After the fiery title song for Kabali earlier this year, composer Santhosh Narayanan gives lyricist-rapper Arunraja Kamaraj yet another title track in Kodi. Kodi Parakkudha is less intense than the former, but is of similar spirit and delivered as effectively by Kamaraj along with the movie’s leading man Dhanush. H Vijay’s trumpets are employed very well in the backdrop. Sirukki Vaasam starts off well riding on the sprightly vocal efforts of Shweta Mohan and Anand Aravindakshan (whom I mistook for Pradeep Kumar until I read the credits) but stumbles in the second half around the Kozhaiyuren..Puzhiyuren bit; the male vocals sound a bit off and the drums accompaniment (Tapass Naresh) that follows doesn’t seem to sit well with the song. Most interesting bit about the track is that Santhosh has employed the services of child prodigy Lydian Nadaswaram on keyboard (if you are unfamiliar with the boy, check out this video where he plays Ilayaraja’s Do Anything from How to Name It, with his sister and THE Guitar Prasanna).
Composer teams up with veteran singer K S Chithra for the first time with the solemn lullaby piece Arariro. The song doesn’t have a very solid melody, but that is more than made up by Chithra’s soulful singing and the exceptional use of strings (arranged by Pradeep Kumar and R K Sundar). Shankar Mahadevan leads the folk-electronic piece Vettu Pottu with his usual exuberance, even as the composer supplies a percussion-heavy arrangement to back the singer up (quite curious who the members of this 4 Idiots percussion group are; been noticing their name pop up in multiple Santhosh soundtracks). The soundtrack’s final track is also its best – Ei Suzhali is a wacky romantic track marked by Santhosh Narayanan’s trademark synth elements and Pradeep Kumar’s slide guitar cameo, supporting an immensely hummable tune that is delivered superbly by Vijaynarain Rangarajan.
Kodi. Santhosh Narayanan’s good run this year continues with yet another engaging soundtrack. Wouldn’t count among his best though.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Top Recos: Ei Suzhali, Kodi Parakkudha, Arariro
