This is a much awaited album in Kerala. Several things distinguish this project from others. First, the movie is about the struggles of a debutant director. Hence, it is a movie about movies. Second, it is a much-awaited association of the Mohanlal-Sreenivasan pairup which has produced classics in the past.
Well, How about the music? The same above-mentioned reasons could be an imposing challenge on any MD. Deepak Dev, a really young was chosen for this job. I would say that it was not a wise decision. Not because I have doubts about his talent, but simply because of the lack of experience. For some subjects, experience is a necessary pre-req.
An MD who would have shined, if given such an opportunity would be Ouseppachan, who has more than 20 years of experience & still stays current in his techniques. DD does a decent job if you have popularity as a criterion, otherwise, I would say, his performance is disappointing.
DD was working as a programmer with ARR & was an assitant to Vidyasagar, specializing in programming. He struck gold with his debut album, Chronic Bachelor, along with another debutante’s album Vellithira (Alphons) in 2003. I noticed his music when I heard CB. But his second album revealed some note-for note similarities with some western albums & hence I was cautious while expecting this one. Lets go track by track.
Parayaathe KJY, KSC, Karthic
An ordinary song, with simple tune, with simple music and a few e-sounds. The best thing about the song is KJY’s & Chitra’s soulful singing. The star instrument of this song is the guitar. The song seems to be loosely inspired from the number Ennuyir Thozhiyae (ARR).
The core tune is ok, but there is a small flaw in orchestration. There are pockets of silence. This is consistent with DD’s earlier albums. A small suggestion will be to use bass-G sounds more, so that it fills up those spaces without really standing out.
A good example is ’’Enthen Nenjil’’ (Kalaignan, IR). The first interlude is a guitar piece (I am guessing, not sure). An empty space follows that piece and also when KJY & KSC sings the charanam. That?s where the song sounds more like light music.
Please see the comments section for a detailed analysis on the rhythms. Towards the end of the song, DD uses the same strings to elaborate the emotion. Remember, the lines, ?Parayaathe Ariyaathe Nee Poyathalle; Maruvaakku Mindaanjathalle?? is a half-question posed by one lover to another, as to why s/he left without saying a word or responding to his/her question.
That emotion is elaborated when KJY sings those lines in the end. In my view, DD should have done that all through. It would have made the song more theatrical & emotional.
Penne En Penne
Afsal, Shalini
A fast number, again mediocre in all aspects. Though the song has a lot of avenues for somplex rhythm programming, DD’s music is light, with even the e-guitar sounds seeming ’’fake’’. I am not even sure whether any instruments (other than the spanish guitar) were actually there.
The rhythm is similar to middle-eastern patterns, but the guitar interludes give the song pieces a spanish touch. Again more richness could have been added when Rimmi sings ’’Kithaalam Thattathe...’’ like splintered e-sounds or short spurts of violins.
The anupallavi seemed like a tune layered on top of programmed rhythmic patterns. It seems like a very lightly composed tune. To hear a more rich version of the first interlude, please hear to Harris Jayaraj’s ’’Aariya Uthadugal’’ (Chellame). Here, It seemed like composing several beats, then fitting a tune on it...which is ok, but takes the ’’malayali’’ feeling away. An example of such kind of music style is Sirpy’s music (Azhagiya Laila, Ullathe Allitha).
But full marks for Afsal and Shalini Singh for their effortless, energetic and error-free singing, both with the chorus and alone. DD also deserves credit for selecting them. The best part of the song is the second musical interlude. DD flexes his muscle & shows off his programming skills. The interlude has two sections. The first is an obsessive Ac. Guitar piece. Then the interlude takes on the rhythm which will probably make u sway. (Pls see comments for details).
Karale Karinte
Vineeth S. & RT
The song is tuned in an oldie-style...perhaps in the 60s and 70s? Like the songs ’’Oru Madhurakkinavin’’, Nee Madhupakaroo etc. Sreenivasan’s son and Rimmi has sung the duet. Again, full marks for their singing.
The tunes are familiar, but its ok. The first interlude has some good traditional jazz drums. The charanam is structured with Tabla, again, there is no sign of background orchestra. Sometimes you feel the above-mentioned pockets of silence. When the singers sing the Pallavi again, after the first charanam, there is an unnecessary digital modification of his sound, which again does not fit well with the overall mood & the era of the song.
A few suggestions for DD would be to keep in mind the ’’era’’ of the song. If the song was to resemble a particular period, strictly follow that rule. An impeccable attempt at this is ARR’s ’’Aayirathil Naan...’’ (Iruvar). It is also refreshing to note that new singing talents are always abounding in Kerala. I wish both these singers good luck for their future!!
Udayanaanu Thaaram
Theme
The starting guitar piece is similar to ’’Escape’’ (Enrique Iglesias). Another song somewhere in the picture is ’’Fanaa’’ by ARR. But I should admit the core song-tunes don?t resemble Enrique’s song. The choruses and the other vocals have been modified digitally. It is not as disturbing as the style DD used previously. The rhythm is good, but again could have done some more smoothing out, and possible layering to prevent corners from sticking out.
Towards the end, DD does a good job mixing up and spicing up the percussion. It is short lived, and youngsters could cry for more. Again, a word of advice (if DD ever reads this review), that he should have continued to use such creativity in his other songs. He should break loose more, just allow himself to be dramatic, & non-conventional. The reason I am saying this, is that I can see his instincts to go full out in this short piece that he has done. (Pls see comments). Just Blast Away DD!!
DD has allowed himself to be different from his monotonous style used both in CB and Symph. Those two albums had almost identical music. But this one is slightly different. My pick is Parayathe. DD has good skills as a programmer. But he should pay more attention to the core tune. My view is that the actual vocal tune is the first and the most important part of a song. For example, the song, ’’Arikil, Nee Undaayirunnenkil’’ (Devarajan, Neeyethra Dhanya) has one mind-blowing core tune. That tune is central, and all other things, are ’’bells and whistles’’ or ornaments. The life of the song holds dearly to that core-tune.
In UT, DD has a lot of electronic ’’Bells & Whistles’’, but weak core vocals. Another recent example is ’’Ithile Nee’’. Though the song has bells and whistles, you can play the song or sing it without a single e-sound. At the same time Ithile nee becomes even better with the Jazz-e-sounds. Hence, DD’s music can become radically better with a greater focus on the central tune, and then a secondary focus on the other things.... Second, He is young and definitely has good talent, and I am looking forward to his improvement in the future...