Songs and full credits at the end.
Naa E Sanjege is mighty impressive in both its versions; composer Charan Raj deftly introduces ghazal-style elements into a dominant retro jazz sound and the combination works like a charm. Ustad Hafiz Bale Khan’s sitar and Shailesh Shenoy’s tabla constitute the Hindustani elements, while Raman Iyer’s multiple wind instruments represent the latter. While Siddhanth’s (who has a really interesting voice texture) rendition in the male version leans towards the folk side, Sharanya Gopinath who sings the female version has a very jazz-suited style – I prefer the former in this case. Movie’s leading man Rakshit Shetty doubles up as lyricist for the song. Siddhanth also gets a second track where he is joined by Inchara Rao, an intriguingly arranged piece called Ayomaya. And it is indeed the techno-laden arrangement – which also features some nifty cameos like the brass section from Rahul R Govinda – that makes the song engaging. Charan’s erstwhile partner from the Thaalam days Job Kurian gets his Kannada vocal debut (I think) with Komala Henne (first song that came out as part of the movie’s promos last year). The melody is intricate, one that is handled brilliantly by Job, and the lounge-ish backdrop goes perfectly with it (Deepak Paramashivan’s sarangi is an excellent addition).
The conventional semi-classical melody of Ranga Bhoomiya is aced by Haricharan, even as Charan adorns the backdrop with a rich combination of conventional and Western elements. He also has help from Nelson Kumar who does the string arrangement; that banjo is a lovely touch. The immensely talented KMMC singer Arun Kamath joins an equally competent Sparsha Rk to deliver the breezy Katheyondu Shuruvaagide, particularly excelling in the classical improvisation bits (shades of naattakkurinji raga, perhaps) alongside violinist Aneesh Vidyashankar. Aside of Aneesh, Balesh is the star of the arrangement with his work on the shehnai. Another stellar melody follows with Ale Moodathey, the soft, soulful piece (there is some kalyani raga in places, methinks) is treated equally delicately by the composer, Prakash Hegde’s flute the dominant player. On the foreground, it is Masala Coffee vocalist Sooraj Santhosh who delivers with equal finesse and feel. Gaasi Gumma is another testimony to the composer’s imaginativeness as he packs a haunting retro-ish tune into a heady techno-based concoction of guitars (Prashant Mathias) and brass (Rahul R Govinda) and even a veena (Narenda HN)! On a relative scale, Mouna is the soundtrack’s most ordinary composition. The electronica-heavy arrangement doesn’t sound particularly fresh (even features a rap portion at one point), but the song’s melody and Deepak Doddera’s rendition of it make the track worthwhile.
Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu. Charan Raj gets a long overdue solo debut, nearly eight years after the tragically under-rated Thaalam came out. And what.a.debut! Stunner of a soundtrack from Charan Raj (His debut was Mandya to Mumbai, @oomahe and @milliblog tell me)! Good to see that all three of the tragically under-rated Thaalam (Job has been active as singer and composer, Yakzon has been composing occasionally as well, both in films and outside) are getting meaningful projects.
Music Aloud Rating: 9/10
Top Recos: It’s just the last song that I am on the fence about, so I’ll just go ahead and recommend the whole soundtrack!
Full Credits
NAA E SANJAGE (Male)
Vocals: Siddhanth
Lyrics :Rakshith Shetty
Sitar: Ustad Hafiz Bale Khan
Wind instruments: Raman Iyer
Tabla: Shailesh Shenoy
KOMALA HENNE
Vocals: Job Kurian K
Lyrics: Dhananjay Ranjan
Guitars: Sunil Silvester
Bass Guitars: Sunil Silvester
Sarangi: Deepak Paramashivan
Additional vocals: Charanraj
RANGA BHOOMIYA
Vocals: Haricharan Shesh
Lyrics: Kiran Kaverapa
String Arrangement: Nelson Kumar
Flute: Sandeep Vasishta
Veena: Deepak Paramashivan
KATHEYONDU SHURUVAAGIDE
Vocals: Arun Kamath and Sparsha R.K.
Lyrics: Sharath Bhagavan
Violin: Aneesh Violin Vidyashankar
Shehnai: Balesh
Guitars: Sumesh Parameswar
Bass Guitars: Sumesh Parameswar
Additional Vocals: Ananya Suresh
AYOMAYA
Vocals: Inchara Rao and Siddhanth
Lyrics: Dhananjay Ranjan
Guitars and Mandolin: Prashanth Mathias
Bass Guitar: Prashanth Mathias
Brass instruments: Rahul R Govinda
Additional Vocals: Charanraj
ALE MOODADHE
Vocals: Sooraj Santhosh
Lyrics: Sudarshan D.C.
Guitars: Sunil Silvester
Flute: Prakash Hegde
Bass Guitar: Prashanth Mathias
GAASI GUMMA
Vocals: Charanraj and Ananya Suresh
Lyrics: Dhananjay Ranjan
Guitars: Prashanth Mathias
Bass guitars: Prashanth Mathias
Veena: Narendra H.N.
Brass instruments: Rahul R Govinda
MOUNA
Vocals: Deepak Doddera
Lyrics: Dhananjay Ranjan
Guitar: Prashanth Mathias
Bass Guitar: Prashanth Mathias
Additional vocals: Charanraj and Ananya Suresh
NAA E SANJEGE (Female)
Vocals: Sharanya Gopinath
Lyrics: Rakshith Shetty
Sitar: Ustad Hafiz Bale Khan
Wind Instruments: Raman Iyer
Tabla: Shailesh Shenoy
All Tracks Composed and programmed by Charanraj M.R. All intellectual property rights for the album are held by Pushkar Films.
Music Mixed at: Audiokraft Studio Bangalore
Mixing Engineers: Prashanth Mathias and Rahul R Govinda
Music Mastered at Krimson Avenue Chennai
Mastering Engineer: Sujith Sreedhar
Recording Studios: Audiokraft Bangalore, Visual Cue Creatives Bangalore, NHQ Cochin, Krimson Avenue Chennai, Voice and Vision Chennai
Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu
Sound design – M. R Rajakrishnan
Production design – Chaithra Puthraya
Editor – Srikanth SH
DOP – Nandhakishore Neelakanta Rao
Music Director – Charan Raj
Writer & Director – Hemanth M Rao
Producer – Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah
