Enthiran : Music Launch & First Reaction

It will soon be a week since Enthiran had its audio launch in Malaysia with much fanfare, but no one is talking about the music of the movie. I have been waiting for someone to post a review of the songs, but now I am tired of waiting. So here I am, bursting on all seams, to give my first reaction. Yes, its not a music review per se but just my reaction.

Like all Rahman albums, I had been waititng for this one too. And finally its out and its just about ok. The sounds are not new anymore, just a jaded effort from the maestro. The techno sounds, keyboard tunes and the robotic beeps are a little amateurish. The best song for me was Arima Arima sung beautifully by Hariharan and Sadhna Sargam. The song takes you back to Kappaleri Poyaachu song from Indian. It has a war/revolution like feel to it, with marching beats and Sadhna’s soothing voice while Hariharan takes the high notes with flair. The instrumentation is fantastic with the additional voices of Naresh and Benny adding that extra zing. I am sure this song will be the face of the movie promos as humanoids promise to be our future.

Another favourite song from this album is Kadhal Anukkal which has a very light feel to it. Wonderful strumming of the guitar and it starts with a lazy elegance, just like Rubaroo from RDB. Vijay Prakash lends the country feel to the song with the drag in the words and pronunciation to bring about the ‘lazy elegance’ that I was talking about. Sherya Ghoshal has done well too. Vijay manages to pull off the song , but fails to do what Naresh had doen to Rubaroo; partly because the mood here is a lot different from RDB. Anyways, be ready to hear lyrics with words like ‘newton’, ‘electron’, ‘proton’ and everything thats remotely related to science. Its all there and not just limited to robotics!

Talking about robotic beeps, Puthiya Manitha is a lacklustre song. There is a crooning effect in the entire song, probably to bring out the feeling of being surrounded by science and all the enigma that ensues robotics technology. This is the title song and also the first song in the album, and obviously it sings praises of a robot. SPB and Rahman have lent their voices to this rather weak song.

By the way, I have always wondered how Rahman decides which song he should lend his voice to. I mean, in every movie he has sung a song. But what’s the criteria for chosing the song? Is it the difficulty level, or the voice quality that he is looking for, or the right attitude to approach a song? His choices are so different, be it the Dil Se title track or the jazz based JTYJN title track or Beera etc.

Rahman takes to the mike again in Irumbile Oru Idhayam, rapped by Kash ‘n’ Krissy. This is another song that has techno beats all throughout with some inane rappings that sound like Dr.Jones. The rapping is really monotonous and no amount of techno beat saves the song. Of course, Rahman does justice to the song here, but its not all that groovy.

Javed Ali, another regular of Rahman, gets to sing the Kilimanjaro song which has some really strange musical pieces. It starts with African beats but sounds earthy in its feel. Lot of experimentation with the instruments and vocal chords; and of course the lyrics where Kilimanjaro has been rhymed with Mohenjodaro. And for once, Javed Ali brings some expression to a song. I have always felt that he sings a song flatly, without getting into it; as in Jashn-e-bahara in JA. Here, Chinmayee has added a much needed peppy-ness to the song, and that might’ve forced Javed to sing in a relaxed and jovial fashion. Whatever it was, as long as it entertains, I am good. The end result is a fun song; but it doesn’t stay with you for long. Actually, the whacky lyrics will refuse to get out of your head.

Here’s a revisit to theme tune of Patti Rap, that’s how the song Boom Boom Robo Da begins. Another of the techno songs in the album, with Tamil rap and various voices of Yogi, Keerthi etc. By the time you get to this song, you are completley exhausted with all the techno stuff and all the lyrics alluding to deep space, robotics, science and its wonders.

This could be one of the weaker albums of Rahman, I preferred Raavan to this. But no matter what, I will continue listening to it and doing the Chitti Dance until the movie releases on 3rd Sept.

This post was first published on PFC