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Cinema cinema starts eulogizing the medium, but ends up heaping praises on Rajinikant and getting inflation wrong – cinema for Rs. 10? Saaral and Sollamma sound like outdated, sparsely lilting Rahman rejects - the former is perhaps THE Nayantara ’scene paattu’, so why bother about the tune? Daler Mehndi minces and spits out Rajinikant film names in a silly Om zaarare while in Perinba pechukkaaran, GVP rehashes his Veyilodu track, right up to Kailash Kher’s vocals. GV Prakash Kumar gets it all wrong in Kuselan’s soundtrack. But, since a Rajinikant film is always about his screen presence, P.Vasu – over to you!

Keywords: Rajinikant, Nayantara, Pasupathy, Meena, GV Prakashkumar

Hara hara sambo has a rather likeable rhythm but a strictly average tune made lively by Jassie Gift’s enthusiastic vocals. Krishna krishna and Nenjil aathaadi are plain annoying signifying the composer’s early, massy and mundane compositions. Even Neenda mounam and Pudhiya paravai ondru are strongly reminiscent of Vidyasagar’s late 90s melodies, shorn of the mature and evolved spin he adds these days. Alibaba’s soundtrack has the usually dependable composer in terrible form. It’s strange actually – the music he has given here is completely outdated and seems like they’re selected from his song bank from the 90s. Vidyasagar’s disappointing streak continues!

Keywords: Krishna, Janani, Vidyasagar

Given the starkly folk influence in the film’s theme, it’s no surprise to hear Vidyasagar dipping into traditional villupaattu-like tunes for Kattipudikkum karadiya and Kodaangi vandhirukken. Both are steeped in extremely familiar folk tunes, but with utterly disjoint structures. But Potta kuruviyo is vintage Vidyasagar with a lovely melody wrapped in a pleasing, mod orchestration. Kombuvitta kaalaiyenna is rousing and rhythmic like a standard hero intro track should be! The Imayamalayum remix is haphazard and painfully messy. Barring Potta kuruviyo, Vidyasagar’s tunes fall completely flat at least in the soundtrack – they may perhaps add better value to the movie, visually.

Keywords: Bharath, Vidyasagar, muniyandi

The soundtrack’s two most satisfying songs - the trademark Raja melody Kaalathai vendra and the hauntingly ambient Kallaai irundhen - are completely out of sync with the film’s medieval period. Between the classically-bent Abhinayam and Kallil uyir, the former sounds straight out of a teleseries while the latter is a considerably enjoyable medley of raagas. Agandhayil is conventional but with interesting passages recited by the composer, while Chozha valanaadu is too predictable with standard Raja fixtures including a mesmerizingly nostalgic first interlude! Azhagi varra is plain coarse potboiler material. Snatches of Raja’s sounds of yore makes this soundtrack unexpectedly listenable!

Keywords: Vineeth, Keetrhi Chawla, Kalaignar Mu Karunanidhi

Karthik’s Adai Mazhaikkaalam is a pleasantly arranged melody, albeit slightly staid while Adhaikkoodava nee plays with predictable nostalgic lyrics and a reasonably competent but ennui-ridden tune. Naan varaindhu vaitha is more like it - an almost Ilayaraja melody sans the synth annoyance the maestro packs his stuff with in recent days! Give it a break (Ore or naal) and the templatized heroine intro song, Sutri varum bhoomi are plain tedious! Ullasa ulagam’s remix is thankfully short and non-descript. After a spate of recent, impressive soundtracks, Vidyasagar’s work Jayam Kondaan – while interesting for the predominance of melodies - is just functional.

