Vijay Prakash is the only good thing in Mazhaithuliya, a very Bengali-sounding, simplistic melody. Chinnaponnu rocks Adadaa; funky sound, in contrast with her voice. Nenjil ninaipathellam is at least a decade behind in terms of orchestration, but its Dharmavathi-based tune confidently sees it through, while Yedhuvarai vaanam makes a curious mish-mash of Boney M’s By [...]

Kandha kaara vadai is a competent kuthu with the right dose of engaging mod sounds and rhythmically apt lyrics by Paramu; Shankar Mahadevan is, as usual, perfect. Vella bambaram is a poor and unimaginative rehash of Rahman’s Uppu karuvaadu, while Orambo vandivarudhu’s long-lost twin brother, Pottadhu pathalai works very well as a drunk-kuthu, thanks largely [...]

Note: This is a long (I called it 4-page post!) write-up I did back in June 2000. I was working in Delhi, in my first job, back then. I had very limited writing experience or maturity and all I wanted to do was to show-off my love for Maniratnam. The coarseness in writing makes me [...]