Endhiran Music review

Well thats my first music review of an album. And what better than the most happening movie of this year Endhiran - The Robot !

Well the music launch as usual was less than 1% dedicated to music, which is expected. Now some people asked me of whether directors were less interested in emulating Gautam's style of VTV audio launch .... Well my only answer to them was, its more a producers event. The music launch nowadays is held generally a month before the movie release so that the hysteria surrounding the movie peaks during the release. And lets not forget, VTV is a different case in the sense, Gautam needs ARR more than the other way around. Truly, ARR is the biggest star of the movie closely probably followed by Trisha. So to centre an event around ARR actually was a good way to promote the film. With that perspective, Endhiran is too big a star cast to center an event over ARR. Infact theres a whole political motive behind the SUN pictures producing this movie. As to what we all think is a patch up between the SUN group and the Kalaignar Group is more of a cold war playing politics for now to oust any third party gains. It is more than evident that Dayanidhi Maran and Kalanidhi Maran want to establish an empire as strong as that of Karunanidhi ... now thats not easy considering he has a Mu Ka "... " everywhere in the state ... including my latest realisation Mu Ka Muthu in Coimbatore ! The event was anything but a Rajni and Maran label. So much so that even Shankar who generally does well in proudly stating his crew and himself couldnt beat the mass appeal that Rajni or the producer had. Well all this explanation only to concur with the fact that probably thats all he deserved !

One has to probably blame rahman that for the 10 crore that he has been allegedly paid, the album doesnt sound that sumptuous. The album consists of 3 songs that will probably occur full fledged in the movie and three others that may be used in part or as BGMs. I shall go from the worst to the best since that builds up well to a end on a positive note!

Boom Boom - Yogi B - Well least said about this composition, the best. 4 minutes of unclassified music very unlike a Rahman one (which is now becoming his style!). There are few patterns here are there which are pretty nice usages but its like ... see this is supposedly tough and so its good .... technical scrutinising to argue in facour of Rahman has become a disease now ... although people probably dont realise that just patterns dont make a good composition or any art for that matter! The technical aspects are just good for a scientific analysis .... music has nothing generally to do with it .... rather to rephrase it ..... the complexity of any part of a song has absolutely nothing to do with how good / bad/ normal / abnormal it sounds ....... But this is more of escapism .... in the sense .... a musical concert is the best analogue of the situation i can think of .... There is a very revered and experienced singer who sits in the dias .... he is so very knowledgeable that people are in complete awe at his prudence .... now the question is .... whether the singer will try to work towards audience's sentiments and sing rough and tough patterns that although may not be very pleasing to hear .... are technically sound ... or he will balance the concert with skill but pay attention to whether audience really are moved by his performance ? With live performances its really tough becos each day is different. With movies, music albums thats an advantage ... u can comment .... add flavour and listen and re-listen and watch and re-watch to understand the nuances ... this is not possible for eg. in a stage play. Which is why live performances demand that audience understand and enjoy what u do otherwise it is equivalent to shit. Well typically this shud be the aim irrespective of the form of art. I dont expect someone to click with every creation of his .... but if someone is going to claim a mediocre presentation as creative and say that art appreciation is basically te viewer's own discretion .... i am sorry .... this cannot be an excuse to escape.

Puthiya Manidha - SPB - Techno stuff .... typical of ARR and typically what i wud hav expected for an intro song with a robot's description. I wud have rated it average but for the interludes in second charanam. Somehow i am very uncomfortable of this commonplace usage of two melakartha and janyams of theirs - Natabhairavi & Kharaharapriya and occasionally even Shankarabharanam. Guys please, western music style is too different in many aspects. The variety they hav is very different from the variety we use. Predominantly many of their compositions are in these two janyas. But in our musical style we have too much of a variety. I earlier was of the thought that only Yuvan had this habit of re-using to the nth limit tunes from the same janya - the whole album of Manmadhan, and many of his most loved songs. The next to join this party was Harris Jeyaraj (HJ) ... i dont feel like commenting on him .... so of the last 4 years ... pick up any of his hit songs ... and mostly it will be in either of these two janyas. Now ARR in the past three years follows suit ! - Dil gira Dafatan, Masakali, Balleilaka, Athiradee, Aaromale, usure poguthe, kaatu sirikki, naan varuven .... and now .... Puthiya manidha, Arima Arima !! Well , having tried my hands on some similar things .... let me help u guys with this ..... these are some of the easiest melakarthas and janyas to score songs on ..... name some of the most famous cine songs and they will be in this .... but typically from the big guys u expect something novel in the usage of these ragas. Ilayaraja fumbled in this place .... re-using lots of his tunes .... novelty shrudded in basic tunes in the late 80s. He fell prey to the same idea of complicating songs becos people admire complications .... well many of his songs in the post 80s were not really great to listen although technically they were high end! Rahmanji is now followiing this safe route ... .a couple of songs in almost every movie from this janya which is not really novel .... Usure poguthe though a nice tune is not sounding different .... Enge enathu kavidhai was ... even though its a completely digested sindhu bhairavi. Aaromale was actually a good song to bring in Bhagyashree ... but common the plaintive idea was similar to Dil Gira Dafatan .... Westernised notes to indian lyrics ... even the stretching of the lyrics and pacing of the song from the second charanam was very similar in both. Puthiya manidha .... has some unusual notes in sangathis .... for that matter ... its start itself is unsual ... from a mel sthayi Ga at " Naan Kandathu .. " but the sampling of " puthiya manidha " at the start is bad .... the female voice is soothing ... but yeah Rahman i know that u did " Maale Manivanna " in Sivaji in Suddha Dhanyasi .... and it caught almost everyone's attention ..... y do u want to make it sound similar and remind us of waht u gave earlier. I can understand less capable heroes doing it. Some directors do it ... but u neednt. U are a celebrity whom people follow to the toe. U neednt remind us of ur previous albums ..... or are u feeling insecure that u cudnt give ur best in the right places and so are trying to compensate that by reminding the audience that hey ... look theres one place i did something decent ... if u havnt noticed till now ... atleast do it now !