Keywords: Jeyangondaan, Jeyam Kondan, Jayam Kondaan, Vinay, Lekha Washington, Bhavana

There’s a slightly dated 90s, synth feel in Ennai kandu, but the overall sound is rather pleasing. Joshua again adds his fave Hindi interludes as he did in Ninaithu ninaithu paarthen! Karuppo sigappo is heavy on music and very low on any semblance of a tune. Karthik’s techno-tweaked vocals jar in an otherwise passable melody, Maanaseegamaanavale. Anuradha Sriram carries the raucous, folk-tinged and promiscuous Sozhavandhaan sondha ooru well, while Thanneera illai venneeraa, as a tune traverses umpteen disparate paths to completely annoy the senses. Composer Joshua Sridhar seems out of place and out of sync in Pulan Visaranai sequel’s soundtrack!

Keywords: RK Selvamani, Prashanth, Pulan Visaranai II

Except Shankar Mahadevan’s powerful vocals there’s precious little in the melancholic Kaadhal siluvayil. On the other hand, the Harris Jeyaraj’ish Kangal irandaal seems to be a charming version of the carnatic raag, Reetigowlai – immensely listenable! The nostalgia track, Theneeril snehidham defies the 80s period the film attempts to depict, but is set in a pretty unique genre as far as Tamil film songs go! Madura kulunga kulunga is an interesting medley with a sparkling orchestral cameo towards the end! The Subramaniyapuram theme is terribly aimless, however. TV veteran James Vasanthan’s composing debut is definitely peppered with promise, albeit only sparsely!

Keywords: Subramaniapuram

Note: I’m no expert in carnatic music and just happened to trace the similarity in the flow of Kangal irandaal with classics like ‘Chinna kannan azhaikkiraan’, ‘thalayai kuiyum thaamaraye’. Reetigowlai, along with Nalinagandhi, Mayamalavagowlai and Charukesi are personal-obsession raagas! So, I instantly rejoice when I listen to a decent, new song with one of these raagas!

In Idhayatha kaanom, Bela Shinde’s very un-Tamil vocals and pronunciation work in a curious way - the tune and backgrounds are typical Karthik Raja - haunting, in both aspects! After an operatic faux prelude, Neer aadiduvom is conventional, with annoying dialogues interspersed. Padaiththal kaaththal and Idhudhaan chakravyugam are delectably composed pieces - the former with a pulsating structure and the latter with a more ominous, mysterious feel. The composer croons along with Saindhavi, in Yei unnidam - a track that has melodic twists of Ilayaraja’s standards - simply delightful. For heaven’s sake, why hasn’t this talented composer gone mainstream yet?

Keywords: Karthikraja, Karthik Raaja, Karthikraaja

The Roxette-style elements and Ranjith’s spritely vocals in Parugulu are engrossing. Saketh carries the soft and tuneful Nammavemo on his flimsy vocals even as the tune meanders into predictable territory around the Nijanga hook. Yelaga sounds like an interesting experiment - differently rhythmed tune and Kailash – Saindhavi combo. Chal chal and Podichey are tedious while the Sandeep Chowta’esque Hrudhayam’s dependably ambient sound is pretty neat. Barring two tracks, Parugu affirms Bhaskar’s vision as a director who knows his stuff and can extract good music from his composers – much like he did from Devi Sri Prasad, in his debut venture, Bommarillu.

Keywords: Allu Arjun, Sheila

Ulaga naayagan’s lyrical ego-massage and simple hooks, and the fairly melodious Mukundha are pretty neat, though seeped in the contrived Himesh style. Kallai mattum, perhaps meant for a Vaishnavite background, strangely sounds Islamic, while Oh oh sanam is catchy, only in a naïve way. Himesh’s Tamil in its remix is hilarious! Kaa karuppanukkum is noisy with a minimalistic tune akin to Mallika’s costumes and Khamoshi’s Remo track, Huiyya ho! Himesh treats Dasavathaaram exactly the way he treated any of his Hindi films, 2 years ago. It’s functional and occasionally decent, but definitely doesn’t fit the pompous hype around the film!

Keywords: Dasaavadhaaram, Dasavatharam, Kamal Hassan, Mallika Sherawat, Asin, Jayaprada, Kamal in 10 roles