Originally published in The Hindu.

Athuvutta – Pokkiri Raja (Tamil – D.Imman)
Imman is angry. Very, very angry. And upset… in Athuvutta. He throatily croaks, “Adichu pirichu manasa kizhicha aa…thaa, avala nenechu polambi azhudhen aa…thaa!”. He is fast taking over the mantle of being the Patron Saint of Love Failure music in Tamil Nadu from Silambarasan, if you count this one along with Miruthan’s Munnaal Kaadhali. That Athuvutta is insanely foot-tapping is a bonus, by the way!

Aisa kyun maa – Neerja (Hindi – Vishal Khurana)
Aisa kyun maa is a touching and engaging ode to the mother, much like Taare Zameen Par’s Maa or Rang De Basanti’s Luka chuppi. Vishal Khurana’s tune is poignant and carries a melancholic whiff, but what makes the song really work are two things – one, Sunidhi Chauhan’s beautifully involved vocals and two, the child-like repetitive chorus that goes, ‘A aa e ee oo uu ri ae ae’. Prasoon Joshi, the lyricist of both Maa and Luka chuppi, produces a lovely encore on the same theme.

Do You Wanna Dance With Me – Rhythm (Hindi – Suresh Peters)
Did you know that Minnal and Chikku Bukku-man Suresh Peters is 60 years old? That is, at least according to online sources that peg his birth year at 1955. That’s going to impact the moods of Rahman’s early fans given Suresh’s prolific association with him back when he started. And Suresh is back! In Hindi, at that. His Do You Wanna Dance is distinctively retro, invoking cleverly a phrase from Michael Jackson’s Beat It and mixing it with catchy Punjabi pop! Sunidhi Chauhan delivers it wonderfully, as always.

Oonjalilaadi vanna – Action Hero Biju (Malayalam – Jerry Amaldev)
Jerry Amaldev’s return to composing after the hiatus of more than a decade brings a whiff of the old all over again. The entire soundtrack has a dated sound, but one that seems to have been consistently and deliberately maintained. The pick of the album is Oonjalilaadi vanna that Chinmayi completely owns. Jerry’s tune is a throwback to the older style ghazal sound that uses the retro-effect as deliberately as say, Iruvar’s Pookodiyin punnagai.

Music Is My Art – Zubaan (Hindi – Ashu Pathak)
Rachel Varghese’s alluring vocals keep you hooked on the cool, retro-sounding Music Is My Art. Ashutosh Pathak’s electronic, ambient coating is compelling too, though the music video of the song perhaps indicates that the people in the video are referring to dancing as their art, as against music. And yes, that the song’s hook sounds uncomfortably like Justin Beiber’s Take You is a mild downer.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Aviyal – Aviyal (Tamil – Raghu Dixit)
Raghu Dixit has done Indipop, has composed for Kannada and Hindi films, and has also sung in Telugu more recently. Though he did have a Tamil song (‘Amma’, written by Madhan Karky no less) in his most recent pop album, Jag Changa, he makes his Tamil film composing debut with the title song of Aviyal. It is something that sounds perfect for his own vocal range, but he ropes in the wonderfully dependent Antony Dasan to sing this joyous outburst of a tune, layered with some whimsical vocal effects and nadaswaram. It flows so well, rhythmically.

Drive – Yanni (Album: Sensuous Chill)
The man with the flowing mane, known as much for his concert venues as his unique brand of new-age music is back. But it’s a rather awkward comeback of sorts, given that as many as 7 songs from the new album are reused from some of his earlier albums like Truth of Touch and Voices. The trademark Yanni touch is easily evident in the album’s best, Drive, but that could also be explained by the fact that it is a modernized, ‘busier’ version of his own song, Looking Glass, from the 1986 album, Keys To Imagination.

Kadhal kolluthadi – Ennul Aayiram (Tamil – Gopi Sundar)
Gopi Sundar extends his fantastic form to this relatively unheard film and his music props the films easily. Kadhal kolluthadi is the pick of the soundtrack with an incredible melody that seems to be using the same raaga as Ilayaraja’s iconic Telugu song from Maharshi, ‘Sumam prati sumam’; Gopi handles it in a punchy modern package. He also gets Najim Arshad and Mridula Warrier to deliver it to perfection and even adds his own unique nuances like the way he starts the anupallavi and charanam.

Sogasu sogasu anuraga – Game (Kannada – Ilayaraja)
The Kannada film Game that also has a Tamil version (titled Oru Melliya Kodu) has music by the veteran and this soundtrack is out before the Tamil version could release. The best of the soundtrack is surprisingly also the shortest – Sogasu sogasu anuraga. Raja chooses to sing this himself and it is one trippy affair with incredibly cool rock guitar. The sound is mighty understated with Raja’s languid vocals powering it, along with the fantastic bass.

Nenjorathil – Pichaikkaran (Tamil – Vijay Antony)
Tamil film industry must be the only one with the highest incidence of music composers turning heroes, with composers like GV Prakash Kumar and Vijay Antony assuming dual responsibilities. Vijay always demonstrated a unique sound and tunes, akin to composer Bharadwaj, that usually defies categorization. For his latest film, in which he both stars and composes, he has Supriya Joshi for a spritely melody Nenjorathil, that comes alive with the lively Hindustani-style rhythm.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Puthitha – Thozha (Tamil – Gopi Sundar)
Gopi Sundar finally gets a bilingual *big* film and this is tremendous validation for the body of work he has produced in the last few years, steadily moving from Malayalam, to Tamil, and to Telugu. He seems to have tried a more commercial sound, without moving too away from his signature sound. Puthitha, sung by Karthik, gets the blend perfectly – starts softly, before opening up in an ebullient outbreak of a sound. Gopi loads the song with lovely solo violin pieces and a fantastic chorus hook.

Rehnuma – Rocky Handsome (Hindi – Sunny Bawra and Inder Bawra)
Sunny and Inder Bawra have been popular in the television circuit, and have also been composing background music for select films. Their film debut in Rocky Handsome is a notable effort. Rehnuma, sung by the ever dependable and always exceptional Shreya Ghoshal is the pick of the soundtrack, with its haunting melody and aptly restrained, ambient sound that the composing duo conjure.

Uyire un uyirena – Zero (Tamil – Nivas K Prasanna)
Nivas made a stunning debut in Thegidi, and his sophomore effort, Sethupathy, was a mighty different and patchy work. In Zero, he produces the true follow-up to Thegidi’s melodic high and Uyire exemplifies the soundtrack’s quality more than the other songs. Anirudh gets his diction beautifully right and breathes life into the ballad-style melody – his voice brings a certain vulnerability to the melody that is highly endearing.

Ji huzoori – Ki & Ka (Hindi – Mithoon)
Ki & Ka’s soundtracks comes as a huge disappointment to Ilayaraja fans given the director’s (Balki) prolific work in the past with the maestro, unearthing his cult songs for the larger, pan-Indian audience. While Balki manages to extract a fairly enjoyable mix from his 3 composers, he gets the best from Mithoon, in Ji huzoori. Mithoon sounds, at places, like Adnan Sami, and the tune too reminds one of Adnan’s style of music, as much as it does of Mithoon’s trademark sound he pioneered with Maula mere (Anwar). There are some lovely flourishes in this resonant melody, including a latent ‘Ji haan’!

Chella kutty – Rajinimurugan (Tamil – D.Imman)
The makers of Rajinimurugan have released 3 new bonus, short tracks to the soundtrack and one of them, Chella kutty, is the kind that you wish Imman had developed into a full song. Santosh Hariharan breezes through the lively tune that Imman hands over to him, amidst a profusion of violins and a punchy rhythm. Even with the short runtime, the song is captivating, with Imman’s use of violins being the clear, addictive highlight. Listen to the song on Saavn.

