36 Vayadhinile – Music Review (Tamil Movie Soundtrack)

36-vayadhinile-movie-poster

You can listen to the songs at the end of the review (link via @vijaynarain).

Happy is quite conclusively the Tamil equivalent of this song from How Old Are You, and even more conclusively a Santhosh Narayanan song right from the word go. A retro jazz base (piano leading the proceedings) with a techno layer on top of it, and the composer’s own earthy singing backed by a well-employed chorus. But there is a little too much of Santhosh Narayanan in the song, perhaps owing to his singing, that makes the song a tad too familiar-sounding and thereby less effective on multiple hearings despite the fun lyrics. No such problems at all with Rasathi though, a track that I have been hooked to since today morning. This one too snares you with an addictive piano hook, before the composer adds some lovely guitars (Jose Vijay) and violin (Karthick Iyer) and trumpet (Craig Ross) into the mix – and the twist in the tale, tabla (Ganapathy)! Lalitha Vijaykumar’s folksy singing rules over all else however, as much for the contrast with the arrangement as for the lady’s general quirky brilliance (thambi trumpettu.. enna pa idhu takes the cake). Once again good use of chorus. The third and final vocal track is a melody, Pogiren, that in trademark Santhosh style rides on a sprawling strings-dominated soundscape. Behind the mic is Kalpana Raghavendar doing a very commendable job.

President carries all the grandeur that a Presidential visit scene should have about it and should work very well in the movie. As an audio track not so much though. The doleful Kannadi too maintains a functional quality for most part, but has a fab violin solo in the second half that makes it work better as a standalone piece. Of the remaining three (Vidiyal Thedi, Kanavugal Sumandhu, Kanneer Mozhi), the first two make for a more engaging listen due to their faster pace. And all three feature strings and keys for most part, except Kanneer which also has some prominent oboe/clarinet in the second half.

36 Vayadhinile. Short soundtrack on the vocal front like its Malayalam original, and as effective too. In fact with Rasathi this one scores higher! Wish the background pieces had a more classical touch to them like in Malayalam though.

Music Aloud Rating: 8/10

Top Recos: Rasathi, Pogiren, Vidiyal Thedi

Additional Credits (as reproduced from the CD sleeve):

Special thanks to Sri Shyamalangan for his contribution to the orchestral recordings and Happy song production

Backing vocals: Dhee, Santhosh Narayanan, Vijaynarain Rangarajan

Vocal Arrangements in Happy: Kalyani Nair

Strings arranged and conducted by Kalyani Nair

Strings/Woodwind/Brass: Studio Orchestra of Sydney; Concert Master: Phil Hartl

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