Manithan – Music Review (Tamil Soundtrack)

manithan posterSongs and full credits at the end.

Kalpana Raghavendar and the chorus succeed in equal parts at delivering the humming in the theme song of Manithan, titled Adho. The tune traverses familiar turf, but the singing and the arrangement – that’s in keeping with the composer’s proficiency at employing guitars – make the track work. The inspirational Mun Sellada too is marred by its lack of freshness in the tune or arrangement. ADK’s rapping leads the vocal department, over Anirudh Ravichander and Rohith Fernandes’ singing. Things start looking better with Poi Vazhva; composer Santhosh Narayanan’s earthy style of singing makes for a good combination with the contrastingly trained voice of Vijaynarain (who joins the composer in the second half), as the two soulfully render the pensive melody. The backdrop once again sees some lovely guitars, and I quite liked the percussion. That whistle adds a nice touch to the proceedings. Replete as it is with European elements, Kondattam’s arrangement is bound to remind you of other songs, but that doesn’t stop it from being a mighty engaging track. The composer deftly builds over the familiar base and has good support from Radar with a K (!) and Divya Ramani behind the mic. Santhosh gives his best song to V Pradeep and Priya Hemesh. Aval is incredibly breezy, hitting a high especially around that Yen Maname.. refrain. Guitars and violins understandably dominate the arrangement, but watch out for the violins from around the 3:20 mark, the way they have been interlaced with Priya’s humming is just brilliant!

Manidhan. High on the familiarity aspect, but Santhosh Narayanan delivers a more engaging soundtrack than the Bollywood original (Jolly LLB) had.

Music Aloud Rating: 7/10

Top Recos: Aval, Kondattam, Poi Vazhva

Full Credits

Song: Kondattam

Lyrics: Madhan Karky

Singer: ‘Radar with a K’ ,Divya Ramani

Song: Aval

Lyrics: Vivek

Singers: Pradeep ,Priya Hemesh

Song: Mun Sellada

Lyrics: Madhan Karky

Singers: Anirudh Ravichander, ADK, Rohith Fernandes

Song: Poi Vazhvaa

Lyrics: Vivek

Singer: Vijaynarain, Santhosh Narayanan

Song: Adho (manidhan theme)

Singer: Kalpana Raghavendar

 

Acoustic Guitars: Keba Jeremiah, Joseph Vijay, Pradeep Kumar, Vijaynarain

Electric Guitars: Keba Jeremiah

Tabla : Sai Shravanam

Chorus: Santhosh, Soundarya, Saisharan, Sathyaprakash, Maalavika, Niranjana, Deepak ,Shenbagaraj ,Sowmya Ramani Mahadevan,Sharanya Srinivasan , Niranjana Ramanan, Soundarya Nandakumar, Rohith Fernandes

Bass Guitar:  Naveen

Tapes: 4 Idiots Group

Percussions: Ganapathi, Venkat

Additional Rhythm programming: R K Sundar

Strings: Studio Orchestra of Sydney

Concert Master: Phil Hartl

Sydney musicians’ coordinator: Coralie Hartl, Meenakshi Iyer

 

Recorded at Future Tense studios – Chennai, Prism Sounds- Chennai, Studios 301 Sydney, Oveyen – Sydney

Recording Engineers: R.K.Sundar, Simon Todkill

Mixed by: Santhosh Narayanan, R.K.Sundar

Mastered by:  Steve Smart at Studios 301, Sydney

 

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