Hindi

Joganiya, Dheere dheere, Maai, Sab dhan maati and Maya thagni – Jai Gangaajal (Salim-Sulaiman)

Aisa kyun maa – Neerja (Vishal Khurana)

Do you wanna dance with me – Rhythm (Suresh Peters)

Rock tha party, Rehnuma and Titliyan – Rocky Handsome (Bombay Rockers, Inder Bawra and Sunny Bawra)

Music is my art, Dhruvtara and Ajj saanu o mileya – Zubaan (Ashu Pathak)

High heels, Pump it, Ji huzoori and Foolishq – Ki & Ka (Meet Bros, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Jaz Dhami, Mithoon and Ilayaraja)

Chull, Buddhu sa mann, Let’s nacho and Bolna – Kapoor & Sons (Amaal Mallik, Benny Dayal, Badshah, Nucleya and Tanishk Bagchi)

Tamil

Kaathaga – Idhu Namma Aalu (T.R.Kuralarasan)

Athuvutta and The Waltzing Whistle – Pokkiri Raja (D.Imman)

Kaatrodu and Title song – Aviyal (Vishal Chandrashekhar and Raghu Dixit)

Uyiril, Kaathu kidantha and Kadhal kolluthadi – Ennul Aayiram (Gopi Sundar)

Uyire un uyirena, Veredhuvum bijame illai, Engae ponai and Indha kaadhal illayel – Zero (Nivas K Prasanna)

Nagaram, Baby odathe, Puthitha, Eiffel mele and Enadhuyire – Thozha (Gopi Sundar)

Nenjorathil – Pichaikkaran (Vijay Antony)

Parava parandhuchu and Bongu kichan – Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum (Santhosh Narayanan)

Ni sa ga ri sa – Darling II (Radhan)
Belongs to the sub-genre of faux-Hindustani, faux-Sufi style music. Radhan handles it well, though Anweshaa going ‘kanna’ instead of ‘kaNNa’ is jarring.

Telugu

Gurranni cheruvu daaka and Rekkalatho chukkalakegira – Speedunnodu (DJ Vasanth)
Gurrani is a playful, entertaining mix that seems to revel its Goan-style tune. Rekkalatho has a really addictive rhythm that keeps it in good stead, besides the violin’ish phrases that keep appearing.

Adagaledani – Tuntari (Sai Karthik)
Fluffy and very rhythmic… for a largely frivolous tune.

Adugu dooke, Pone and Tholi tholi – Meeku Meere Maaku Meeme (Shravan)

Anaganaga, Chitramainadi and Pillo o pillo – Savitri (Shravan)

Itu rava – Padesave (Telugu – Anup Rubens)
Anup ropes in Haricharan for Itu rava, a pleasant, likeable pop melody. The tune is simple enough, but the composer builds the song’s progression very well, leading to a rousing hook at the end of the pallavi. The value of a really good singer like Haricharan comes to the fore when you hear the way he handles the tune, with total confidence.

Kannada

Sogasu sogasu – Game (Ilayaraja)

Kannalle kuntebille – Tyson (Ravi Basrur)

Malayalam

Oonjalilaadi vanna – Action Hero Biju (Jerry Amaldev)
Jerry Amaldev’s return to composing after the hiatus of more than a decade brings a whiff of the old all over again. The entire soundtrack has a dated sound, but one that seems to have been consistently and deliberately maintained. The pick of the album is Oonjalilaadi vanna that Chinmayi completely owns. Jerry’s tune is a throwback to the older style ghazal sound that uses the retro-effect as deliberately as say, Iruvar’s Pookodiyin punnagai.

Ta ta ta tang and Kathangal kinavil – Darvinte Parinamam (Sankar Sharma)

International

Drive – Yanni (Album: Sensuous Chill)
The man with the flowing mane, known as much for his concert venues as his unique brand of new-age music is back. But it’s a rather awkward comeback of sorts, given that as many as 7 songs from the new album are reused from some of his earlier albums like Truth of Touch and Voices. The trademark Yanni touch is easily evident in the album’s best, Drive, but that could also be explained by the fact that it is a modernized, ‘busier’ version of his own song, Looking Glass, from the 1986 album, Keys To Imagination.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Kar gayi chull – Kapoor & Sons (Hindi – Amaal Mallik and Badshah)
There’s a new trend in Bollywood – reuse hit pop songs as film songs! The latest one is Chull, that insanely catchy dance floor stomper from 2014, composed by Badshah, sung by Badshah and Fazilpuria. Amaal Mallik Bollywood’izes the song in an appealing way and add Neha Kakkar and Sukriti Kakar to the mix to up the catchiness quotient. The result is a song that you can loop till your neighbours come banging on your door and plead you to stop.

Bongu kichan – Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum (Tamil – Santhosh Narayanan)
This is the kind of song that Tamil composers dream of Gana Bala to sing. But Santhosh Narayanan has no such dreams – he picks it up himself and rocks it! The tune, that seems like Irudhi Sutru’s (Santhosh’s own) Aye sandakkaaraa went on a date with a Chandrababu song, endears immediately, thanks to Vivek’s wonderfully wacky use of Madras Tamizh. The ear of Naai Sekar is over… sorry, Vadivelu – this is the era of Salpi Sekaru.

Ta ta ta tang – Darvinte Parinamam (Malayalam – Sankar Sharma)
Sankar Sharma, who has sung for Prasant Pillai in films like Amen and Double Barrel, makes his composing debut with Darvinte Parinamam. Ta ta ta tang has a Santhosh Narayanan’ish twang to it and Sankar brings a whimsical appeal to it with his ‘Ta ta ta tang’ utterances and vaudevillian orchestration. Nakul Krishnamoorthi leads the song, with a melody that sounds almost like a religious hymn, albeit with a pensive touch!

Pone – Meeku Meere Maaku Meeme (Telugu – Shravan)
Composer Shravan has been quiet inroads in Telugu and is perhaps in the need of one high-profile project to make his mark in a big way. His work in Meeku Meere Maaku Meeme has the hallmark of dependable and likeable music. Pone, that he handles himself, is the soundtrack’s best, with a easy and instantly head-shaking rhythm and a simple, hummable tune.

Dheere dheere – Jai Gangaajal (Hindi – Salim-Sulaiman)
Prakash Jha’s films are usually filled with incidental, situational music, but Jai Gangaajal is a wonderful exception. Composing duo Salim Sulaiman produce a 11-song soundtrack that bubbles with inventive flourishes. Dheere dheere is one such song that exemplifies what the duo is up to here. It has a very folk’ish, lilting tune, sung really entertainingly by Parvesh Mallick, but what Salim Sulaiman adorn it with is what makes it truly unique – the orchestration is a fantastic mix of violins, sax and accordion, sounds least associated with the folk set-up!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Chillu ranthal – Kali (Malayalam – Gopi Sundar)
Job Kurian seems perfect for the wonderfully calming tune of Chillu ranthal that sounds like a fantastic lounge’y Brazilian musical package headlined by the guitar and drums, with a tinge of jazz. But Gopi goes beyond this serene flow to include a googly – a short Shanmukapriya raaga based piece on violin that sits right in between shehnai phrases that punctuate the 2nd interlude, followed by very-Gopi Sundar’esque strings and an uncredited female humming! It’s these nuances that make Gopi so consistently interesting!

Rayya rayya – Bhadram Be Careful Brotheru (Telugu – J.B)
Jeevan Babu aka J.B has been on and off in the Telugu music scene, having impressed with his music in films like Bus Stop and Ee Rojullo. He surfaces again with the corny titled Bhadram Be Careful Brotheru and does a mighty admirable job! The earworm of the soundtrack is the incredibly rhythmic Rayya rayya that Rahul Sipligunj and Ramya Behara handle beautifully. It is so lilting and catchy that you’d be swaying at least one body part—if not more—to it, by the song’s halfway mark!

Hudugaru yella – Akira (Kannada – Ajaneesh Loknath)
Ajaneesh owned the Kannada music scene in 2014 with a magnificent score for Ulidavaru Kandanthe. He is back with Akira and Hudugaru yella sounds like a delayed companion piece to Ulidavaru Kandanthe’s best song, Gatiya ilidu, before it morphs into something else. Ajaneesh loads so much more in this captivating commercial outing – he adds a foot-tapping kuthu part that brims with sing-along’ish lines like ‘Beda beda swamy’. He also sings the song himself confidently, with all the flamboyance the tune demands.

Shehar mehboob hai ji – Cute Kameena (Hindi – Krsna)
That composer Krsna and lyricist Rajshekhar are a brilliant combo is old news – they have produced magic in both the Tanu Weds Manu films. They produce an encore in Cute Kameena, with the soundtrack’s best song, Yeh shehar mehboob hai ji, being the shining example of the duo’s prowess. Javed Ali sings Rajshekhar’s lines that is an ode to the small town that is Bhopal (non-metro, considering Bhopal is hardly a small town!). The tune is lively, recalling Krsna’s Piya from Tanu Weds Manu, with a touch of qawali.

