Interesting. I also had similar thoughts in the first few days of listening, but now, I am changing my mind. Also, many people miss this point about film music. The music is a reflection of the essence of the movie. Though I liked it a bit, I really started loving Anbil Avan after understanding the background story.
Also, I see a lot of reviewers fall in the trap of writing the review too soon or rushing to judgement too soon and mostly before the movie judging the music as a standalone piece of work instead of the fact that it is the essence of the movie. I am sure many reviewers of ARR's music write a review and probably will itch to change it after 3 months of writing it. Maybe all ARR's music should be reviewed after 1 month of listening ;-) On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 10:02 AM, Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@gmail.com>wrote: > > > Missing the Mark > BY SUMITA SAMI <http://nazaronline.net/author/sumita_sami/> 29 JANUARY > 2010 142 VIEWS 8 COMMENTS > > > <http://nazaronline.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/204b8_vinnaithandi-varuvaaya-2.jpg> > > “What is this?” asked a befuddled friend, when I gave her a link to A. R. > Rahman’s latest soundtrack. “Harris Jayaraj?” And that was when I wondered > if the maestro had, perhaps, missed the mark this time. > > I don’t mean to imply that Jayaraj isn’t a great musician in his own right, > but Academy Award winner Rahman simply composes in a different plane of > music. Which was why *Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya* is a let-down - although > flashes of his genius are present, the album as a whole is unmemorable. > > Some songs are peppy enough to escape that judgement. *Anbil Avan* works > with a simple but effective melody and Chinmayi’s perfect high notes. The > rhythm, with its interplay of the mridangam, is particularly good. I hadn’t > thought much of this song at first, but then I found myself replaying it > again and again. > > Rahman experiments with sounds in *Hosanna*, and the track, combining a > gentle yearning with Blaaze’s rapping, mostly succeeds. I didn’t see why > Vijay Prakash (whose *Manmohini Morey* is frankly brilliant), had to be > squandered here, but I can see why his voice is eminently suitable for * > Hosanna*. > > The title song is, for the most part, lovely. *Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya* uses > Karthik’s vocals and some excellent guitar work to create an achingly tender > track. Halfway through, however, Rahman switches to a more conventional > melody that seems to lose the melancholy - and the novelty - of the first > half. > > *Aaromale* is perhaps the track that most thoroughly embodies Rahman’s > style of music-making. It’s deliberately non-Indian in its use of the > guitar, with the kind of menace you might find in spaghetti Westerns - > especially when the beat picks up towards the end. Somehow, the electric > guitar riffs, Alphons Joseph’s voice, and the Malayalam lyrics come together > to make something darkly interesting. > > The rest of the soundtrack didn’t make much of an impression. *Omana Penne > * is sweet, even charming, but Rahman displays an unhealthy obsession with > auto-tune that detracts from that a little. Also similar is *Kannukul > Kannai*, which begins promisingly enough with a smooth violin chorus, but > then has little left to offer. Even Naresh Iyer’s vocals seem > indistinguishable from the other male singers. And about the only opinion I > had of *Mannipaaya* was that it was nice - Shreya’s vocals are crystal > clear, and Rahman’s voice makes for a great contrast, but beyond the opening > melody I couldn’t find myself liking it much. > > *Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya* is billed as “another unique love story”, its > posters drawing inspiration from at least four hit movies in the past > decade. Perhaps director Gautham Menon desired the same effect with the > soundtrack - in which case he should have employed a composer more drawn to > the conventional. Rahman’s songs do have a reputation for growing on the > listener, but right now I’m not holding my breath. > > The music of A. R. Rahman is usually a combination of the bizarre, > beautiful, and bold. Not much of any of this is present in *Vinnaithaandi > Varuvaaya* - which is why this soundtrack is ultimately disappointing. > > > http://nazaronline.net/arts/2010/01/missing-the-mark/ > > >
