Songs and full credits at the end.
Kalpana Raghavendar and the chorus succeed in equal parts at delivering the humming in the theme song of Manithan, titled Adho. The tune traverses familiar turf, but the singing and the arrangement – that’s in keeping with the composer’s proficiency at employing guitars – make the track work. The inspirational Mun Sellada too is marred by its lack of freshness in the tune or arrangement. ADK’s rapping leads the vocal department, over Anirudh Ravichander and Rohith Fernandes’ singing. Things start looking better with Poi Vazhva; composer Santhosh Narayanan’s earthy style of singing makes for a good combination with the contrastingly trained voice of Vijaynarain (who joins the composer in the second half), as the two soulfully render the pensive melody. The backdrop once again sees some lovely guitars, and I quite liked the percussion. That whistle adds a nice touch to the proceedings. Replete as it is with European elements, Kondattam’s arrangement is bound to remind you of other songs, but that doesn’t stop it from being a mighty engaging track. The composer deftly builds over the familiar base and has good support from Radar with a K (!) and Divya Ramani behind the mic. Santhosh gives his best song to V Pradeep and Priya Hemesh. Aval is incredibly breezy, hitting a high especially around that Yen Maname.. refrain. Guitars and violins understandably dominate the arrangement, but watch out for the violins from around the 3:20 mark, the way they have been interlaced with Priya’s humming is just brilliant!
Manidhan. High on the familiarity aspect, but Santhosh Narayanan delivers a more engaging soundtrack than the Bollywood original (Jolly LLB) had.
Music Aloud Rating: 7/10
Top Recos: Aval, Kondattam, Poi Vazhva
Full Credits
Song: Kondattam
Lyrics: Madhan Karky
Singer: ‘Radar with a K’ ,Divya Ramani
Song: Aval
Lyrics: Vivek
Singers: Pradeep ,Priya Hemesh
Song: Mun Sellada
Lyrics: Madhan Karky
Singers: Anirudh Ravichander, ADK, Rohith Fernandes
Song: Poi Vazhvaa
Lyrics: Vivek
Singer: Vijaynarain, Santhosh Narayanan
Song: Adho (manidhan theme)
Singer: Kalpana Raghavendar
Acoustic Guitars: Keba Jeremiah, Joseph Vijay, Pradeep Kumar, Vijaynarain
Electric Guitars: Keba Jeremiah
Tabla : Sai Shravanam
Chorus: Santhosh, Soundarya, Saisharan, Sathyaprakash, Maalavika, Niranjana, Deepak ,Shenbagaraj ,Sowmya Ramani Mahadevan,Sharanya Srinivasan , Niranjana Ramanan, Soundarya Nandakumar, Rohith Fernandes
Bass Guitar: Naveen
Tapes: 4 Idiots Group
Percussions: Ganapathi, Venkat
Additional Rhythm programming: R K Sundar
Strings: Studio Orchestra of Sydney
Concert Master: Phil Hartl
Sydney musicians’ coordinator: Coralie Hartl, Meenakshi Iyer
Recorded at Future Tense studios – Chennai, Prism Sounds- Chennai, Studios 301 Sydney, Oveyen – Sydney
Recording Engineers: R.K.Sundar, Simon Todkill
Mixed by: Santhosh Narayanan, R.K.Sundar
Mastered by: Steve Smart at Studios 301, Sydney