Ni sa ga ri sa – Darling II (Tamil – Radhan)
Radhan tries a faux-Hindustani style sound in Ni sa ga ri sa—similar to G.V.Prakash Kumar’s Pookkal pookkum, from Madarasapattinam—that also touches shades of a faux-sufi style. While the tune is pleasant and rhythmic, the lead singer Anweshaa would sure need some Tamil diction lessons, given her penchant for pronouncing ‘kaNNa’ as ‘kanna’. Naresh Iyer handles his part perfectly though and Radhan keeps it together with a very-Rahman’ish orchestration.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Chella kutti – Theri (Tamil – G V Prakash Kumar)
Usually, fans expect a VIjay-sung song in all his films and Theri is no different. G V Prakash Kumar hands over the soundtrack’s best to the film’s hero, who along with Neeti Mohan does a very good job, no doubt aided by some snazzy digital corrections by the composer. The song is a frothy, catchy reimagination of MS Viswanathan’s Sippi irukkudhu muthum irukkudhu from Varumayin Niram Sigappu, but set in Goa! It’s an interesting idea and works easily, given the bouncy nature of the song.

Komala henne – Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu (Kannada – Charanraj)
That mouthful of a film name simply means, ‘Wheatish complexion, average build’ (pretty close to Tamil, now that you know the meaning – ‘Godhumai vannam, sadharna udarkattu!’) used to describe Anant Nag who suffers from Alzheimer’s and goes missing. Charanraj’s music is phenomenal all through the soundtrack, and much like his erstwhile band’s (Thaalam, featuring Charanraj, Job Kurian and Yakzon) style of music. Charan even gets his Thaalam buddy Job to sing the soundtrack’s best, Komala henne, a breezy, immersive melody with a highly inventive anupallavi.

Ishq anokha – Ishq Anokha (Indipop – Kailasa)
Ishq Anokha is Kailasa’s 5th album. While the first 3 albums – Kailasa, Jhoomo Re and Chaandan mein – were brilliant, they seemed a bit lost in the 4th, Rangeele. With Ishq Anokha they get their mojo back! The title song is the pick of the album, with Kailash Kher’s dependably earthy vocals leading the way as usual and beautifully takes off as he goes, ‘Le tu nadiya magmaati’. But equally important for the band’s sound is Paresh and Naresh Kamath’s musical imagination – they bring the trademark mod sound to the very-desi tunes making it a fantastic combo.

Adiye unna – Vetrivel (Tamil – D.Imman)
Adiye unna is an Imman special all the way. The nuanced tune is reminiscent of Ilayaraja’s heydays – a bit like of Kadalora Kavithaigal’s Adi aathaadi – while Imman, in his trademark style, layers it with a highly enjoyable profusion of strings and flute. Sathya Prakash and Vandana Srinivasan seem to be thoroughly enjoying the singing part of it. Imman’s work in the interludes too deserves a special mention.

Vaathe Poothe – Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti (Malayalam – Sooraj S Kurup)
Malayalees seem to be tired of getting their stock of adipoli songs from neighboring states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. So they produce the occasional adipoli kuthu like Neram’s Pistah and that Rockaankuthu from Premam where they borrow our Anirudh to sing it. Sooraj pitches in that space with Vaathe poothe that sounds like it could easily be part of a Ajith starrer, introducing Thala in super slow motion! Vidhu Prathap & Sooraj S Kurup are perfectly in sync singing this song with manic energy and the right musical banter between them.

Hindi

Twinkle twinkle, Single chal riya hai, Da di da da, Shehar mehboob hai ji and Rafa dafa – Cute Kameena (Krsna)

Agar tu hota, Cham cham and Let’s Talk About Love – Baaghi (Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros and Manj Musik)

Tamil

Snegidhiyae and Leguvaa – Raja Mandhiri (Justin Prabharakan)

Adiye unna, Onnappola and Athuva ithuva – Vetrivel (D.Imman)

En jeevan, Eena meena teeka and Chella kutti – Theri (G.V.Prakash Kumar)

Telugu

Title song, Rayya rayya and Hello hello na darling – Bhadram Be Careful Brotheru (J.B)

Tauba tauba and Nee chepakallu – Sardaar Gabbar Singh (Devi Sri Prasad)

Chudara – Raja Cheyyi Vesthe (Sai Kartheek)

Telusaa, Athiloka sundari, Private Party and Blockbuster – Sarrainodu (SS Thaman)

Kannada

Hudugaru yella and Kanna sanneyindalene – Akira (Ajaneesh Loknath)

Malgudiya ooralli and Modala notadalle – Jessie (Anoop Seelin)

Naa e sanjege, Komala henne, Katheyodu, Ayomaya, Aley moodathe and Mouna mouna – Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu (Charan Raj)

Title song, Mandhara and Ding ding dong – Jai Maruthi 800 (Arjun Janya)

Gelaya gelaya and Ninthalli nillalaare – Chakravyuha (Thaman S)

Malayalam

Pularkaalam pole, Pooram kaanan, Kannikkul kaalidar, Enno kaathil and Vaathe poothe – Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti (Sooraj S.Kurup)
Listen to the songs on Saavn.

Ee shishirakaalam, Thiruvaavaniraavu, Dubai and Ennilarinju – Jacobinte Swrgarajyam (Shaan Rahman)

Chillu ranthal – Kali (Gopi Sundar)

Nilaa vaanile – Shikhamani (Sudeep Palanad)
That it has Vijay Yesudas and Shwetha Mohan points to a certain kind of duet, and composer Sudeep works on predictable lines. The melody is backed by some staid (albeit likeable) orchestration, but the tune works effortlessly.

Indipop

Title song, O jogi, Meherbani, Berukhiyan, Guru ghantaal and Turia turia – Ishq Anokha (Kailasa)
Listen to the songs on Saavn.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Chudara – Raja Cheyyi Vesthe (Telugu – Sai Kartheek)
Telugu composer Sai Kartheek has quietly completed 50 films, with Raja Cheyyi Vesthe being his 50th soundtrack! He puts together a neat soundtrack for this one, topped by a very obvious Ilayaraja homage in Chudara. You can’t help but smile at the clever, crafty influence of Anjali’s Motta Maadi song here – the rhythm is a mildly spruced up version of the original and the song is sung by a kids chorus! And those catchy horns are present too! They all come together for a nostalgic whiff of Raja’s cult hit, but Sai has a lovely tune in his new version to offer his own take!

Let’s Talk About Love – Baaghi (Hindi – Manj Musik)
Manjeet Singh Ral is the man behind the stage name of Manj Musik who has become some sort of a specialist singles composer in Hindi films. His earlier association with Tiger Shroff resulted in a funky recreation of the Hero whistle theme in Whistle Baja. He pulls of a similar feat in Let’s Talk About Love that is an unabashed ode to R D Burman’s brand of rock and roll, complete with a pulsating electric guitar signature much like Teesri Manzil’s Aaja aaja!

Snegidhiyae – Raja Mandhiri (Tamil – Justin Prabhakaran)
Snegidhiyae’s melody seems like gorgeous Hamsadhwani, though the orchestration is strongly evocative of Ilayaraja’s Nalinakanthi-infused Enthan nenjil, from Kalaignan, particularly the first interlude. Composer Justin approaches the tune in a wonderfully unhurried manner, letting Naresh Iyer accentuate his tune beautifully, alongside the punchy Dheem dheem chorus.

Blockbuster – Sarrainodu (Telugu – SS Thaman)
No other film industry in India does kuthu like Telugu film industry. Tamil and Malayalam films have caught up with the trend but Telugu films have consistently upped the ante. The hallmark of a great kuthu is subconscious sign of approval from the listener in the form of foot movement and head shake. That happens effortlessly in Sarrainodu’s Blockbuster, named aptly after what the song is bound to become very soon. Thaman loads the song with a pulse-pounding rhythm and intentionally delays the arrival of the Blockbuster’ay Blockbuster-ay hook for maximum impact!

