Urumi (Malayalam Movie) – Music Review

Deepak Dev surely is no Ilayaraja, but he does manage to incorporate quite nicely the folksy elements in the buoyant opening track Aaranne Aaranne. Job Kurien and Rita do not disappoint in their rendition, though they fail to pull off the North Kerala accent. Swetha Mohan and Yesudas get behind the mic to deliver Aaro Nee Aaro, a beautifully arranged mildly period-esque melody that in its grandeur reminded me of Naran in places. Is it just me, or is there an electronic twang in Yesudas’ voice? Very nice listen anyways. The composer uses a Vadakkan Paattu tune in the most simplistic manner in Appaa, just a santoor (synth-generated?) sound accompanying debutant singer Reshmi Sathish’s strong and impactful voice. The singer returns with another dark pulsating track called Chalanam Chalanam that quite effectively utilises her singing. Very good debut for her, this.

Manjari’s first ever song for Deepak Dev comes in the form of the short, simple (barring that momentary orchestral burst halfway through) and flippant Chimmi Chimmi, where the composer uses all sorts of random sounds in the background to fantastic results. The singer quite obviously has a fun time rendering it. The composer gives another song to Prithviraj in the rock version of Vadakku Vadakku. Yes it has been decently arranged, well-sung and all that, but what is such a track doing in a period movie? There is also a Friendship version of the same song by Gurukiran and Shaan Rahman which doesn’t quite match up to the original despite a more fusionesque-inclination, but until my initial query is answered I don’t quite care about the quality of either variant. Deepak Dev presents another traditional-sounding folk track in Thelu Thele, sung soulfully by KR Renji. Though minimal, the background is imaginatively done. And bringing up the rear is the expressive Theme Song that features a wide assortment of instruments (and a brief humming portion by Mili).

Deepak Dev produces a score quite expected from a movie like Urumi, barring the one surprise inclusion called Vadakku Vadakku. Job well done! Looking forward to Santosh Sivan’s visual interpretation of the songs.

Music Aloud Rating — 8/10

Recommended Tracks — Aaro Nee Aaro, Aaraanne Aaraanne, Appaa, Chalanam Chalanam

VIP says:

@chandu: ya saw the movie and got the context. was not aware of this flashback situation. nevertheless too lazy to rephrase the whole review. so let it be. 🙂

Chandu says:

When you see the movie, you will surely change the opinion about the inclusion of Vadakku Vadakku.. It is very aptly placed in the story, in a part showing current period.
The background score and music of this movie is outstanding and heart touching, especially the song Aaro ne aaro and the film’s theme music. Its background score gives the film the nostalgic feeling we felt, added with the imposing camera work, the best ever we’ve seen in Malayalam movies. Hat’s off to Santhosh Sivan and Deepak Dev.