Gana Bala, Sathish and Dhee have a cheeky thing going on the vocals in the kuthu-based Enda Mapla (loved that auto-tune dig), while composer Santhosh Narayanan gets the piano-bass combo running a surprise jazz-flavored counterpoint in the background. But for some interesting elements like the edaykka, Kalyanamam Kalyanam is largely standard fare. Being bread-and-butter material for Antony Dasan, the man delivers the song with his usual flair. Recording her second Tamil movie song after she hit the limelight in 2012 with the Malayalam movie Celluloid is Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, singing Kodaiyila with Pradeep Nair. Not always does her singing style seem to gel with this song though. The song too gets off to a promising start, but the tune shift in second verse doesn’t quite work in its favour.
The distance from decent to awesome however gets covered by Santhosh in the remaining three songs – all three of which has the composer going elaborately orchestral on the arrangement. Potta Pulla has a simple folky tune and is treated like one too for most part, a simple tune, flute and some basic folk percussion to go with RR’s heartfelt singing. Except that all this is beautifully ensconced within an ambient strings section that lends the song a magical effect in places. Agasatha has an even richer interplay of strings that makes for a deadly combination with the immensely addictive tune. Kalyani Nair and Pradeep Kumar are flawless on their part behind the mic. And the best of all, Manasula Soora Kaathey. The tune is once again very haunting, in a yesteryear Raja way (even seems to be in keeravaani, a raga in which Raja has scored some stunners). The arrangement that features some mind-blowing layering of guitars and flute, peppered with the minimal tabla bits, and a fabulous job by singers RR and Divya Ramani. Beauty!
Cuckoo. The best soundtrack that composer Santhosh Narayanan has produced yet!
PS: Think Music is awesome!
Music Aloud Rating: 8.5/10
Top Recos: Manasula Soora Kaathey, Agasatha, Potta Pulla