Nilaa vaanile – Shikhamani (Malayalam – Sudeep Palanad)
That Nilaa vaanile has Vijay Yesudas and Shwetha Mohan points to a certain quality and kind of duet, and composer Sudeep Palanad indeed works on predictable lines. The melody is backed by some staid (albeit likeable) orchestration that eventually involves a pretty good use of ghatam, but the tune works effortlessly and keeps the song in great stead.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Sairat jhala ji – Sairat (Marathi – Ajay-Atul)
Close your eyes and listen to this song. A familiar Tamil voice will greet you—that is Chinmayi—but you won’t hear Tamil; you’re hearing Marathi. If you are on the wrong side of 30, the first thing you’d shout is, ‘Ilayaraja’! Yes, it sounds a LOT like Raja’s music—the strings, the jaunty rhythm, the symphonic interludes (the 2nd one, led by flute), the folk’ish antara… everything screams Ilayaraja. But this is Ajay-Atul, who have time and again proven with their incredible melodies that they have truly imbibed Raja’s signature sound and have modernized it even better than the Maestro – these Ekalavyas have upped the Guru’s ante!

Aval – Manithan (Tamil – Santhosh Narayanan)
Hindi composer Krsna produced a disappointing soundtrack for Jolly LLB, but, for its Tamil remake, Santhosh Narayanan produces a dependable, likeable package. Aval is the soundtrack’s best. Interestingly, Aval has the same lyrical feel of Jolly LLB’s best song, Ajnabi, of the hero trying to appease his lady love with a sing-song apology. Pradeep Kumar seems incredibly apt for the sweeping melody that shines with Santhosh’s trademark strings and takes off beautifully with the Azhagazhagaa phrase. It gets more gorgeous in the anupallavi, featuring a very assertive sounding Priya Hemesh amidst drums and tabla.

Yedhedho penne – Meendum Oru Kadhal Kathai (Tamil – G.V.Prakash Kumar)
The film’s original in Malayalam—Thattathin Marayathu—had incredible music by Shaan Rahman. Though the Tamil remake is no patch on the original’s soundtrack, G.V.Prakash Kumar’s business-as-usual music too produces some winners. The soundtrack’s best, Yedhedho, sung by Ajesh and Harini is impeccably sweet, layered on an unusual rhythm structure that sounds like dubstep slowed down to a fault!

Raja di Raja – Zoom (Kannada – SS Thaman)
Thaman brings his Telugu bag of tricks in Zoom, after the recent Chakravyuha. He also picks up the most popular one-song-per-film honorary singer of Kannada film industry for Raja di Raja – Puneet Rajkumar. It’s an easy listen – catchy brass-band style sound with a lot of horns and the focus remaining strictly in letting the listeners sing-along the repetitive Zoom hook.

Bawli booch – Laal Rang (Hindi – Mathias Duplessy)
French musician Mathias Duplessy is an anomaly in Indian film industry. He has famously collaborated with Mir Mukhtiyar Ali for films like Peepli Live and Finding Fanny to produce a mix of European-style Indian folk. In Bawli booch he goes a step further – imagine Bob Marley singing in Haryanvi! Add a generous dose of a strings layer that sound very European and an absolutely funky chorus that seems more like chanting after a session of pot and you have a mighty interesting concoction!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Punnagaye – 24 (Tamil – A R Rahman)
Rahman produces a highly listenable and interestingly experimental soundtrack in 24. Punnagaye tops the list, with the interplay between Shashaa Tirupati’s Punnagaye part and Haricharan’s heady Adi aathi (which also ends the song on a high) become the highlight, along with the tune’s free-flowing vibrancy. There is a Kulirudhu Kulirudhu (Taj Mahal) influence in the way Punnagaye opens! Also, interestingly, a line in the song (by Vairamuthu) goes, ‘Hindolam isaikirathey’, indicating raaga Hindolam. The side note here is that while Kulirudhu may seem like Hindolam, it is more of Sindhubhairavi/Bhairavi! And Punnagaye, for large parts, doesn’t seem like Hindolam either!

Dhushta – Iraivi (Tamil – Santhosh Narayanan)
Iraivi is a rare soundtrack from Santhosh, in recent times, that doesn’t seem like something worth a casual listen without the film’s context. In other words, it seems highly and truly situational. Dhushta is the most interesting of the lot, with a sound akin to a Bond title credits song, but with a devious twist, as if sung by really upset and angry women blaming Bond for all ills in the world. The song has a mesmerizing and almost-otherworldly sound accentuated by Meenakshi and Dhee’s intriguing edge in the vocals.

Maths mein dubba gul – Nil Battey Sannata (Hindi – Rohan Vinayak)
Rohan Utpat and Vinayak Salvi are making their debut in films with Nil Battey Sannata (which interestingly is being made in Tamil as well, produced by Dhanush, with music by Ilayaraja—it’d be interesting to see Ilayaraja’s imagination in terms of songs for the same situations!), but one of their tunes was very popular recently – the tune for the ‘Mauka mauka’ ad by Star Sports! Maths mein dubba gul is an incredibly lively ode to hatred for maths, with Nitesh Tiwari’s fantastic folksy lyrics. The music and sound is instantly infectious even for people who were otherwise perfectly decent in mathematics!

Aatach baya ka baavarla – Sairat (Marathi – Ajay-Atul)
Sairat has just four songs, and is one of those soundtracks where your heart aches that it is ‘only’ 4! In Aatach baya ka baavarla, after the opening chorus’ 2 lines, Ajay-Atul load a mighty ebullient short piece that connects wonderfully with Shreya’s joyous ‘Aatach baya ka… baavarla’ hook and flows into equally breezy horns! The duo play around with the interlude too – the first one layered with sitar while the second one is a vocal chorus, and ending the last hook with a different flavor! It is heady, addictive and incredibly uplifting!

Thaai Engal Thamizh Naadey – Single on DooPaaDoo.com (Tamil – Santhosh Narayanan)
The brand new independent music portal DooPaaDoo.com has a host of interesting compositions from top composers including Santhosh Narayanan, amongst songs from newbies. Santhosh’s Thaai Engal Thamizh Naadey, sung by Sean Roldan is the pick of the lot from what is live on the website now, with its wonderfully rousing Coldplay’ish opening, the slow and steady build-up and the scintillating mid-way shift to heady Tamil folk percussion! It’s an excellent mix of western pop and Tamil folk, and is indicative of the possibilities when composers are free from script-driven compulsions to produce original music.
Listen to the song on doopaadoo.com

Originally published in The Hindu.

Bol do na zara – Azhar (Hindi – Amaal Malik)
Bol do na zara is a Emraan Hashmi-branded song. One listen and you’d picture Emraan Hashmi in your mind, with him doing his best with the body part he is most associated with. Amaal Malik’s melody is reminiscent of Gangster’s Tu Hi Mera Shab hai is wonderfully endearing, in Armaan Malik’s affecting vocals. Rashmi Virag’s lyrics are predictably and conventionally soaked in love.

Chellamma – Joker (Tamil – Sean Roldan)
Joker is easily one of the recent soundtracks that pushes Tamil film music’s boundaries significantly. The pick of the soundtrack, by Sean Roldan, is Chellamma, a mighty unique Tamil-Hindi mix, with Perumal pitching in besides Sean’s own Hindi ‘thoofan mein phool ka’ Hindi verses. The tune is stunningly imaginative, moving from authentic native Tamil folk to a soft and soothing melody. Lalitha Sudha is the song’s highlight, with a deeply resonant voice and bringing life every single instance of ‘Chellamma’!

Nee nanagoskara – Ishtakamya (Kannada – Ajaneesh Loknath)
Ajaneesh Loknath is turning out to be a really promising composer in Kannada. Oddly enough, in Nee nanagoskara, his over-enthusiastic vocals is the only thing pulling it down a wee bit. The melody otherwise is impeccably good – very Raja’esque, with the choicest orchestration, Shreya Ghoshal’s vocals are splendid as always! That ‘dum dum dum’ part is a great touch, as is the ‘Nee ihakku parakku’ part that mirrors, interestingly enough, ‘Thonakka benakka vayasu theralni’ from Baahubali’s Manohari!

