Songs and soundtrack credits at the end.
Palestinian singer Sanaa Moussa, who previously featured in composer A R Rahman’s Muhammad: The Messenger of God and Dil Bechara (and interestingly had a special mention in Mimi despite not singing, perhaps for some kind of consultative role) delivers a folk song from her homeland titled Badaweih in Aadujeevitham. A song that relies almost exclusively on the singer’s skills as the composer keeps the backdrop very minimal and expansive (reflective of the landscape the visuals are likely to be set in, I reckon). And Sanaa delivers spectacularly, making the Arabic nuances sound deceptively simple, the way she sings it. The gospel choir-esque cameo from Deepthi Suresh is a lovely addition to the proceedings. Keeping up with the recent trend in ARR-composed movies, of having a promo song video featuring the musician, is the Hope Song. One that, as the title suggests, conveys a message of hope in these chaotic times. Five lyricists representing five different languages (Rafeeq Ahammed in Malayalam, Vivek in Tamil, Ramajogayya Shastry in Telugu, Jayant Kaikini in Kannada and Prasoon Joshi in Hindi) join hands with ARR to piece together this multilingual track that comes across as unremarkable, and heard-before despite all of their efforts. We have had some classics in this genre from the man, and this one doesn’t quite compare. Omane seems to be representative of the very few happy moments in the film; the romance between the lead pair leading up to their wedding, indicated by the oppana (celebratory dance form among Muslims) segment that the song segues into halfway through. There is a “set around water” kind of feel about the use of strings and percussion in this song (which the lyric video seems to reflect as well) – not sure if this is a deliberate choice to contrast with how the protagonist’s life turns out in the aridness of the desert. While Chinmayi’s singing is on point (some mispronunciations aside), her parts in this song did not quite work for me, something about the lyrical progression especially in the initial portions doesn’t really seem to gel well with the melody. Ergo, it is the chorus segment in the interlude and the oppana by Rakshita Suresh that I keep going back to. The transition from the oppana bit back to the main melody is really well done though, and Vijay Yesudas’s cameo deserves a mention too, particularly in the first stanza where his introduction happens alongside the gentle strains of the tabla tarang.
In a conversation with A R Rahman on Aadujeevitham’s official YouTube channel, Prithviraj says that the protagonist’s journey is about spirituality and faith, in a lot of ways. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise to see the composer knock it out of the park with the more spiritual themed songs. Istigfar brings to mind songs like Zikr (Bose The Forgotten Hero), songs where ARR eschews the filmi elements and produces a raw, honest to roots sufi piece that almost puts you in a trance. Adding immensely to the song’s feel is the heart-rendingly brilliant rendition by Faiz Mustafa (what a talent!), Raja Hasan (not sure if this is his first song for ARR; what a song to debut with, if so) and one of Rahman’s regular collaborators, Murtuza Mustafa (for the uninitiated, Faiz is Murtuza’s son). Felt shades of chakravaakam/ahir bhairav raga at times, although I could be wrong. And I found it quite fitting that the composer chose to end the song with the sallallahu alayhi wa sallam phrase that also closes out another iconic sufi song of his – Kun Faya Kun. If Istigfar hit you in the feels, wait till you listen to Periyone. It was not long ago that I reviewed a gorgeous song set to a seven beat cycle, Dheeme Dheeme in Laapataa Ladies. It was such a joy to listen to another belter in the same category here! Well, joy is not exactly the emotion you come away with after this one, especially if you have read the book as well. A melancholic tune (possibly gowri manohari raga?) that the very talented Jithin Raj aces, aided by Rafeeq Ahammed’s lines that are effective in conveying the longing and anguish – some water references here as well, to presumably drive home that earlier-mentioned contrast. Wonderful use of sarod and oboe (I think) in the two interludes. Navin Chander’s flute version of the song titled Benevolent Breeze adds one more layer of wistfulness for the fans – throwback to a time when ARR soundtracks used to feature an instrumental version of a track (or more). Can’t remember the last one before this, perhaps it was Sanjeev Thomas’s guitar rendition of Meherbaan (Ada). Coming back to the song here, Navin recreates the song’s melody to a tee. The chorus that sings the Periyone refrain etc in the main song are employed to add a lovely harmonic layer of humming here.
Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life). A R Rahman’s second Malayalam soundtrack in two years sees two of the most poignant sufi pieces he has created in quite some time!
