Selfie Pulla is custom-made for Vijay’s limited vocal skills and, as you might have guessed from its title, is one that doesn’t consider lyrical quality as a priority. Vijay does deliver it the right way though, alongside Sunidhi Chauhan, and the techno-kuthu fusion arrangement too is engaging. Nevertheless, there are only so many times that you can listen to the ummaaaah and camera clicks without getting annoyed! Pakkam Vanthu too has similar problems – there is a fairly engaging techno folk fusion here too, a seemingly Harlem Shake inspired template on one side and a naadaswaram-thavil combo on the other. But the interest soon wears off, a sprightly rendition from Hip Hop Tamizha notwishtanding. The third electronica-based track Aathi fares much better. Anirudh makes splendid use of guitars and mandolin here, and Vishal Dadlani does a fab job on his second song (?) with the composer.
The most brilliant bit about Paalam is the way Anirudh shifts from a brass band led daandiya style arrangement to a Carnatic one, both times playing the same tune. The song then undergoes further shifts in its mode, all the time continuing to engage well. And the composer smartly chooses two singers who are capable of handling each of those shifts in style – Shankar Mahadevan and Shwetha Mohan. Yesudas may not be what he used to be once, but it is still nice to hear him do playback after a gap, in Nee Yaaro. Lovely treatment of the melody by Anirudh, highlighted by the guitars but also with some other very nice touches, making it the pick of the soundtrack. The two instrumental themes (Bad Eyes – Villain Theme, Kaththi Theme – The Sword of Destiny) are fairly short to be able to make any lasting impact as standalone audio tracks, but among the two, Bad Eyes is quite nicely handled; the flute-veena combo is effective.
Kaththi. Good mix of songs from Anirudh that should work well for an Ilayathalapathy movie.
Music Aloud Rating: 8/10
Top Recos: Nee Yaaro, Paalam, Aathi