Mei nigara – 24 (Tamil – A R Rahman)
Mei nigara is that kind of song that music fans would love to rip apart during the first week of the soundtrack’s release as ‘gibberish’ and ‘Rahman has lost it, I tell you’ and then chant it endlessly proclaiming it to be an earworm a week later. The song has a Kaara Aattakkaara (OK Kanmani) flavor, and the intriguing R&B sound works as much for its inventive audacity as it does for Sid Sriram’s impeccable lead vocals and Sanah Moidutty and Jonita Gandhi’s backing vocals.

Aasai kaadhal aaruyire – Wagah (Tamil – D.Imman)
While the makers of Wagah may start featuring ‘Aaniya pudunga venaam’ (yet another Imman song that makes clever use of yet another popular phrase!), the soundtrack’s best happens to be Aasai kaadhal aaruyire. It feels like Alaipayuthey’s Evano Oruvan, but sounds more like Ilayaraja’s Eeramaana Rojave number, Vaa vaa anbe… a possible Shivaranjani, perhaps. Vandana Srinivasan is fantastic singing this sweepingly sad melody that somehow reminds one of Swarnalatha!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Anuvai – KaLam (Tamil – Prakash Nikki)
Composer Prakash Nikki made a decent enough debut in the Jeeva starrer Rowthiram and puts together an equally decent enough package in KaLam. It’s a spritely tune—possibly based on raaga Hamsanadam—wonderfully sung by Abhay Jodhpurkar and Swetha Mohan, with lovely lines by Kabilan Vairamuthu who starts the romantic number by splitting the atom! Prakash layers some really pleasant orchestration all along, with specifically lovely interludes, the first one using flute and the stunning second interlude with a more exotic sound.

Jagannatha Suprabhatam – Chinmayi Sripada and Prashanth Techno (Single on DooPaaDoo.com)
If you have grown up in an Indian household, chances are, you’d have heard, ‘Uthishtothishta Govinda uthishta garudadhwaja’, courtesy MS Subbalakshmi’s iconic Venkatesa Suprabhatam that starts many Indian households even today. There are variants of Suprabhatam, like Ganesha Suprabhatam and Seetharama Suprabhatam. The Jagannatha Suprabhatam, sung by Chinmayi with crystal clear diction, and mixed by Prashanth Techno is a pretty unique experience, given that ‘Govinda uthishta garudadhwaja’ becomes ‘Lokesha uthishta purushothama’, amidst the myriad other variations in the verses, written by Aasukavikitaambi T Govinda Iyengar of Srivilliputhur, in praise of Lord Jagannatha at Thirupullani. The raaga is the same—Sudha Saveri—but the packaging is modern, minimal and ambient… perfect for a morning! (Click on the image to listen to the song on DooPaaDoo.com)

Ola ola kudisayila – Joker (Tamil – Sean Roldan)
Joker’s director, making his debut in Cuckoo, had extracted stunning music from Santhosh Narayanan. Here, for this second film, he ropes in Santhosh’s buddy, Sean Roldan to produce an encore. Ola ola kudisayila is a beautiful companion piece to Cuckoo’s soundtrack – gorgeous strings, incredibly bold mix of raagas and tune shifts, and almost-Raja’ish interludes—particularly the second one!—all come together so well! On top of these, you have Murugavel and Karthika Vaidyanathan’s fabulous vocals to breathe life into the lines that has two lovers look forward to their life together in the most simplistic way, far away from the glamor of modernity or money.

Ko ko kodi – Eedo Rakam Aado Rakam (Telugu – Sai Kartheek)
Telugu films have a rich history of using a rooster, hen and the resultant egg as a not-so-obvious and no-so-creative metaphor for ‘birds and the bees’. It is bawdy, of course, but in the colorful world of Telugu cinema, it is by now an accepted euphemism and goes rather well with foot-tapping Telugu music. Ko ko kodi uses this to the hilt and the resultant musical package is heady and catchy, and brings to mind a chequered lungi and some nifty footwork – trust veteran Rajendra Prasad to don the said lungi and offer the said footwork, along with his younger counterparts.

Akka petha jakkavandi – Maruthu (Tamil – D.Imman)
“Akka petha jakkavandi”… “Mukka dhudda enna neeyum”, goes the song. Now, remember “Enga akka petha mukka dhudde paadaatha vaaya thorandhe”? Yes, the song from Alaigal Oivathillai indeed. Given the similarity in words used (including the mighty quaint ‘mukka dhuddu’ that obviously doesn’t exist anymore, and taking into the consideration the similar rhythm and pause structure, it seems more like Imman, singer Anirudh (who does a fantastic job, with Niranjana Ramanan) and lyricist Yugabharathi were out to create an obvious homage to Raja’s iconic number, like a Vaadi yen kappakezhenge 2.0. And it works – is instantly catchy fun!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Aravalli – Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran (Tamil – C.Sathya)
Composer C.Sathya has been fairly consistent in his above-average output so far in Tamil that his not moving to the tier-1 stars’ films is a surprise. In Aravalli, he has a pretty interesting structure up his sleeve. He opens it with Vaikom Vijaylakshmi’s lovely Tamil folk (‘thandhaane naane’), adds a layer of techno to it and eventually adds another layer of zingy techno-kuthu. It works really well, along with Mahalingam’s background vocals, and is consistently catchy and inventive.

Salamat – Sarbjit (Hindi – Amaal Malik)
For a film based on the monumentally unfortunate life of Sarabjit Singh, who allegedly strayed into Pakistan from his border village in India, who was sentenced to death by Lahore High Court in 1991 and repeatedly postponed death till he was attacked by fellow inmates and died in 2013, it is understandable that the soundtrack is largely incredibly sad. Amidst all that sadness, Amaal Malik’s Salamat stands out for its melancholic lyrics about a couple singing to each other, and Arijit Singh’s heartfelt vocals (though the same cannot be said about Tulsi Kumar’s singing).

Rang de – A Aa (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
Tamil composer Anirudh was supposed to have made his Telugu debut in A Aa for director Trivikram Srinivas, but he has been replaced by Mickey J Meyer, for assorted reasons. This is Trivikram’s first association with Mickey, after working with Koti, Mani Sharma and mostly with Devi Sri Prasad. Rang De is the soundtrack’s highlight, with its buoyant rhythm and frothy tune, sung fabulously by Ramya Behara. Just when you thought the heroine-introduction song is absent in present-day films, Rang de happens!

Rambo – Mudhugauv (Malayalam – Rahul Raj)
If you look past that corny song title, this is a mighty good number! For starters, it has Vijay Yesudas handling a cool 80s pop tune that features some lovely smattering of Ilayaraja’ish phrases. And it also alludes to the funky Charlie’s Angels theme in the interlude! Rahul Raj layers the song with enough and more flamboyance, particularly the superb strings that accompany the song all through.

Sakhiya sakhiya – Guppedantha Prema (Telugu – Navneeth Sundar)
Navneeth Sundar, who made his composing debut with the Malayalam film Buddy, makes his Telugu debut with Guppedantha Prema. He is of course better known for his iPad Carnatic performance. For Sakhiya sakhiya, Navneeth ropes in Vandana Srinivasan who is absolutely brilliant with her rendition of the gorgeous melody. Speaking on the melody, at times, it reminds one of Kandukonden Kandukonden’s Kannamoochi yenada (Nattakurinji) and even Nadodi’s Androru naal idhe nilavil (Desh?)! A mix of raagas perhaps, but a lovely one, for sure!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Keh bhi de – Traffic (Hindi – Mithoon)
Back when Mithoon made his debut with Bas Ek Pal and Anwar in 2006, he was exceptionally promising, with a unique brand of soulful music that has a definite and confident sound. Eventually, he fell into an odd rut of soporific music, but seems to be coming out of that in recent times, with lovely songs like Bhaag Johnny’s Kinna sona and Ki & Ka’s Ji huzoori. He does an encore in Traffic, with Keh bhi de easily taking one back to his early form. There’s no Shilpa Rao this time, but Palak Muchhal is an excellent replacement, along with Benny Dayal, for this ethereal and ambient melody.

Vachindi kada avakasam – Brahmotsavam (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
Yes, Vachindi kada avakasam sounds a lot like AVICII’s Wake Me Up, but one could jot that as the genre’s similarity. It doesn’t help that Mickey uses a similar genre—electronic—to define not just this song, but the entire Brahmotsavam soundtrack! Still, Abhay Jodhpurkar handles the lively and breezy electronic-layered dance tune of Vachindi really well. Mickey pauses the vocals with punchy interludes and easy-on-the-ears catchy sounds.

