Songs at the end.
Vineeth Sreenivasan does a neat ulsavam announcer imitation in his introduction of Shekharankutty the baby elephant (who I am guessing is the movie’s central character), before handing the baton over to Vidhu Prathap and Sreya Jayadeep to deliver lyricist Manu Manjith’s ode to Shekharan. Interesting that we have had two elephant songs in Malayalam in the same month, the other one being the song from Punyaalan Private Ltd. Shekara is a super fun song that composer Shaan Rahman orchestrates well; kids’ chorus and the like. Following the temple song is an equally trippy Muslim festive song titled Sunnath Kalyaanam. Vineeth Sreenivasan’s lines seem to be based partially on traditional pieces, and the man does a fine job of contemporising it. Shaan’s arrangement too strikes an engaging balance between folk and Western elements, and he gets Gowri Lekshmi and Mithun Jayaraj who sound fab. Completing the religious triad is Sthothram, an upbeat Christian prayer song that Biju James sings, joined by the composer with the occasional chants.
Shaan adopts a choir-based structure for Shaanthi which is essentially a rant against the current day communal chaos, presented in a delightfully melodic package. Vineeth Sreenivasan leads the vocals here, and is splendid on his part (his shariyaavum..shariyaavuo? dilemma is an excellent touch). Composer gives the soundtrack’s best to Sachin Balu – the incredibly soothing Neeyum Njaanum. While there is an undeniable evocation of Colonial Cousins’ Feel Alright here, the quality of singing and the tranquillity is bound to win you over.
He may have created his most popular song earlier this year (Jimikki Kammal) but to me Aana Alaralodalaral is Shaan Rahman‘s best work this year – an engaging, light-hearted soundtrack, like most of his choicest works have been. Going by its tongue-twister title, it seems the movie will follow in the same vein.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Neeyum Njaanum, Sunnath Kalyanam, Shekara
