So after a Selfie song, Tamil music now has a YOLO song courtesy Anegan. Penned by director (not of this movie) C S Amudhan, the track is sung by a bunch of singers led by a Bollywood singer who has been MIA for over a year now, Shail Hada (Ramya NSK, Richard, MC Vickey and Eden the others) with his possible Tamil debut. Although nothing particularly great, the song is pleasantly engaging, Harris Jayaraj setting it to a groovy reggae rhythm. The kuthu beats+bassline combo in Danga Maari Oodhari sounds straight of the composer’s Thirunelveli Alwa/Kalyaanam Dhaan line of songs, but evidently that format still has salvage value – the track worked for me! A sprightly job by Marana Gana Viji, Dhanush and Naveen Madhav helps big time. That second slower interlude featuring naadaswaram and thavil is a surprise, but fits right in. For a song that has Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Chinmayi on vocal credits, Roja Kadale starts off on an unexpectedly dance-y techno note. The song soon develops into a very catchy and well-arranged piece, as HJ builds over that techno base in style throwing in a lot of classical and folk sounds. The singing section is neatly taken care of, but who wasn’t expecting that!
The undeniable Innum Konjam Neram hangover aside, Aathadi Aathadi is a sweet, tuneful melody that is given the appropriate soothing treatment and delivered very well by Bhavatharini, Tipu and Abhay Jodhpurkar. The remaining two songs, both melodies, are engaging in parts – both propped up a great deal by their vocalists. Thodu Vaanam is instantly recognisable as a Harris Jayaraj product, it is a haunting template that is all too familiar, with just the occasional touch of novelty from the composer. It is Hariharan and Shaktisree Gopalan who render Vairamuthu’s lines in a brilliant manner. Deivangal Ingae gets marred mainly by those cheesy beats which are too prominent to even ignore. But if you manage to tune that out, you will notice some nice classical style guitar in places and a fab singing effort from Sriram Parthasarathy; the closing alaap is especially excellent.
The reuse/inspiration aspect notwithstanding, Anegan is the best soundtrack that Harris Jayaraj has produced for KV Anand from among their four outings together.
Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10
Top Recos: Roja Kadale, Aathadi Aathadi, Danga Maari Oodhari