Myma – Enakku Innoru Per Irukku (Tamil – G.V.Prakash Kumar)
Enakku Innoru Per Irukku is G.V.Prakash Kumar’s full and outright attempt at creating a kuthu soundtrack and he delivers at least as far the sound good, even though not all tunes work in tandem. The soundtrack’s highlight is Myma, a bastard’ized Chandrababu song template that GVP layers superbly with foot-tapping kuthu. What works particularly in its favor is his stylish singing – he sounds different from his usual songs and this effort lifts the song easily to a new level.

Yegiraney yegiraney – Okka Ammayi Thappa (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
Mickey has been hyperactive as far as releases go, with 3 of his soundtracks releasing in the last fortnight! Okka Ammayi Thappa’s Yeginraney is trademark Mickey, incidentally. The tune is an instant earworm with its easy and lovely melody that also extremely catchy. It gains phenomenally from Abhay Jodhpurkar’s fantastic singing, supported by Ramya Behara. The rhythm is simple and the flow is something that one expects from Mickey, making maximum use of repetitive hooks.

Halli sreehalli – Mudhugauv (Malayalam – Rahul Raj)
Barring Mera Naam from Brothers, composers seem to be slotting Chinmayi’s vocals for safe and conventionally pleasant melodies. But Rahul Raj hands over a fairly sensuous and outside-the-ordinary (as far as her repertoire goes) tune in Halli sreehalli. It’s a jolly good tune and Rahul supports her mighty well, particularly for the hook, complete with a funky nadaswaram layer, Chinmayi’s own vocalizations and Harris Jayaraj’ish Oh-ooh-oh interludes!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Oadittaanga – Unnodu Ka (Tamil – C.Sathya)
Imagine the scene of a couple of running away from a village, with hundreds of villagers on their heels, chasing them, usually to catch and skin them alive. Oadittaanga, however, adds a devious twist to that scene. It’s a highly amusing and enjoyable celebration of a couple’s eloping, as if the villagers are relieved that the couple finally decided to elope! C.Sathya’s music is loaded with manic energy, almost like signifying the speed at which the couple eloped!
Listen to Oadittaanga on DooPaaDoo.

Naa gudsi – Jigarthanda (Kannada – Arjun Janya)
Jigarthanda is the Kannada remake of the Tamil film of the same name and Kannada composer Arjun Janya has a completely new set of tunes, very different from Santhosh Narayanan’s stylish Tamil soundtrack. Naa gudsi has a strong whiff of Vidyasagar as far as the tune goes—Villadhi Villain’s Madisaaru kattindu (Bombai Maami), to be specific—but that rhythm is so very Ilayaraja! Anuradha Bhat leads the song with her sweet, teasing rendition, ably supported by Vyasaraj.

Ud-daa Punjab – Udta Punjab (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)
Udta Punjab has electric music by Amit Trivedi, who seems bent on diverting our attention from the Yo Yo Honey Singh brand of Punjabi music. The soundtrack’s best, Ud-daa Punjab, written by Varun Grover (“Rifle dikha ke mushairey luttiye; Oopar se kudd ke aj tuttiye; Kaali si botal mein rangeen bhar ke khaab… Ud-dda Punjab!”), does that very well, oozing relentless bravado, set to an insanely addictive and funky tune.

Challa – Suno (Indipop – Shilpa Rao)
Shilpa Rao has a unique enough voice that stands out and her repertoire with composers like Mithoon has produced many a gems. Her first independent album is, as she calls it, her ‘love for the legends’, an impressive reimagination of iconic songs like Mast kalandar, Ankhiyan udeek diya and Akhiyan nu rehn de. The album’s best is a new song penned by Shellee, though. The captivating tune sounds almost like an Avial song! Sharat Chandra Srivastava pulls off a Stéphane Grappelli-style (Conversations, with L.Subramaniam) violin, while Bhanu Mendiratta’s guitar too adds a fantastic layer. But it is Shilpa’s ethereal vocals that tops it all!
Listen to Challa on Saavn.

Kaav kaav – Okka Ammayi Thappa (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
Mickey J Meyer who produced a decidedly electronic soundtrack for Brahmotsavam, uses a similar template for Kaav kaav here. The song is a sure-shot foot-stomper that lives up to its promise of painting the town red, with a bouncy rhythm that incorporates desi elements brilliantly. Abhay Jodhpurkar opens the song perfectly, and Haricharan joins him in the catchy anupallavi, while both land the hook with absolute ease and let the feet do the talking!

Hindi

Qatl-e-aam, Behooda, Paani ka raasta and Raghav theme – Raman Raghav 2.0 (Ram Sampath)
Listen to the songs on Saavn.

Salamat, Nindiya and Dard – Sarbjit (Amaal Malik, Shashi-Shivam and Jeet Ganguli)

Keh bhi de and Neki ki raah – Traffic (Mithoon)

Chitta ve, Da da dasse, Ikk kudi and Ud-daa Punjab – Udta Punjab (Amit Trivedi)

Tu hai toh main hoon and Zara zara – Waiting (Mikey McCleary)

Jeene se bhi, Mehandi and Dum-a-dum – Dhanak (Tapas Relia)

Pyar ki – Housefull 3 (Toshi and Sharib Sabri)

Baby ko bass pasand hai, Tuk tuk, Jag ghoomeya, Sachi muchi and Bulleya – Sultan (Vishal-Shekhar)

Haq hai, Rootha, Grahan and Kyun re – TE3N (Clinton Cerejo)

Ishqe di lat – Junooniyat (Ankit Tiwari)

Kuch to hai and Jeena marna – Do Lafzon Ki Kahani (Amaal Malik and Babli Haque)

Tamil

Aaravalli, Kutheetti and Ayyo paavam – Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran (C.Sathya)

Myma – Enakku Innoru Per Irukku (G V Prakash Kumar)

Oothe, Oadittaanga, Kirukka and Raatinam suthudhu – Unnodu Ka (C.Sathya)
Listen to the songs on DooPaaDoo: Oothe | Oadittaanga | Kirukka | Raatinam suthudhu

Athe nila – Meenkuzhambum Manpaanayum (D.Imman)

Telugu

Ya yaa, Rang de and Yellipoke Shyamala – A Aa (Mickey J Meyer)

Sakhiya – Guppedantha Prema (Navneeth Sundar)

Vacchindi kada avakasam, Title song, Madhuram madhuram and Naidorintikada – Brahmotsavam (Mickey J Meyer)

Kaav kaav and Yegirenay – Okka Ammayi Thappa (Mickey J Meyer)

Chali chali and Gusa gusa lade – Gentleman (Mani Sharma)

Kannada

Kai ethi thaddhandre and Naa gudsi – Jigarthanda (Arjun Janya)

Malayalam

Halli sreehalli and Rambo – Mudhugauv (Rahul Raj)

Para para and Kaathirunna pakshi njan – Kammatipaadam (John P.Varkey and K)

The Sambar song – Sambar (Sunny Vishwanath)

Indipop

Ankhiyan udeek diya, Aj latho naio, Akhiyan nu rehn de, Aaye na balam and Challa – Suno (Shilpa Rao)
Listen to the songs on Saavn.

Visweswara – Santhosh Chandran Indo Flamenco
Sijo K George’s pristine rendition is a delight to listen to (despite the Malayalee accent). And the flamenco backdrop is a great touch to the Sindhu Bhairavi raaga based Swathi Thirunal composition!

Originally published in The Hindu.

Athe nila – Meenkuzhambum Manpaanayum (Tamil – D.Imman)
Imman has already—and adequately—demonstrated a flair for reimagining Ilayaraja’s melodies. In Meenkuzhambum Manpaanayum’s Athe nila, he goes further back in time, and offers a wonderful, modern reimagination of the quintessential western 60s Tamil film song… like a new-age ‘Vannakili sonna mozhi‘ (Dheiva Thaai, Viswanathan Ramamurthy). You can almost picture MGR or Sivaji Ganesan, in tight-fitting trousers no less, chasing a Saroja Devi down AVM Studios’ painted park featuring a fountain and a few doves as Sathyaprakash, Shashaa Tirupati and Elfe Choir deliver the lovely tune so well!

