Songs at the end.
With a frenetic prelude led by the ensemble of naadaswarams, Entha Ooru Ponalum seems to resume from where Ilayaraja’s Thaarai Thappattai left off, before settling into an engaging and comforting devotional song rhythm. Rita and Santhosh Hariharan lead the vocals with an efficient chorus to boot. Thendral Varum Vazhiyil is even better, a melody that is very much associable with Raja’s repertoire and packaged in a haunting arrangement that peaks at the interludes (especially the second one). Composer chooses Karthik and Priya Himesh for this one, and they deliver beautifully. It is in the rest of the soundtrack that things go south. Eden Garden sounds dated at its best and odd at other times. Ranjith and Ramya NSK’s singing is the relatively better element in the whole affair, Premjith’s rap is just vapid. Mudinja Oru Kai Paru too is bogged down big time by its dated sound, even more so by its lyrics; something Prasanna and Anitha’s vocal energy isn’t able to mitigate either. Mannin Magane fares slightly better; the arrangement is still of a past age, but it does showcase the composer’s famed brilliance with the bass. And it is kept fairly short. Rahul Nambiar, Ranjith and Prasanna handle the vocals here.
Oyee. Two standout tracks in a largely dated soundtrack from the maestro Ilayaraja.
Music Aloud Rating: 6.5/10
Top Recos: Thendral Varum Vazhiyil, Entha Ooru Ponalum
