Songs and complete musician credits at the end.
Back when I reviewed composer K’s very underappreciated soundtrack for Ammani (five years back this month, incidentally), I had labelled Rotora Padhayile the Tamil Saigal Blues. In Oh Manapenne, Vishal Chandrashekhar produces a better contender for that title with the Lazy Song, even if this one goes primarily on the classical fusion route. Not enough gets spoken about how consistently good Vishal has been with Carnatic fusion right from his Jil Jung Juk days (I refer of course to the brilliant adaptation of Nee Maatale in a pivotal fight sequence towards the end) – Lazy Song is another testament to this. The song about the protagonist’s lethargic ways (Mohan Rajan supplying the witty lines), receives a characteristically madcap packaging from the composer that gets even better when he introduces a snippet of Swathi Thirunaal’s Dhanashree Thillana. Sinduri’s languid (but superbly nuanced) delivery is perfect for this, and Lady Kash’s punchy rap ties things up in a bow. I would also recommend this live unplugged version of the track, particularly for how good Sinduri is with her singing. It also features the mysterious “lazy” refrain that was present in the initial promos of the song, but went missing in the soundtrack version – no idea what happened there! Continuing on the quirky route, the composer channels his Red Road-u form to produce an equally groovy electro-swing piece in Aao Ji Aao. The presence of Bala’s naadaswaram amidst the horns is a splendid touch, and Gaana Bala who aces such wacky songs whenever he gets them, is in his element here as well.
While I was not able to make a 1-to-1 connection between every song from Oh Manapenne and those from Pelli Choopulu (I figured that Lazy Song corresponds to Ee Babu Gariki), one song where the connection is pretty evident is the title song. And it is brilliant how Vishal derives elements from Aanandamayenu and ends up creating a better, much more elaborate classical-based (bahudaari raga, perhaps?) track. It is hard not to think of Rahman’s Adhisaya Thirumanam when you hear that opening chorus refrain – though the resemblance ends there. This song features my favourite arrangements from the album – two aspects deserving a special mention being Punya Srinivas’s veena solos, and the harmonic overlay of Sinduri’s Sakhiye alaap on the chorus segments. The two relatively “conventional” tracks from the soundtrack are both of the romantic kind. Nee Yenadharuginil Nee is a short but lovely waltz, sung in style by Shaktisree Gopalan with some excellent guitar work from Martin Gioani and Chris Jason in support. Anirudh Ravichander and Shashaa Tirupati lead the immersive Bodhai Kaname – not sure if it is the presence of the former behind the mic, but had I heard this song without seeing the composing credits, I would have guessed that it is an Anirudh composition. Total winner of a melody from the composer that is delivered well by the singers, and more veena-based delight from Punya Srinivas. Given the general quality of the songs, Sakiye comes off as the relatively ordinary track, but even this one has a lot of things going for me, not least of which is Yazin Nizar singing his heart out, with some wonderful harmonies from the chorus to boot. S Sayee Rakshith’s brief violin solo elevates the arrangement, although at that point the song increasingly evokes memories of Aaromale.
Oh Manapenne. One of Vishal Chandrashekhar’s career-best soundtracks – I have not obsessively looped a complete soundtrack like this in quite some time! While I really liked Vivek Sagar’s music in Pelli Choopulu, Vishal’s work here is definitely clear of the former. Incidentally this is the second Tamil album this year that has stood its ground in comparison to a solid original – Maara being the other.
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: All of them!
Musician Credits
Song: Aao Ji Aao
Composed by: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Singer: Gana Bala
Lyrics: Mohan Rajan
Nadaswaram: Bala
Violin: Balaji
Keys and Rhythms: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Backing Vocals: Pitty Vikram, Arvind Annest, Balaji Sri, Shibi Srinivasan
Vocals & Recording Co-Ordinator: Sinduri
Backing Vocals Recorded @ 20db Sound Studios by Avinash Sathish and Hariharan
Mixed by Jai Ganesh
Mastered By A M Rahmathullah @ AM Studios
Song: Bodhai Kaname
Composed by: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Lyrics: Vivek
Sung by: Anirudh Ravichander & Shashaa Tirupati
Veena: Punya Srinivas
Bass Guitar: Napier Naveen
Guitar: Chris Jason
Violin: S.Sayee Rakshith | Balaji
Keys and Rhythms: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Backing Vocals: Pitty Vikram | Arvind Annest | Balaji Sri | Shibi Srinivasan | Arvind K Sandhya | Padmaja Sreenivasan | Lavita Lobo | Triya Sushma | Sushmitha Narasimhan | Akshaya Shivkumar | Bhuvana | Sanjana Mohandoss
Voice & Recording Co-Ordinator: Sinduri
Backing Vocals Recorded @ 20dbSoundstudios by Avinash Sathish and Hari Haran
Mixed By: Jai Ganesh
Mastered By: A M Rahmathullah @ AM Studios
Song: Lazy Song
Composed by: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Lyrics: Vishal Chandrashekhar | Mohan Rajan
Singer: Sinduri
RAP Written & Performed By LADY KASH
Guitars: Chris Jason
Keys and Rhythms: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Chorus: Padmaja Sreenivasan, Triya Sushma, Sushmitha Narasimhan, Akshaya Shivkumar
Vocals Recorded @20dbSoundstudios by Avinash Sathish and Hari Haran
Mixed By: Jaiganesh
Mastered By: Rahmthullah AM @ AM STUDIOS
Song: Sakiyae
Composed by: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Singer: Yazin
Lyrics: Mohan Rajan
Guitars: Chris Jason
Violin: S. Sayee Rakshith
Backing Vocals : Dominique Prashanth Gaspar, Regis Tony, Shibi Srinivasan, Aravind Annest
Anjana Rajagopalan, Shilvi Sharon, Daisy Yensone, Sinduri
Voice & Recording Co-Ordinator: Sinduri
Backing Vocals Recorded @ 20dbSoundstudios by Avinash Sathish and Hari Haran
Mixed By: Jai Ganesh
Mastered By: A M Rahmathullah @ AM Studios
Song: Oh Manapenne
Composed by: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Singer: Sinduri
Lyrics: Mohan Rajan
Veena: Punya Srinivas
Guitars, Guitalele and Ukulele: Chris Jason
Backing Vocals: Pitty Vikram | Arvind Annest | Balaji Sri | Shibi Srinivasan | Arvind K Sandhya | Padmaja Sreenivasan | Lavita Lobo | Triya Sushma | Sushmitha Narasimhan | Akshaya Shivkumar | Bhuvana | Sanjana Mohandoss
Voice & Recording Co-Ordinator: Sinduri
Backing Vocals Recorded @ 20dbSoundstudios by Avinash Sathish and Hari Haran
Mixed By: Jai Ganesh
Mastered By: A M Rahmathullah @ AM Studios
Song: Nee Yenadharuginil Nee
Composed by: Vishal Chandrashekhar
Singer : Shakthisree Gopalan
Lyrics: Niranjan Bharathi
Guitars: Martin Gioani, Chris Jason
Recorded at Crimson Avenue
Mixed By: Jai Ganesh
Mastered By: A M Rahmathullah @ AM Studios