Para para – Kammatipaadam (Malayalam – John P.Varkey)
Para para is a mighty interesting mix by John. He starts it off in an ominously serene folk prelude that sounds almost like a hymn. And then, mid-way, he shifts gears to the mesmerizing para para hook. That hook morphs into a pulsating passage, like a new-age version of the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram, Aigiri Nandini! It’s aptly haunting and very cleverly composed.

Pyar ki – Housefull 3 (Hindi – Toshi and Sharib Sabri)
It’s a matter of pride for Tamilians that the Hindi film series that goes under the name Housefull (1, 2 and now 3) started with remaking the Kamal Haasan starrer Kaadhala Kaadhala. Or, not a matter of pride, after all, given the mayhem that passes in the name of humor in the bloated Hindi remake. But, that mad mayhem adequately props Pyar ki too (which goes, Pyar Ki Maa Ki, incidentally), an absolutely brainless, but harmlessly and easily catchy dance track with all predictable tropes like a repetitive hook and use of ‘Baba Blacksheep, have you any wool?’.

Dum-a-dum – Dhanak (Hindi – Tapas Relia)
It’s a charming situation – Chet Dixon, that Hollywood actor who lists Bollywood Calling and Om Jai Jagdish in his repertoire, tries to get a little Rajasthani boy to sing, ‘All I’m saying… let’s give love a chance’. The boy, with Devu Khan Manganiyar’s voice, tries, but couldn’t get it. Instead, he confidently goes, ‘Char charag tere balan hamesha…’ and moves beautifully on to the iconic Sindhi song Mast kalandar. Tapas Relia’s fusion Mast kalandar is a fantastic listen, with its hippie-Sindhi mix!

The Sambar Song – Sambar (Malayalam – Sunny Viswanath)
A recent Mohanlal starrer was called Rasam. There’s an alternative rock band from Kerala called Avial. Now, we have this film titled Sambar! The title song is a visit to the kitchen, with the lyrics literally listing the ingredients of a fully-loaded sambar, featuring tomato, drumstick, ladies finger, cucumber, onion and dal. It’s all cooked with Sunny Viswanath’s catchy techno sound, with the musical equivalent of a ready-made masala powder – digital vocal enhancement!

The last time I did this list, it was in 2014 (and in 2008, before that). It’s time there’s another list like this. Except Hindi film music, where multi-composer albums are almost the norm these days, the other 4 major film producing languages that I track consistently (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada) are, thankfully, sticking with single-composer soundtracks. From my 2014 list, Ghibran, Santhosh Narayanan, Shaan Rahman and Anupam Roy (Hindi debut with Piku) have already made it to the mainstream!

The following list is titled ‘most promising composers’, but it simply is—as always—most promising, in my opinion. That is, the composers, whose work I look forward to the most (besides the A-listers, of course).

Hindi

Hindi’s A-listers are easy to name – Pritam, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, A.R.Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Amit Trivedi, Vishal Bhardwaj and Sachin Jigar. There are a whole lot of T-series led composers who have become as prolific as T-series is – Jeet Ganguli, Ankit Tiwari, Amaal Malik, Meet Bros, Manj Musik, Toshi-Sharib etc. who produce music like it comes out a machine (the T-series movie machine, with many of them sung by Tulsi Kumar).

The Next 5 in Hindi:

01. Ram Sampath
The most promising of the lot, right up to his latest work for Anurag Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0 (and the mighty fresh Bangistan, last year). He’s, in my view, the most inventive and progressive, in trying newer sounds and genres.

02. Krsna
Krsna was so, so good in the Tanu Weds Manu series, but even outside that, in little-known, did-it-release-or-not films like Cute Kameena, he does well (though Issaq, Tamanchey and Jolly LLB were more misses than hits). But, for Tanu Weds Manu alone, I have hope!

03. Mithoon
Mithoon was in my 2008 list too. And he has made some moves that are worth keeping him here, though A-list eludes him severely. He produces the occasional one-great-song in some of the albums he’s in—Keh bhi de (Traffic), Ji huzoori (Ki & Ka), Sanam re (Sanam Re), Kinna sona (Bhaag Johnny)—that I’m willing to overlook his other not-so-interesting and hugely templatized songs in some of his other recent films.

04. Clinton Cerejo
Clinton Cerejo is more known for his Coke Studio work than film music, but he made his debut only recently, with Jugni. He followed it up with an equally great soundtrack in TE3N. Plus, he did Ananthaal, with Bianca Gomes and Vijay Prakash. Here’s expecting tons from Clinton!

05. Sonu Nigam and Bickram Ghosh
The duo, an odd one, at that, had 2 films (Sooper se Ooper – bad; Jal – decent enough), but their pop album The Music Room is reason for them to be here in this list!

Other worth a mention include Raghu Dixit, Ajay-Atul (who are way beyond the ‘promising’ tag if you consider their Marathi output alone, and also, after Sairat, in particular), Gulraj Singh (who showed tremendous promise with Ganaraj Adhiraj and Tutiya Dil, and much later, with a song in Ungli and a pop compilation from Max Life Insurance’s talent show, Shukriya & Malanga), Mikey McCleary, Anupam Roy, Sneha Khanwalkar and Shantanu Moitra.

Tamil

The Tamil A-listers are fairly well known and well demarcated, regardless of some of their last few works not going places. The list includes, Ilayaraja, A.R.Rahman, D.Imman, Anirudh, G.V.Prakash Kumar, Sean Roldan, Santhosh Narayanan, Harris Jayaraj, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Ghibran. Others like Vijay Antony, Bharadwaj are in the periphery or find acting more useful than composing.

The Next 5 in Tamil:

01. Justin Prabhakaran
5 soundtracks old Justin tops my list, particularly after that show-stopping music in Oru Naal Koothu (that is releasing only now!). In that 5, he even managed to go to Kerala and produce a Kunjiramayanam there! An a-list star’s film still evades him, but he manages great music in relatively low-key films like Raja Mandhiri.

02. C.Sathya
Severely under-rated, and continues to produce good music even in films that seem fairly low-key. That’s a very sad combination. I’ve rarely seen him in public or read his interviews.

03. Leon James
Just 2 films old! Son of veteran music arranger of A R Rahman, Noel James (a familiar name in the era of early Rahman, when many Pyramid cassettes named him in the credits!). Vaaya veera from Kanchana and the entire soundtrack of Ko 2 has me looking forward to his output with anticipation.

04. K
One of the most unconventional composers in Tamil films today. K’s music refuses to stick to any formula or template and he manages to head to Malayalam with the occasional Annayum Rasoolum too, and a song in Kammatipaadam! He also has the knack producing mega duds like Onbadhula Guru and 49-0 (did it for friends?).

05. Nivas K Prasanna
3 films old, and a dud even in that (Sethupathi). But Thegidi is reason enough, and Zero is a close 2nd. Here’s hoping he gets bigger, better films (he did, once, with Sethupathi – ok, will stop lamenting about it now!).

Other composers worth noting, in this connection: Gopi Sundar (though I find his Malayalam and Telugu output considerably better), Hiphop Tamizha, Navin, Vivek-Mervin, Achu Rajamani, Dharan Kumar, Ramesh Vinayagam, Sam C.S, Arrol Corelli and Ved Shankar Sugavanam.

Telugu

The Telugu A-listers list is rather short, with only Mickey J Meyer who made his entry into it recently. This would be M.M.Keeravani, Devi Sri Prasad, Thaman S and Mickey J Meyer. Past A-lister Mani Sharma seems to have lost favor, only occasionally resurfacing in films like Gentleman and Lion.

The Next 5 in Telugu:

01. Gopi Sundar
Along with his prolific output in Malayalam, Gopi has made a solid claim in Telugu, with fantastic music in films like Seethamma Andalu Ramayya Sitralu, Bhale Bhale Magadivoy and Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju. Oopiri, his first ‘big’ film in Telugu (and in Tamil) was bloated, but decent enough.

02. Sunny M.R.
Sunny, erstwhile arranger to Pritam, somehow landed in Telugu-land and has already done 6 films (he was in my 2014 list too, as Sunny Samour!)! Swamy Ra Ra, his debut, was noteworthy, and even besides the dud in his first ‘big’ film (Dohchay, starring Naga Chaitanya no less), his music has a uniquely different stamp!

