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.

35: Song of the Day: Aatha Un Sela

Song: Aatha Un Sela

Composer: Ghibran

Singer: Sundar Narayana Rao

Lyrics: Yegadesi

Movie: Kutti Puli

Aatha Un Sela is a very unconventional song and the unique song because, it has minimal background music and all the focus is on the tune and the voice. The tune is sedate and it will slowly start growing on you. The primary instrument used is a stringed one and it adds to the serenity of the song, considering the situation where the hero is singing to his mother. The composer must be given a lot of credit for conceptualizing such a song in an age where all the instruments are crying loud and competing with the voice.

34: Song of the Day: Amman Koil Vaasalile

Song: Amman Koil Vaasalile

Composer: Deva

Singers: SPB, Chitra

Lyrics: Kalidasan

Movie: Thaai Maaman

 

Composer Deva has given some fantastic melodies in many movies and this song is a melodious and soothing number. The ever dependable pair of SPB/Chitra sing the song with the right emotions considering the romantic situation and even the lyrics are pretty creative. Deva uses the strings section and flute to great effect and you can say in a positive way that Raja has inspired these composers to have such grand orchestration. This is one song from Deva which should be missed!

 

https://www.jiosaavn.com/song/amman-kovil/BBAmXD14QHs

 

 

33: Song of the Day: Yaarodum

Song: Yaarodum

Composer: Ramesh Vinayagam

Singers: Haricharan

Lyrics: Yugabharathi

Movie: Sollakadhai

Sollakadhai is a movie which was never released and the songs vanished into oblivion. In many cases, the songs of such movies by talented composers would be good and this movie is no exception. Almost each song in this album is pretty good but this particular song is the clear winner with a mellow feel. Ramesh & Chinmayi have sung it and they ace it completely with good modulation. The tune in the charanam especially in the part where Ramesh sings “Kaigal thodumpodhu kuliradhu pani marghazhi” is the highlight of the song. We can always expect at least one brilliant song from Ramesh Vinayagam and he vindicates our belief here.