Yuvan Shankar Raja follows religiously the hero intro song template of a gangster movie in Vilayadu Mangatha, the sinister techno-based sounds, the processed vocals et al. Not a hummable tune, but decent listen nevertheless, the composer, Ranjith, Sucharita, Anita and Premgi Amaren singing the Tamil-Hindi-English lyrics. The remix is a middling affair though. The composer follows it up with a brilliant haunting melody embellished with mild Latino touches, Nee Naan. SPB Charan and Bhavatharini are spotless in their rendition of the track which is quite evocative of YSR’s dad in arrangement style. The electronic-classical fusion (the classical part is Madhuvanti-based?) of Vaada Bin Laada is neatly done, the introduction of the kuthu beats is quite imaginative. The composer could probably have gone easier on the vocoding of Krish and Suchitra’s vocals I felt.
Right from the way Premgi Amaren starts off with “Machi… Open the bottllle” it’s hard not to get reminded of Saroja Saamaan Nikaalo also from the same team. Wonder why such an obvious nod. Having said that, fun listen, kuthu-based songs seldom go wrong on that front. Mano, Tippu, Haricharan and Naveen do their job nicely. The restrained orchestration and the ambient effects give a soothing mystical feel to the Madhusree-YSR rendered Nanbane. Never really warmed to YSR’s singing for some reason though. Balle Lakka (when will these fellows recognize it as a balalaika I wonder!) is the only song that fails to make an impact despite having Karthik and Vijay Yesudas with Anusha Dhayanidhi (D. Azhagiri’s wife if I am not wrong) behind the mic. Mankatha Theme pretty much carries a feel akin to the title song but is functional in nature and hence doesn’t charm much.
For the fourth time out of four, YSR-Venkat Prabhu combo works, barring a few hiccups. After all, this is family matter. 🙂
Music Aloud Rating — 7.5/10
Top Recos — Nee Naan, Nanbane, Vaada Bin Laada