03. Kalyan Koduri
Kalyan may be the composer with most names, much like his brother M.M.Keeravani, who goes by the name Maragadhamani in Tamil and M.M.Kreen in Hindi. Kalyani Koduri, Kalyan Koduri and Kalyani Malik are some of his names in Telugu itself! From 2003’s Aithe, his music has a definite twang to it that is different from his brother’s music and other composers too.

04. Anup Rubens
Amongst the 5 composers here, Anup has had the most films starring a-list stars (Manam, Soggade Chinni Nayana) and directors (Puri Jagannadh, Heart Attack), but he, for some reason, still hasn’t become that sought-after a composer. His output is consistently good, though a lot templatized.

05. Shravan
Shravan is the most low-key composer I’ve witnessed in recent times in Telugu. He had 2 releases this year and both had decent music (Savithri and Meeku Meere Maaku Meeme). He has, in the past too, showcased a good range of sounds that make him deserve the 5th spot here.

Others who missed this list by a whisker include J.B., Achu Rajamani, Bheems Ceciroleo, Sagar Mahati (Mani Sharma’s son) and Manikanth Kadri. A special note to Tamil composers who have done well in Telugu, albeit producing only one album – V.Pradeep Kumar (a knock-out composing debut in Maine Pyar Kiya) and Santhosh Narayanan (fantastic music in Billa Ranga), and Ghibran, who has been fairly consistent even in Telugu, with films like Run Raja Run and Jil (and his new film, Venkatesh starrer Babu Bangaram is just round the corner).

Malayalam

Malayalam film music is the most progressive, in the sense that they seem to have given up on the standard 5-songs per film norm long back. They thankfully stick to single-composer albums, but the money seems pretty bad, if you go by what Gopi Sundar has jovially noted in an interview during Oopiri’s promotion. Still, the A-listers are very visible – Gopi Sundar, Shaan Rahman, Rahul Raj, Bijibal, Prashant Pillai, Deepak Dev, Vidyasagar and Sharreth.

The Next 5 in Malayalam:

01. Roby Abraham
Roby had 2 releases back in 2012 (Friday and Theevram; the former was very good, while the latter was passable). He even had Rasputin, in 2013, with relatively middling music (barring Parayathey). His show-stopper was last year’s You Too Brutus. He also has an impressive range with his band (featuring Madonna Sebastian among others) Everafter, plus his compositions in Kappa TV’s Music Mojo.

02. Job Kurien
Between his debut (Thalam, with Yakzan Gary Pereira and Charan Raj) and his only film, Rasam (Mohanlal starrer no less), Job has composed less and sung a lot more. But whatever he has had a hand in composing, they have been fantastic, including Rasam’s Maayamo! Here’s hoping he gets to compose more!

03. Govind Menon
Thaikkudam Bridge’s Govind Menon has definitely branched out well in film music, with impressive work in films like 100 Days of Love, North 24 Kaatham. He was supposed to debut in Tamil with Jayaram’s son Kalidas’ Tamil debut (Oru Pakka Kadhai), but for some reason, Kalidas’ 2nd film, Meenkuzhambbum Manpaanayum (with music by hit-machine Imman) came first.

04. Neha S. Nair & Yakzan Gary Pereira
Between them, as a duo, they have just one soundtrack—Iyobinte Pusthakam—but, adding that to Yakzan’s earlier effort (Thaalam, along with Job Kurien and Charan Raj), I feel a lot more confident about this duo, if they decide to produce more music together.

05. Sooraj S. Kurup
I’m going out on a limb in naming Sooraj as the 5th in this list, with just one album out (Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti). And that’s largely because of the majestic Karaharapriya-infused Pularkaalam pole! Here’s hoping the man lives up to the high standards I expect from him!

Others worth noting here include Rahul Subramanian, Viswajith, Rex Vijayan and the Ramesh Vinayagam os Malayalam, Stephen Devassy.

Kannada

Kannada’s A-listers list is rather short. It was just V.Harikrishna earlier, but now it includes Arjun Janya.

The Next 4 in Kannada:

01. Ajaneesh Loknath
The most promising among the new lot. An explosive debut in Ulidavaru Kandante and then more recently, Akira and Ishtakamya. I see phenomenal growth for Ajaneesh in Kannada.

02. Charan Raj
The 3rd person in this list connected to the Malayalam pop album Thaalam! After Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu, he sure deserves a place in this list!

03. Manikanth Kadri
Manikanth, much like Prashant Pillai, Gopi Sundar and Raghu Dixit has been moving between languages (Kannada, Telugu and Tamil), but his major works have been in Kannada, right up the newly released Run Antony. His consistency is such that it makes it worth following what he does next!

04. Vijay Prakash
I had singer Vijay Prakash in this list the last time (2014) for just one film (Andar Bahar). He hasn’t composed anything since then for films, though he was part of a pop album (Ananthaal) along with Bianca Gomes and Clinton Cerejo. So, here’s hoping the man composes too, besides singing so well, so often.

Others like the fairly prolific Anoop Seelin and now-missing Joshua Sridhar complete the list. I heard that Jassie Gift has recently completed 25 films – not sure if it is his multi-lingual output or 25 just in Kannada, given how often he composes (only) in Kannada.

Originally published in The Hindu.

Pona usuru – Thodari (Tamil – D.Imman)
Prabhu Solomon, who resuscitated Imman’s career with Mynaa, is back with another film, with his favorite composer in tow. In many ways, the crux of Solomon’s films, a sweeping love story with a hapless couple in the middle has paved way for his composer’s template too, one from which Imman has built forward his career rather well. Thodari is full of the kind of music expected out of the duo, with immersive tunes—sometimes evoking Ilayaraja—mounted ambitiously, again, evoking Raja’s love for grand orchestration. Pona usuru, with its Charukesi underpinnings, is the pick of the soundtrack, that showcases this style the best.

Qatl-e-aam – Raman Raghav 2.0 (Hindi – Ram Sampath)
Raman Raghav 2.0 is composer Ram Sampath’s first entry into the Anurag Kashyap camp and he grabs the opportunity to deliver a whopper! Qatl-e-aam, in its Unplugged version, has a phenomenally beautiful ghazal-style melody at its core and Sona Mohapatra delivers it incredibly well. In its other techno version, Ram pushes the envelope mindbogglingly ahead, with an unsettling and enormously interesting hard trance Qatl-e-aam hook delivered by Yash Divecha’s processed voice (who also handles the occasional vocalized taal very well!) amidst grating electronica! The contrast between the melody and the hook, in this version, is a boldly imaginative move by Ram.

Baby ko bass pasand hai – Sultan (Hindi – Vishal-Shekhar)
Baby ko is a clever concoction by both the composing duo, and the lyricist, Irshad Kamil. Kamil writes, ‘Mujhko uska face pasand hai… Baby ko bass pasand hai’, invoking a second, implied meaning to go with the previous line! As if to remove any doubt, Salman Khan’s signature dance move involves the body part subtly alluded to aptly. As a tune, it is heady and wonderfully catchy, complete with a rap portion by Badshah, the new Yo Yo Honey Singh replacement in Bollywood.

Rootha – TE3N (Hindi – Clinton Cerejo)
Clinton Cerejo, who made a memorable musical debut in Jugni, returns with even better music in TE3N. In Rootha, the soundtrack’s best, he mixes vibrant Bengali folk percussion to a rousing tune, sung really well by Benny Dayal and Divya Kumar. To top it all, Bianca Gomes makes a grand entry amidst wailing shankh, stylishly rendering the much-loved traditional Bengali boat song, Sujan Majhi Re – you wish Clinton had also made a stand-alone remix of the much-loved song given how good it sounds!

Visweswara – Santhosh Chandran Indo Flamenco (Kappa TV, Music Mojo)
Visweswara, one of Swathi Thirunaal’s best known Hindustani compositions is an interesting study, from a man who has supposedly only travelled from Padmanabhapuram to Aalappuzha, but the song being about Kasi Visweswar! Santhosh Chandran’s Indo Flamenco variant of the iconic composition comes wonderfully alive in Sijo K George’s phenomenal vocals. The modern take retains the Sindhu Bhairavi raaga and at times improvises brilliantly, with fantastic support from Anand on flute and Santhosh himself in flamenco guitar.