Songs and complete credits at the end (best to watch the videos).
The lead composer of Humans of Someone, Govind Menon, does not get to produce any original song for the movie. He does however get the most significant job – that of recreating some of the classic musical pieces associated with the person this movie is all about, master director Padmarajan. I do not know how the movie will turn out, but Govind’s half of this soundtrack is bound to make the listening experience for every Malayalam movie lover (who grew up watching movies in the 80s/90s) a memory trip akin to what Sachin A Billion Dreams is becoming to cricket lovers across the country. The longest and best of the lot is the movie’s prologue titled dear padmarajan (all song titles are in small case, interestingly). The movie’s writer/lyricist Nitin Nath goes about professing his admiration for the auteur in a monologue packed with references to some of his best movies, while the montage on a screen behind him keeps flitting between scenes from the respective movies, with Govind’s haunting renditions of the respective iconic pieces as accompaniment. Two of the renditions from the set receive a more elaborate version in the soundtrack (though still shorter than I would have liked, both lasting under two minutes). In same sea, another season, Govind does a fine adaptation of Ilayaraja’s BGM piece from the 1989 movie Season (the piece appears during the jail escape sequence in the movie) maintaining the song’s intrigue while suitably contemporising it. nowhere home harks back to one of Johnson master’s earliest hits, Aadi Vaa Kaatte from Koodevide (1983); a violin rendition only accentuates the melody’s soulfulness. The composer’s final track is fresh lime blues, yet another BGM adaptation, this time from 1987 film Thoovaanathumbikal (song’s title being a smart reference to the famous catchphrase from the movie). This piece is closest to the original track, given that Johnson’s composition too had violin as the lead instrument.
Remaining four songs of Humans of Someone are the original compositions. sarah & i, the “telephonic equivalent of the duet” as per the song’s description, is indeed a telephonic conversation between Nitin Nath and Madonna Sebastian set to composer Roby Abraham’s soothing backdrop that ends with a dark twist, just like the conversation. When Chai Met Toast’s guitarist Achyuth Jaigopal, who last year played for a couple of Shaan Rahman soundtracks, turns composer with sound of memory. A wonderful debut it turns out – a beautiful melody that is set to an ethereal arrangement (Achyuth himself plays guitars and ukulele, Shravan Sridhar on violin), in perfect sync with the song’s highland-based visuals. Singer Shaktisree Gopalan is in exceptional form on her part too. I haven’t been a great fan of Anju Brahmasmi’s Music Mojo songs, but in one life stand she really impresses with a laidback bossa nova based composition. While the lady herself produces a great rendition, she has some great musicians backing her up too, led by the immensely talented guitarist Santosh Chandran. Neha Nair and Yakzan Gary Pereira, doing their first movie composition since that fabulous soundtrack for Iyobinte Pusthakam nearly three years back. And it is sad they don’t get to compose more often; even in hopelessly yours it is evident that the duo is still in exceptional touch. The haunting composition continues along the album’s dreamy soundscape and once again features an ace arrangement, featuring star bassist Panagiotis Andreou and drummer Pranoy Praveen. Neha herself handles the vocals, and delivers in style. Good of the makers to feature most of the musicians in the individual song videos, by the way.
Humans of Someone. A soundtrack that is esoteric but brilliantly consistent in its sound. Not often that one gets to hear that in a multi-composer work.
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: All of them!
Musician Credits
‘dear padmarajan’
Written & Performed by Nitin Nath
Music rearranged & produced by Govind Menon
Mixed and Mastered by Rajan KS
Films mentioned:
Thoovanathumbikal (1987)
Thinkalaazhcha Nalla Divasam (1985)
Deshadanakkili Karayarilla (1986)
Season (1989)
Namukku Parkkaan Munthiri Thoppukal (1986)
Moonnam Pakkam (1988)
Koodevide (1983)
Aparan (1988)
Innale (1990)
Njan Gandharvan (1991)
Original Composers:
Johnson, Thoovanathumbikal
Raveendran, Deshadanakkili Karayarilla
Ilaiyaraja, Season
Johnson, Namukku Parkkaan Munthiri Thoppukal
Ilaiyaraja, Moonnam Pakkam
Johnson, Koodevide
Johnson, Aparan
Mohan Sithara, Innale
Johnson, Njan Gandharvan
‘sarah & i’
Written by Nitin Nath
Performed by Nitin Nath, Madonna Sebastian
Composed, Mixed, Mastered by Roby Abraham
‘same season, another sea’
Originally composed by Ilaiyaraja for Season (1989)
Re-interpreted by Govind Menon
‘sound of memory’
Written by Nitin Nath
Composed by Achyuth Jaigopal
Vocals: Shaktisree Gopalan
Guitars, Ukulele: Achyuth Jaigopal
Violin: Shravan Sridhar
Programmed by Palee Francis
Mixed and Mastered by Vivek Thomas
‘fresh lime blues’
Originally composed by Johnson for Thoovanathumbikal (1987)
Re-interpreted by Govind Menon
‘one life stand’
Music & Vocals – Anju Brahmasmi
Lyrics – Nitin Nath
Guitars – Santosh Chandran
Bass – Andres Rotmistrovski
Body Percussion – Nikhil Kakochan
Mix – Vivek Thomas
Mastering – Joe LaPorta (Grammy nominee), Sterling Sound
‘nowhere home’
Originally composed by Johnson for Koodevide (1983)
Re-interpreted by Govind Menon
‘hopelessly yours’
Music – Neha Nair & Yakzan Pereira
Lyrics – Nitin Nath
Drums – Pranoy Praveen
Bass – Panagiotis Andreou
Mixed by Vivek Thomas Productions
Mastered by Mike Kalajian