PS: I wish the release and marketing of the songs had been handled better; the soundtrack is still available in three parts on Spotify, Apple etc.! And the lyric video for Omane looks to be very shoddily transcribed. Hopefully the makers address these issues soon.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Periyone, Istigfar, Benevolent Breeze, Badaweih
Soundtrack Credits
OMANE
SONG COMPOSED, PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY
AR RAHMAN
LYRICS
RAFIQ AHAMED
SINGER
VIJAY YESUDAS, CHINMAYI SRIPADA, RAKSHITA SURESH
ADDITIONAL VOCALS
NAKUL ABHYANKAR, SURYANSH, APARNA HARIKUMAR
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
PRASHANTH VENKAT
PROJECT MANAGER
KARTHIK SEKARAN
LANGUAGE SUPERVISOR
ARAVIND CRESCENDO
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING
HENRY KURUVILLA, PRASHANTH VENKAT, NAKUL ABHYANKAR, SURYANSH
MUSICIANS
TABLA TARANG – SAI SHRAVANAM
CHENNAI STRINGS AND SUNSHINE ORCHESTRA
CONDUCTED BY JERRY VINCENT
SUPERVISED BY SHUBAM BHAT
SOUND ENGINEERS
PANCHATHAN RECORD INN
SENIOR ENGINEERS
SURESH PERMAL, KARTHIK SEKARAN
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS
ARAVIND CRESCENDO, SATHISH V SARAVANAN
AM STUDIO
AINUL HUQ, BHARAT ARJUNAN
RECORDING ENGINEERS
SREEKANTH HARIHARAN
MIXED AND MASTERED BY
SURESH PERMAL
DOLBY MUSIC MIXED AND MASTERED BY
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICE
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
MUSICIAN COORDINATOR
SAMIDURAI R, ABDUL HAIYUM
PERIYONE
SONG COMPOSED, PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY
AR RAHMAN
LYRICS
RAFIQ AHAMED
SINGER
JITHIN RAJ
BACKING VOCALS
SREEKANTH HARIHARAN, SARATH SANTOSH, ARAVIND SRINIVAS, SHENBAGARAJ, APARNA HARIKUMAR, ANU ANAND, DEEPTHI SURESH, POOJA VENKAT
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
PRASHANTH VENKAT
VOCAL ARRANGEMENT
SURYANSH
PROJECT MANAGER
KARTHIK SEKARAN
LANGUAGE SUPERVISOR
ARAVIND CRESCENDO
MUSICIANS
PLUCKED INSTRUMENTS – SUBHANI
PERCUSSION – HARIPRASAD
STRINGS – SUNSHINE ORCHESTRA
CONDUCTED BY JERRY VINCENT
SUPERVISED BY SHUBAM BHAT
SOUND ENGINEERS
PANCHATHAN RECORD INN
SENIOR ENGINEERS
SURESH PERMAL, KARTHIK SEKARAN
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS
ARAVIND CRESCENDO, SATHISH V SARAVANAN
RECORDING ENGINEERS
SREEKANTH HARIHARAN, SARATH SANTOSH
MIXED AND MASTERED BY
SURESH PERMAL
DOLBY MUSIC MIXED AND MASTERED BY
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICE
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
MUSICIAN COORDINATOR: SAMIDURAI R, ABDUL HAIYUM
BADAWEIH
PALESTINIAN FOLK SONG
MUSIC ARRANGED BY
AR RAHMAN
SINGER
SANAA MOUSSA – PALESTINE
ADDITIONAL VOCALS
DEEPTHI SURESH
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
PRASHANTH VENKAT
PROJECT MANAGER
KARTHIK SEKARAN
LANGUAGE SUPERVISOR
ARAVIND CRESCENDO
MUSICIANS
CHENNAI STRINGS
CONDUCTED BY JERRY VINCENT
SUPERVISED BY SHUBAM BHAT
SOUND ENGINEERS
PANCHATHAN RECORD INN
SENIOR ENGINEERS
SURESH PERMAL, KARTHIK SEKARAN
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS
ARAVIND CRESCENDO, SATHISH V SARAVANAN
AM STUDIO
AINUL HUQ, BHARAT ARJUNAN
MIXED AND MASTERED BY
SURESH PERMAL
DOLBY MUSIC MIXED AND MASTERED BY
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICE
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
MUSICIAN COORDINATOR: SAMIDURAI R, ABDUL HAIYUM
BENEVOLENT BREEZE
SONG COMPOSED, PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY
AR RAHMAN
FLUTE
NAVIN CHANDER
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
PRASHANTH VENKAT
PROJECT MANAGER
KARTHIK SEKARAN
LANGUAGE SUPERVISOR
ARAVIND CRESCENDO
MUSICIANS
PLUCKED INSTRUMENTS – SUBHANI
PERCUSSION – HARIPRASAD
SOUND ENGINEERS
PANCHATHAN RECORD INN
SENIOR ENGINEERS
SURESH PERMAL, KARTHIK SEKARAN
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS
ARAVIND CRESCENDO, SATHISH V SARAVANAN
MIXED AND MASTERED BY
SURESH PERMAL
DOLBY MUSIC MIXED AND MASTERED BY
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICE
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
MUSICIAN COORDINATOR: SAMIDURAI R, ABDUL HAIYUM
ISTIGFAR
SONG COMPOSED, PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY
AR RAHMAN
LYRICS
A R RAHMAN
SINGER
RAJA HASAN, FAIZ MUSTAFA
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
PRASHANTH VENKAT
PROJECT MANAGER
KARTHIK SEKARAN
LANGUAGE SUPERVISOR
ARAVIND CRESCENDO
PERCUSSION
HARIPRASAD
ADDITIONAL VOCALS
MURTUZA MUSTAFA
SOUND ENGINEERS
PANCHATHAN RECORD INN
SENIOR ENGINEERS
SURESH PERMAL, KARTHIK SEKARAN
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS
ARAVIND CRESCENDO, SATHISH V SARAVANAN
MIXED AND MASTERED BY
SURESH PERMAL
DOLBY MUSIC MIXED AND MASTERED BY
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICE
RIYASDEEN RIYAN
MUSICIAN COORDINATOR
SAMIDURAI R, ABDUL HAIYUM
