You can listen to the songs at the end of the review (thanks to Thariq for the link).
It feels good to hear Minmini’s voice after so long; the lady doesn’t sound her best, understandably, but it does take one back to the time when she used to, largely owing to the fact that Gopi Sunder’s tune and arrangement (both of which are simple and beautiful – loved the employment of veena in particular) of Kanmaniye carries a whiff of that time. BK Harinarayan‘s words too deserve a mention. The only problem with the title song is that the lyrics seem awkwardly force-fitted at times. High enjoyable song otherwise with an addictive guitar-led groove about it. The song comes in two versions, and the female version sung by Pavithra Menon rates higher for me, she proves to be a better singer than the composer. Manju Peyyumee has a distinct déjà vu feel about it, but there is too much sweetness in that melody and too much sincerity in Najeem Arshad and Mridula Warrier’s singing to have you quibbling much over that matter. The theme song follows the rousing, inspirational route and Gopi does well in using the children’s chorus for this. The kids (Anjana Anilkumar, Anurag R Nayan, Athira Vinod) do a pretty neat job of singing it too, only the song is too short. The final song goes to guest composer Shaan Rahman. And while Gopi excels in creating simple, feel-good melodies in the soundtrack – something generally considered Shaan’s strong area – the man instead goes for an intense, angsty composition in Manpaatha. And not only does Shaan do a fab job of composing it (excellent use of harmonium, for one), he also gets behind the mic to pull off a commendable rendition.
Mili. The year starts off very well for Malayalam, courtesy Gopi Sunder and Shaan Rahman.
Music Aloud Rating: 8/10
Top Recos: Kanmaniye, Mili Mili, Manpaatha