Hey folks, Hope y'all r doing great :) Here's my review of VTV :) Composer: A.R.Rahman Director: Gautam Vasudev Menon
Ok, perhaps a little late, but decided to take my time, listen to the songs and let them sink in before I wrote this. While the idea of a Hindu-Christian wedding song itself isn't new, Anbil Avan boasts of a cool church organ interlude and some nice harmonies. I think it's success largely depends on how it is picturized and used in the movie. Commercial stuff. Hosanna got leaked before the audio released, and we were left wondering why the arrangements were kind of empty. When the actual version came out, the song was in a completely different plane. The chord progressions Rahman uses to transit between the major scales are brilliantly thought and arranged (a voice inside me goes "ahem we're talking about Rahman here"). A very commercial yet cute song, with nice singing by Vijay Prakash and lovely rap by Blaaze. The very cleverly placed "Hello"s lend recall value, and I can already see college crowds responding to the singer's Hello's ;-) The opening bell chords, Benny's earnest crooning, some brilliant voice processing work and a kickass carnatic nadaswaram backing bring a vintage Rahman flavour to Omana Penne. The Malayalam portion blends beautifully with these elements and you have a killer of a song which, despite being modern, arrangements- wise, still makes you wish Rahman came back to his Kizhakku Cheemayile days and gave more of this stuff. Aaromaley, the malayalam song Rahman gave as an addition. If add-ons were this good, I'd settle for an album of add-ons and no main songs :P The first thing that struck me when I heard this song the first time was : hey, what's that note he's reached! A bluesy guitar groove, carnatic distortion violin *jaw drops* and a beautiful mallu chorus with Rahman written all over superbly compliment Alphonse's I've-arrived-now-shut-up-and-listen singing! Reminds me of Steve Tyler of Aerosmith, as he goes "Crazy". A little too much for TFM to digest in one meal I suppose. That note is top D by the way, and top D is a mighty high note to reach. Song of the album? Read on. The title track is a breath of fresh air, or should I say a whisper rather. For that's how Karthik has sung this, with romance sottifying all over. I haven't yet got the hang of this song fully, given the mind blowing guitar chords that back this song only to be taken to a totally different level after the scale change. Another genre definition by Rahman in this song, and though I'm not quite sure about its commercial success, the experimentation deserves full marks, and Karthik finally gets a killer after a spate of ajiligujilis. As if Shreya weren't enough reason to raise my expectations sky high, Rahman sings in Mannippaya. And how! If Shreya's initial pleading melts, Rahman's take in this song is out of the world. Lovely chord progressions again, and on repeated listening, I get the feeling Rahman's outdone Shreya in this song. Shreya, if you're reading this, Mannipaya?? :( I was desperately wishing this would be the best song in the album. But Aaromaley, Omana Penne and the title track keep announcing themselves, leaving me in a dilemma. Four equally brilliant songs in one album is nothing less than a treat! Kannukkul Kannai Katti fades in comparison to the four other songs that scream of the Rahman stamp, and offers nothing fresh. Again, largely visual dependent stuff. Just when you're hoping Rahman comes up with something as good in Tamil as the stuff he's been churning out in Hindi, here comes VTV. Four brilliant trend-setters, one excellent commercial number and a couple of average yet hit-potential filled-tracks. Quite a package! Rahman raises the bar yet again and offers new challenges to other composers! PS: Couple's Retreat has been nominated for the Oscars. Not quite Oscar Winning material if you ask me. But who cares! Here's hoping the Midas touch works again! Go Rahman sir Go!