Irumbile - ARR - he had to sing ..... and thank GOD it was this song ...... well the hindi version sounds just suited for the hindi audience .... dunno if was made with them in mind ..... when i first heard this ... i spent a lot of time thinking of how to classify this one. But then i thought .... forget it ..... its so ordinary that i shudnt worry too much ..... i am trying desperately to find something typical of rahman atleast ....if not something novel and nice ..... but in vain. Its that kind of a tune that u feel " heyy yea its very familiar " .... not copied or something ... but u just feel u hav known this tune somehow .... its starts straight with " naina mile ( irumbile)" Generally Rahman's songs never start striaght and simple ....Ilayaraja's does.... "poongatru ... from Muthal Mariyathai .... is the one i immedaitely recollect ..... this one is just like that .... some touches of sindhu bhairavi westernised .... hypnotic supersonic and all such adjectives .... i think rahman has left this one to be carried by the video. I thought "Style" was a much better attempt ... here i cant identify one.

Kadhal anukkal - Shreya Ghosal - Well ... nice song .... but fades poorly .... its a pity that both " sahana saaral " from sivaji and " kaadhal anukkal " here are good numbers fading badly. A very youthful tune and from the promos of the second trailer seems a really well thought of choreography and situation fo the song. Especially the long shot where SS walks across the river in between the desert is cool. Everything is fine until " Odugira thanniyil ... " starts ...... whats happening there on man ? Shreya does some absolute crap of a brigha which is not clear even on headfones. And the sangathi there was very ordinary .... And the male lead after that "Asaye va va ..." until the end of the charanam is really ordinary for the start. I am pretty much sure only one of the charanams is going to come in the movie ...this is going to be a short song 3:30 minutes or so on screen .... so basically no point talking about the second interlude and onwards ... But interludes again ..... dude we know Corrs .... u hav give us "Dil Gira dafatan" with a similar feel .... " Yaley - Sakkarakatti " with similar feel and ur cousin gave "On mela aasa dan " with slow motion of the same .... Why again a similar interlude ..... are u guys seriously out of ideas. Bloody 10 crores for such an inspiration ?? Save the intial guitar ensemble and the saxy voice of the male .... forget Rahman u are past ur peak. Ur consistency seems to drop.

Arima Arima - Hariharan - Open ..... trumpet ..... followed by chorus and a brilliant orchestration of percussions ..... followed by a pathetic start off by Hariharan faulting in Shruthi at three place in the first three lines ... all at the pick ups .... Hariji ... please stop judgin other students .... aapka performance pe dhyan rakhiye .... For a live performance ... while throwing energy its ok to slip from shruti here and there .... but on a record .... when crores of people are going to play and re-play the error prone version .... Rahmanji ... u hav too much of a confidence... Y not just request Hariharan to have a retake ?? afraid that he will not be really happy about it ?? But yeah, but for that unfortunate negligence ....this is an ultimate climax entertainer .... full of persussions .....really a long time since i heard such a song from Rahman. And this is why i would not mind pardoning Rahman for such a simple and trite tune. The beauty of the song is the tempo and magnificence .... and rahman ensures that it is maintained brilliantly all throughout. Although Hariji slips initially i think his pick up of " Rajathi ... " is too good .... if there is anyone else who cud hav managed an equal precion and throw ... i cannot think of anyone else other than Shankar Mahadevan. Moreover, the weight transfer of the voice at the "thi" to make it soft yet loud and vibrant is amazing... becos in "asai thee " u need a stress at the second word ...since its a different word. So that balance of softening of the first usage and stressing the secon subtely .... hats off !
The interludes have not much to be spoken of .... while the charanams have enough. First Vairamuthu's lyrics ..... i think he has thoroughly enjoyed this album ...and instead of "aambals and ink fillers" he has much more sane and reverberating lyrics. I thoroughly enjoyed them, although i am receiving mixed reviews from many others. Nothing much to say about the tune of the charanams .,... the Jonpuri touch .... rite from Athiradee ..... but very different in usage ..... I wud have expected Sadhana to be slitely more open in her voice ... it was too soft for Hari's and the overall mood sombers down ...i can understand the situation of the lyrics ... where the leading lady is pleading that she needs someone more soft and with feelings ..... but theres an overall energy of the song which sufferes at this juncture .... rather at almost every point where the female lead sings. Vaaji Vaaji was better that way .... the mood was carried right till the end and madhushree though had a tough time with tamil .... carried the energy well. But if theres one thing that shud be commented positively in this song, it is the use of violins and other percussions ..... in recent past i havent heard any other song boast such a brilliant orchestration. The seconds and chords neednt be diferent and outstanding .... but the way it enriches the overall richness and feel of the song is amazing .... truly that is the crux of the song. I like it!

