Songs and musician credits at the end.
Marketed as the celebration of ten years of Shaan Rahman and Vineeth Sreenivasan’s musical partnership, Aravindante Athithikal has two songs sung by the latter – none written by him though, which seems a bit odd considering some of the team’s best songs have happened when Vineeth wrote the lines. Instead it is BK Harinarayanan who pens the words for both songs (in fact all songs of the movie bar one). Rasathi features an awkward mix of Tamil and Malayalam phrases that is salvaged by a pleasant melody and an even better arrangement. The song is interestingly structured too, featuring comprised of a single verse sung at two ends of a long interlude (highlighted by Josy Alappuzha’s flute and violins from Cochin Strings). Vineeth is joined briefly by Liya Susan Verghese for the humming portions of the interlude. The immersive, prayer like treatment of Kanne Thaai Malare is familiar Shaan Rahman territory – Vineeth’s voice echoing across a minimal soundscape dominated by the piano.
One of the remarkable things about the Shaan-Vineeth partnership has been the number of talented singers who have had their debut/first big break with them. Multiple of those singers have gone on to prove their competence at composing as well (Sachin Warrier, Rahul Subramanian, Hesham Abdul Wahab off the top of mind). In Aravindante Athithikal, Shaan introduces another new talent named Megha Josekutty with the song Enthe Kanna. And it is a fabulous debut for the singer, both in terms of the song and the singing. Shaan’s melody is a beautiful, slightly retro-ish one (shades of brindavana sarangi raga, I think) though the treatment remains very much contemporary (Josy’s flute once again used brilliantly, as is Sumesh Parameswar’s bass). Aanandhame is another track that has an atmospheric setting akin to Kanne. This one has a better melody that Anne Amie (another singer who debuted with Shaan, incidentally) delivers in style, but it is too short to stick. The final track, Kripaakari Devi, is a devotional song (written by Manu Manjith) dedicated to the deity associated with the place the movie is set in, Mookaambika. Not a great tune here, but the punchy arrangement manages to prop the song up.
Aravindante Athidhikal. In his tenth year with Vineeth Sreenivasan, Shaan Rahman continues to score high on the melodic compositions.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Top Recos: Enthe Kanna, Kanne Thaai Malare, Rasathi
Musician Credits
Aanandhame – Anne Amie and written by BK Hari Narayanan
Endhe Kanna – Megha Josekutty and written by BK Hari Narayanan
Kripaakari Devi – Midhun Jayaraj and written by Manu Manjith
Kanne Thaai Malare – Vineeth Sreenivasan and written by BK Hari Narayanan
Rasathi – Vineeth Sreenivasan and written by BK Hari Narayanan
Flute – Josy Alappuzha
Guitars and Bass – Sumesh Parameshwar
Strings – Cochin Strings
