metro, as the CD sleeve calls the group, produces some truly wonderful stuff - KK’s stunning vocals Alvida & O meri jaan being the best! James gets a meaty rock’ish ditty in Rishtey and pulls it off in grand style. Adnan’s Baatein kuch ankahee scores mildly over Suhail’s unplugged version while Soham’s thoughtfully worded In dinon is equally captivating! The hyper-energetic Kar salaam rounds off the album perfectly! Hats off, Pritam dude!

Keywords: Life in a…Metro, Pritam, James, Bangaladeshi pop

It was a very proud moment for me when Vinay mailed me that I have been recommended by a few people to be a judge for RMIM Puraskar 2006. So, there I was listening to the nominated tracks and making my choice…it has all been a wonderful experience! The polling and the whole planning was fantastic…kudos to Vinay. And, here are the results! Even though my personal fave was Dor (as you may have seen in my ‘Top 10 Hindi songs of 2006‘ post), Omkara is a deserving choice too.

Take a look at the results here!
RMIM Puraskar 2006

For those of you who voted me as a judge….THANKS!

One more eagerly expected Rahman soundtrack gets leaked – just three tracks, though! Vaaji vaaji is definitely very catchy - but a tad too simplistic with a predictable rhythm sequence. Sahana is pretty melodious, even as it’s a bit staid for a Rajinikanth starrer! Oru koodai sunlight is bound to catch you completely off-guard with crowd-pleasing lyrics, smattering of Spanish and some atrocious Tamil pronunciation. As for the tune, beyond its marginal hip-hop influences, its one of those usual fragmented songs that only Rahman can produce. Despite my initial apprehension, this may catch on big, thanks to its highly unusual structure!

Keywords: Rajinikanth, Rajinikant, Shivaji, Sivaji, Shriya, A R Rahman, Shankar

Note: Yes, I just got a mail from one of this blog’s usual visitors asking me if I have heard the 3 tracks from Sivaji that’s doing the rounds on the net! Nope…I haven’t! Have I been living under a shell? He mailed me those 3 tracks and here I was listening to them feeling quite guilty and appalled at the same time! This is just a sneak (p)review of the three leaked tracks! Expect a full review as soon as the soundtrack releases. Officially, that is.

Update 1 (March 24th, 2007): This may be a tad late…and I don’t intend to sound disrespectful…but going by the 6th comment - who is this Shafeeq? And what is Media Studio? Isn’t Rahman’s studio called something else? In any case, we’ll know the truth when the audio releases officially and if it does not have a song called (!!) Day light dude and if Rahman hasn’t sung Sahana. Till then, lets continue to wonder about who this Shafeeq might be! Prankster perhaps? Hopefully not!

Update 2 (March 24th, 2007): Vijay Iyer, a close confidant of Rahman has spoken. The Shaggy connection is supposedly not true - in the Oru koodai song. It’s a Bollywood singer according to Vijay. In a terse message answering a question about Shaggy’s presence in this song, Vijay says, “nope! not true…its a bollywood singer”. So, does this piece of revelation obliterate the entire comment by Shafeeq? By the way, who is Shafeeq and what is Media Studio…all over again?