Soft Melodies . Review on Azhagiya Theeyae Songs

I am closely watching a new promising music director coming up with unique music in his each and every album. He is trying hard to set a unique sound for his music. He is Ramesh Vinayakam who has composed music for three movies so far “Univesity”, “Nalathamayanthi” and the latest “Azaghiya Theeyae” which is under the scope of this review. He is trying to find a new path between the Illayaraja and A.R.Rahman. Neither his style of composition sounds like Illayaraja nor A.R.Rahman; it is a unique proportionate blend of both.

Some of the promising qualities I find in Ramesh Vinayakam are

1) Ability to try different genre of music

6) Creating his own style of music

Each song in this album is different from one another

1) Vizhigalin Aruginil – Traditional South Indian Romantic melody

2) Kasturi Mann – Wedding Qawali (like a hindi song)

3) Ullale ullale – Western Country music

4) Sathana Poongatrae – Another melody with a foot tapping rhythm

5) Boom Boom theme music – Yet to discover the kind of music it belong to

6) Mattikittanae – A traditional gana song with classical interludes

There is no fusion in any song; every song is in purest form of its kind.

His orchestration with piano and violins is brilliant in the song “Vizhigalin Aruginil”.The strings synch well with the feel of the lyrics all through the song and also the piano is nicely blended with it at right places. Ramesh Vinayakam has sung it well but he deviates and sings through his nose while singing in high pitch and that is a bit disturbing. He needs to control his voice at high pitch otherwise he has a much better voice and singing ability than any other music director.

“Kasturi Maan” song though based on Hindustani music he somehow managed to bring the south Indian flavor in the song. The note of the words at the end of Hindi lyrics “Deere Deere se” is nice and it is this note that adds south Indian flavor to this song. The best thing is that it is pure Qawali song wit h traditional instruments like tabla, harmonium are used without mild rhythm mix in the background. Matangi and Srinivas voice are as soothing as its tune. And here I laud the choice of Matangi for this song because I feel she hasn’t received the kind of songs in which she will be at her best. She proved that she is good in singing classical melodies by “Appadi parkiradhu” song from “Ivan” but even then she got only fast peppy rhythm based numbers but things song yet again proves her abilities in rendering melodies.

Santhana Poongatrae It is yet another melody that pleases your ears with some rhythmic beats in the background. The guitar and the flute pieces in the prelude and the interlude are good. The new singer Lavanya’s voice is sweet and I hope to hear more songs in her voice. Again Ramesh Vinayakam sings the male part. The best thing about the song is the lyrics by Kavivarman thoughtful lyrics perfectly conveying the situation at which the song is placed in the movie.

Ullalae Ullalae It is a perfect western country song with trumpets, typical percussions and piano being used mostly. Even he manages to bring in melody in such a joyous song. The second and third stanza starts and ends very melodiously. Devan’s voice fits well for this song because of his Tanglish pronunciation. Altogether an enjoyable song.

Boom Boom This is the title music of the movie. I have no idea to what kind of music this belong to but very different, innovative and sounds good. The chorus singing slightly touches the opera style but words blabbered are funny to hear.

Mattikitanae This is a pakka gana song sung by Karthik. The beats pull your legs to tap on the floor. I laud the inclusion of Solo Violin piece in the interlude of such a gana song. Now a new trend of mixing classical music in gana numbers has evolved. I was stunned by the way each line in the second and third stanza ends. The chorus voices starts the same line in different tracks at different times and all synchronizes at the end perfectly with some nice twists in notes. It is a different thought and it also sounds good.

Overall it is an album worth buying and he is a music director from whom we can expect lot more soul stirring melodies.