Aidondla Aidu – Music Review (Kannada Movie Soundtrack)

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Actress Nithya Menen does a cheeky (and well-executed) debut as singer, describing the process of preparing payasa (kheer) to a very alluring tune from Abhijit Shylanath and Jyothis Balakrishna (seems like hamsadhwani-based). The remix is quite decently done, though with the electronic elements it loses the innocent charm of the original. Singer Vijay Prakash is composer no. 2, rendering a simple folksy tune arranged in a matchingly simple manner, Kannadi. P Jayachandran might not have been the best choice to sing Alphonse Joseph’s Naan Kattuva but the composer’s trippy arrangement is engrossing enough to make up for that minor foible. Not that Jayachandran is bad in his rendition, just that the song might have sounded better in a younger voice. Composer Balamurali also employs the same singer to sing his Kanna Bimba. And here he sounds totally at home, rendering with elan the beautifully arranged semi-classical (khamas-based?) piece.

That leaves the stage for director V K Prakash’s favourite composer, Ouseppachan. And he starts off with the surreal Male Bandaaga. Sitara’s singing is top class, edging out the male version by Naveen Iyer, her voice and the instruments form a truly haunting combo in places. In his trademark style the composer includes a short yet lovely violin segment in the second interlude (Interestingly the singing in this song seems to be in sivaranjani, while the arrangement isn’t). Ouseppachan’s second song Neeragi Hodhare though doesn’t impress much, despite an impressive job by Mili Nair on the vocals (with the composer doing the backing). The composer bounces back with the final track Hoyuthidhe which again carries that goosebump-inducing rain-soaked feel about it. This too comes in two versions, sung by Sitara and Vijay Prakash respectively, both working on an equal level.

Irrespective of how his movies perform at the box office, one thing that has always been consistent with V K Prakash is his musical sense. He seemed to have lost it a bit in his last two works in Malayalam, but Aidondla Aidu declares that there is no need to worry. Another engaging soundtrack.

Music Aloud Rating — 7.5/10

Top Recos — Male Bandaaga (F), Payasa, Kanna Bimba