Song jukebox and full artist credits at the end of the review.
Arike Arike has a very likeable (albeit a little familiar) tune, given a delicate treatment by composer Rakesh Kesavan – light touches of acoustic guitar from Sumesh Parameswar, flute by Rajesh Cherthala standing out from among the rest. Vijay Yesudas and Ranjini Jose do their part very well behind the mic. There is also a solo version by Vijay alone, but that doesn’t differ from the original in any other aspect. It is pointless naming a “best” in a two song soundtrack, but the real winner of Swargathekkal Sundaram soundtrack is the qawwali Jeevanil. Rakesh follows the qawwali template to a tee in his arrangement highlighted by Berny PJ’s wonderful harmonium solos. Composer gets Najeem Arshad and Hesham Abdul Wahab to sing this one, and they both own the song with a brilliantly nuanced rendition (shades of jog raaga perhaps)!
Swargathekkal Sundaram. Another outrageously short Malayalam soundtrack. But promising debut from composer Rakesh Kesavan.
Music Aloud Rating: 7/10
Full Credits:
Audio Label: Tharangni Records
Lyrics: Engandiyoor Chandhrasekharan
Music: Rakesh Kesavan
Contributing Artists:
Guitar: Sumesh Parameswar
Flute: Rajesh Cherthala
Harmonium: Berny Pj
Tabla: Sanu S Jeevan
Keyboard Programming & Mixing: Hesham Abdul Wahab
Recording Engineers: Binil Eldhose, Vijay Vattakkat, Hari Shankar
Mastering: Kiran Lal
