You can listen to the soundtrack here.
The telltale background elements of Enthinee Mizhi Randum leave one in no doubt that this is Vidyasagar material – it is the quintessential melody that the man has done so many times in the past. And quite surprisingly works always. This time too the man induces enough breezy elements to have you hooked. And Karthik and Shreya Ghoshal compliment the arrangement beautifully with their singing. Sooryashalabham, with Yesudas’ vocals and the folk-tinged orchestration, is mildly reminiscent of the composer’s lesser known beauty from the movie Elavankodudesham called Neram Poi. There is a chance of the slow soft nature of the song inducing tedium, a good listen otherwise. And it is not often that one gets to hear a sarangi being used in Malayalam music. The pick of the soundtrack is Sun Sun Sundhari – the composer bringing out a top notch display of his flair with orchestration to lend that highlander feel to the simple folksy tune. The interludes are totally brilliant, the use of flute et al particularly standing out, and Karthik and Madhu Balakrishnan do their part neatly.
The composer gets another veteran composer Vidhyadharan Master to render two short folk pieces – Karutha Munthiri and Kanju Poyenteyee – both of which work mainly due to Master’s earthy vocals. The sec ond song is in fact just that, the singer crooning to a tanpura background. Vidyasagar has always used kids’ chorus to good effect in the past, Chenthaamara is another one to add to the list. Since the list of singers is too long I am not naming them here. From the lyrics I can already imagine a bunch of kids pushing the bus while ridiculing it, a theme which has appeared in Malayalam in the past too. And finally there is Thechippoo where the composer uses ex Idea Star Singer contestant Sannidhanandhan alongside some of his fav singers Tippu, Sujatha and Biju Narayan. The folk-dancey template is quite evocative of Vidyasagar’s own Sundariye Sundariye from Oru Maravathoor Kanavu. And in this case the repeat factor does the song in unlike in the previous cases, it didn’t work for me much.
After a fairly long time Vidyasagar gives Malayalam a soundtrack through Ordinary, that is to some extent reflective of his glorious past. Hope this is a sign of better things to come.
Music Aloud Rating: 7/10
Top Picks: Sun Sun Sundhari, Enthinee Mizhi Randilum, Karutha Munthiri
