Songs and credits at the end.
Just weeks after the incredibly infectious Sodakku, Anthony Daasan gets another equally energetic foot tapping number in Kannada. And while Daasan delivers Tagaru Banthu Tagaru in his usual style, composer Charan Raj does an equally fine job in the backdrop, seamlessly switching from electronic elements to kuthu around the title hook. The other dance track of the album, Mental Ho Jawaan, is patchy though, despite once again featuring some interesting classical fusion touches from the composer. The classical singing (not sure who among Ananya Bhat, Meghna Bhat and Sree Raksha Achar has done it) is good though. Ananya leads the sprightly Hold On as well, a song whose melody carries a slight heard before feel but it is hard not to bob your head along to the Rajasthani folk-laden arrangement. The brief Carnatic digression in between (that bilahari raga-ish flute especially, either by Varijasree Venugopal or Vishnu Vijay, pleasant surprise seeing the former’s name in credits – I quite miss her singing and flute-playing, she hardly seems active in the music scene of late) is a nice touch.
The composer gives the soundtrack’s two best songs to singer Siddhartha Belamannu. Badukina Bannave has a sedate melody (jog raaga based, perhaps) that the singer delivers brilliantly, while Charan supplies a groovy backdrop (fine guitars by Santhosh Chandran and Naveen Napier) that leads up to a folksy crescendo of sorts (fun fact: the distant shouting sound that is heard first at the 23 second mark and then keeps making the occasional reappearance through the song, is the same sample employed by A R Rahman in his 127 Hours song Acid Darbari). The other song – Balma – is a darker and more frenzied fusion piece that really takes off at the 1:25 mark with a pulsating electronic beat and Kishore and Suma Rani’s sitar sprucing up the arrangement even as the singer (joined here by Charan) does a finely nuanced rendition that ends with a brief but effective sargam bit (shubhapanthuvarali raga, I think).
Tagaru. Charan Raj continues to deliver highly imaginative work in Kannada. I do hope he comes to Malayalam at some point.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Badukina Bannave, Balma, Tagaru Banthu Tagaru
Musician Credits
Track : Tagaru Banthu Tagaru
Singer : Anthony Daasan
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Dr V Nagendra Prasad
Backing Vocals: Aniruddha Sastry, Nikhil Partha Sarathy, Chethan Naik, Shwetha Devanahally, Nagaranjini, Harsha Ranjini
Musicians:
Guitars:Sunil Silvester, Rony
Bass Guitar: Napier Peter Naveen Kumar
Percussion Arrangement: Shruthi Raj
Brass instruments: Trumpet Babu
Track : Mental Ho Jawa
Singers : Ananya Bhat, Sree Raksha Achar, Meghna Bhat
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Kiran Kaverappa, Vaardhik Joseph
Backing Vocals: Lakshmi Vijay, Meghana Kulkarni, Prarthana MA, Charanraj
Musicians:
Guitars:Josh Markraj, Sumesh Parameshwaran
Bass Guitar: Napier Peter Naveen Kumar
Shehnai: Balesh
Track : Hold On Hold On
Singer : Ananya Bhat
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Yograj Bhat
Backing Vocals : Ala P Bala, Manasa Holla, Madhuvanthi, Nincy, Lakshmi Vijay, Prarthana MA
Musicians:
Guitars:Josh Markraj
Mandolin,Ukelele,Prim and Ruan: Prakash Hariharan
Flute: Varijashree Venugopal and Vishnu Vijay
Saarangi: Ustaad Fayaz Khan
Percussion: Shruthiraj and Venkat
Track : Badukina Bannave
Singer : Siddhartha Belmannu
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Jayanth Kaikini
Backing Vocals : Sanjith Hegde, Charanraj
Musicians :
Guitars: Santhosh Chandran
Percussion: Sruthiraj and team
Bass Guitar: Napier Naveen Kumar
Track : Balma
Singer : Charanraj, Siddhartha Belmannu
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Jayanth Kaikini
Musicians:
Sitar – Kishore, Suma Rani
Recorded at 2barq, Krimson Avenue, Voice and Vision, Audiokraft, Tapas Studio, Balaji Studios, Taala studios and Contrabase
Recording Engineers: Sujith Sreedhar, Lijesh Kumar, Mani Ratnam, Dil, Rahul Govinda, Ivis John, Praveen Francis and Rajashekar
All songs Composed and Arranged by Charanraj
All songs mixed by Sujith Sreedhar at 2barQ studios
Music Programmed by: Anoop R Nair, Charanraj, Rahul Govinda and Praveen Francis
Assistant Music Director: Kiran Kaverappa
Music Supervisors: Dhanush, Kiran Kaverappa, Sharath Srinivasa Sharma and Deeksha Ramakrishna
Music Co-ordinators: Mr Babu and M Ananth Kamath
Music on PRK Audio
Digital Partner : Divo
