Category Archives: Song A Day

45: Song of the Day: Azhaga Azhaga

Song: Azhaga Azhaga

Composer: Vijay Antony

Singer: Hariharan, Sadhna Sargam

Lyrics: Vairamuthu Ramasamy

Movie: By 2

Brindavanasaranga is a raga which evokes a feeling of happiness and auspiciousness. It is a sister raga of Madhyamavathy but that one note difference is very evident between both the ragas. Vijay Antony has composed this very unique song in this raga and the tune, orchestration and singing are all top notch. The composer uses the strings and flute in ample measure to support the unpredictable tune and comes out a winner.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL5OLGKFXm0

44: Song of the Day: En Maname

Song: En Maname

Composer: MSV-Ilaiyaraja

Singer: Tippu, Poornima

Lyrics: Ilaiyaraja

Movie: Vishwathulasi

It is very rare in cine music that competing composers get together to compoase music for films but in Tamil music, we have two legends, MSV and Ilaiyaraja who have composed music for over 5 different movies and all of them are fantastic albums. This song is from their last collaboration and it is set in Thilang raga. The orchestration by Raja is little synth-based but when the live instruments like flute and Veena take over in the interludes, it reaches its full potential. The singing by Tippu is fantastic and the depth of his voice add lustre to the tune. This whole album has melodious songs and is worth a listen.

43: Song of the Day: Chantham Thelinju

Song: Chantham Thelinju

Composer: Ouseppachan

Singer: Rahul Nath, Mridula Warrier

Lyrics: PS Rafeeque

Movie: Utopiayile Rajavu

Nalinakanthi is a very beautiful raga with  not too many songs composed in films. We have a couple of songs in Tamil/Malayalam and this song is my favourite in this raga. Ouseppachan, the legendary composer has created a very beautiful song, exploring the different contours of this raga. The singing by Rahul Nath (never heard of him much, he seems to be a Carnatic singer) and Mridula Warrier is fantastic. This is one of the best melodies you will hear for sure!

42: Song of the Day: Uruginen

Song: Uruginen

Composer: Ilaiyaraja

Singer: SPB, Janaki

Lyrics: Vaalee

Movie: Anney Anney

Ilaiyaraja has composed for over 1000 films, which ensures that there are always ” rare Songs” for fans to dig into. One such rare song is Uruginen. It is a fantastic tune which is as good as his well known ones. I am not a huge fan of the voice of S. Janaki but this is one of those songs where she sounds pretty good. SPB is as great as always. The orchestration is vintage Raja with trumpets, the strings section, flute etc. The uniqueness in the song is that it changes form in the second charanam adopting a more hip ,western form. Even the song delivery by both the singers is very different and interesting. I can imagine the fun SPB (Janaki would have had along with the live orchestra. This song is one of the rarest gems of Raja and it deserves to be universally known.

 

41: Song of the Day: Noor-E-Khuda

Song: Noor-E-Khuda

Composer: Shankar-Ehasaan-Loy

Singer(s): Adnan Sami, Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan

Lyrics: Niranjan Iyengar

Movie: My Name is Khan

Songs based on devotional themes generally do not have very unique tunes or orchestration as there is not much creativity in this genre. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have created this beautiful song which is a clarion call to God. The song starts in the voice of Shankar Mahadevan singing an alaap. Once the song main stanza begins, Adnan Sami takes over and the noor-e-khuda refrain continues in the song background and it gives harmony to the song. The best part is the second stanza when Shreya Ghoshal launches into the song, humming her way and another surprise is that the tune here is different and it adds more variety to the song. The orchestration throughout is top- notch with Saarangi, strings section etc. This is one of the best songs in the “devotional ” genre. Listen to it and feel inspired! Special mention also to the wonderful lyrics by Niranjan Iyengar.

40: Song of the Day: Enthaavo

Song: Enthaavo

Composer: Justin Varghese

Singer: Sooraj Santhosh

Lyrics: Santhosh Varma

Movie: Njankalude Nattila Oridavela

Enthaavo is a very good song composed by Justin for his debut movie. It is a peppy, melodious number with some unique orchestration, full of live instruments. The interludes are pieces played on a stringed instrument which sound beautiful, you must hear it to believe it. The singing by Sooraj Santhosh is soulful and effortless. I hope Justin gets more chances to showcase his talent further.

39: Song of the Day: Kannil Paarvai

Song: Kannil Paarvai

Composer: Ilaiyaraja

Singer: Shreya Ghoshal

Lyrics: Vaali

Movie: Naan Kadavul

Rasikapriya is a rarely used raga in films, there are only a handful of songs in the raga and in Naan Kadavul, Raja creates a mesmerizing composition. The tune is a stunner as per the usual Raja standards. He embellishes it with intricate Saarangi pieces and an excellent strings ensemble. One more highlight of the song is a Chenda- like percussion supporting the song as the background rhythm. The song situation is about a blind girl lamenting on her situation and the song effectively conveys the brooding emotion very aptly.

38: Song of the Day: Oru Kadhal Vanducho

Song: Oru Kadhal Vanducho

Composer: Raghav-Raja

Singer: Shankar Mahadevan

Lyrics: Thaamarai

Movie: Hey Nee Romba Azhagairukka

Hey Nee Romba Azhagairukka was probably the first movie in Tamil to have more than 2 composers. This song was my favourite among all the other songs. It is composed in Desh raga. The whole song is like a celebration, melodious, yet full of verve and energy. The use of diverse instruments, time, the vocal harmonies and the energetic singing by Shankar Mahadevan make it the best song of the movie. The lyrics by Thaamarai are also very poetic. It’s sad that the composers Raghav-Raja got no more chances for anymore movies.

 

37: Song of the Day: Kalaadhara

Song: Kalaadhara

Composer: Rajhesh Vaidhya

Singer: Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Shekar

Lyrics: Gangai Amaran

Movie: Vegam

Rajhesh Vaidya, the popular Veena artiste has composed the music for this movie. The movie was produced by SV. Sekar, starring his son but it vanished without a trace. This particular song set in Desh raga is a very good composition. Interestingly, Rajhesh has not used too much Veena in this song, maybe consciously, instead there are keys, a strings section and flute. Unnikrishnan sounds very good (I do not like some of his film songs as his voice sounds very thin) but Anuradha is just about okay. All-in-all, a very melodious composition by Rajhesh Vaidya.

36: Song of the Day: Roja Poo Ondru

Song: Roja Poo Ondru

Composer: Kannan

Singer: SPB, Chitra

Lyrics: Karky

Movie: Rendavadhu Padam

This is a retro song tuned by composer Kannan in the Ilaiyaraja genre with the typical instruments that Raja would use for such a duet song. It starts with beautiful male vocal harmonies (quite rare as many vocal harmonies are female ones owing to the mellowness of the female voice) and followed by a strings piece and SPB launches into the song with gusto. The first interlude is primarily saxophone, strings and Veena and Chitra joins SPB in the charanam. The second interlude has wonderful female harmonies, followed by a poignant violin piece followed by an energetic nadhaswaram piece leading into the 2nd charanam where the composer adds a tabla instead of the rhythm programming. This is all-in-all a competent melody song that Kannan can be proud of.