Kilimanjaro - Javel Ali , Chinmayee - I heard few portions of this song when there was a video leak almost a couple of years ago ..... the first portion of the movie to be shot ..... and for the small bits that i heard then itself ... i knew what this song is going to be .... i have always enjoyed entertaining numbers that hav been born from the Shankar-ARR combo and this is one of them. Funnily though, Pa Vijay's lyrics hav clicked with me for the first time and it seriously rocks ! ....several points ...... the mettu of the song itself is a tough one to frame lyrics on. .... but probably my most favourite is : " nee nooru gram than idai, unakku ini yaaru naan dan udai "; " aindadi valarntha aatu chedi ennai meyndhu vidu motham , pachai pasumpul nee aanal, puli pul thingume enna kutham? " .... i wud have surely considered vairamuthu as a candidate for such a simile. and of course " Yeavalukku thangachiye en kooda than irukka, aal uyara olive pazham appadiye ennaka ! " ... Clearly, each place the mettu with the rhythm has perfectly synced with the lyrics. If there are any compromises it affects botht the tune and structure and so a big thanks to Pa Vijay for such wonderful links seriosuly Paaaa ! The song as such is a peppy tribal number with a para-tribal tune ..... nothing much to say specifically ... the mettu in itself is the magic .... but of course .... the tabla ..... some awesome improvisations in the charanams ....i liked the one in the second charanam a lot. But the part of the song i enjoyed the most is the last line of Charanam1 " Udattayam Udattayum pooti kondu .. oru yugam mudithu thira anba " What a wonderful rendition by Chinmayee .... sooperb control ..... she was just in excellent form all throughout the song.... but had a subdued exhibition becos thats how rahman wanted her to sing .... but this place is where she sings normal throat although at a lower scale ...... but she rocks here big time ..... And i maintain my stance ... Shreya may have a sweet voice ... but if theres one female singer who i consider is a crazy talent , its got to be Chinmayi. Rahman is experimenting too much with her in such an early stage of her career ..... its very understated .... but i think she is already a big singer ....the only other person Rahman has tested and tried as much is SPB ... " thazhuvudu nazhuvudu ....sakkara inikkara sakkara ..." and the likes. Javel Ali suits the tamil version pretty well. Overall a very good song. Not to forget the chorus, which joins in the first three lines of each of the charanams .... i liked that thought .... a really nice one to end at Pa, Pa and then Ma. So for guys who didnt pick up the swaras ... its basically the note at which the line ends ..... the chorus echo at that note except for the third time when they give the lead ... as in the swara from which the fourth line starts ..... nice thought! Aha Aha ... Aha Aha

Chitti Dance: I would have had Kilimanjaro as my best song of the album and Arima Arima an equaly good and catchy one ..... except for Chitti Dance ..... no words to describe .... just the beats ..... this one if captured at its best by Shankar ( which i hope he will and hav a strong belief he has) will really rock. Fantabulous thought to hav jathi ..... Some really intricate patterns ....and it suits .... its not that just the cmplexity rocks ..... the whole mood and tempo and gethu is uplifted ..... the best part though is reserved for the last ..... the ending of the piece is a mega booster ! U can witness that in the trailer .... jsut gives an unprecedented hype to the directors name when it pops up with that music .... its a total high ...... similar to " thalangu thakajunu ... thadeem tha thakanujunu .... in Ra Ra at the end .... but only ten times better " the beauty is that until then speed was twice that of the last ending phrase ..... and drummers will immediately recognize that its a very drummable beat .... just phrased in terms of sollukattu (jathi). One jarring instance is when the piece really picks up and Rahman scales up the overall pitch of the piece and then within the sangathi itself brings it down. ..... But ... its quite common in western music to do this .... so can be exempted .... the purely western strings in between is a welcome intrusion and the jump back into rock and roll is a complete fantasy .... This is already a sensation in the little but ironically big community at ASU so much so that even the hindi speaking counterparts like this a lot. If there is one place Rahman scores big time ... its here.

Overall .... the album is better than many of his other albums .... Raavan and VTV he has had good songs and bad songs ... here .... nothing is non-listenable .... but i wud probably say ..... this is more likeable becos most of the songs are not great but are good ..... whereas with VTV and Raavan ... except for a song or two ... others are catastrophies.

PS: I wish to review Raavan music becos its the first Rahamn album of which i liked atleast a couple of songs, since a long time that i liked. But I would be happy if someone blogs so that i can comment. Sometimes it just sucks to enter in words ... wud as well have something similar what Stephen Hawkings has ..... its easier that way!