Movie Name : Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya
Singers : Alphons Joseph; Vijay Yesudas, Suzanne; Devan Ekambaram, Chinmayi; AR Rehman, Shreya Ghoshal; Benny Dayal, Kalyani Menon; Naresh Iyer
Music Director : A R Rehman
First of all; shame on all of you who wrote your reports two days after the album released and gave it a lukewarm review!
After Arya-2, this is my first complete album review. A R Rehman shows yet another significant improvement in his standards with this album. This album, together with the background score goes to show what a good director and a good story can do to inspire the music director. After listening to the songs a bunch of times, I saw this movie and was amazed at how the songs were subtly introduced in the movie at various places. The music leading to the songs was tantalizing and made me crave for the songs even more. My mind had registered the preludes to the songs so well that I could not focus on parts of the movie, as the song had already started playing in my head.
Aaromale has a beautiful guitar prelude which is used brilliantly in the movie. Hosana is the instantly likeable song in this movie and it stays with you for a while. My favorite portion of this song is the rap interlude (done by Blaaze ?) Anbil Avan with its innovative use of church organ and sannai sounds is indicative of a wedding and a celebration. However the tune reminds you of "Illamai" from Godfather (also be Rehman). Mannipaya is all about Shreya's voice and what a voice it is! The prelude to the song is one of my favorite vocal preludes to a song, although Rehman decides to go a different way with the actual song. Karthik goes solo with Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and carries the delicate tune with minimal instrumental support. Naresh does his own solo with Kannukkul Kannai which fits in very well in the movie. My favorite of this album is Benny Dayal's Omana Penne. The song makes me feel like I am gently bouncing off a cloud while falling asleep. I could not be more happy that Benny gets a fantastic song to show his talent once again. Take a bow, Benny.
With expectations rocketing since his Oscar win, Rehman delivers a humble soundtrack that keeps with the director's script. One of the questions everyone had was if Rehman would be able to establish some chemistry with Gautam Menon in Harris Jayaraj's absence. Rehman makes this project his own and moulds the way the movie impacts audiences. That, I think is a powerful statement!
