Aadhavan

After the mammoth Dasavatharam, director K.S.Ravikumar presents to us Aadhavan, which has Surya in a double role. Despite Dasavatharam having good music by Himesh Reshammiya, K.S.R goes for Harris Jayaraj for Aadhavan's music. I'm sure this is only because he thought (rightly) that Harris suits a Surya movie better than anybody else, and nothing else.
Meanwhile, this is also Surya's third consecutive movie having Harris Jayaraj as the music director, after an excellent Vaaranam Aayiram and an ok-but-still-successful Ayan. So what's in store for Aadhavan?

1. Hasili Fisiliye : Enter typical Harris territory. Another song that again sounds so damn familiar, that you can sing along after listening to it just a couple of times. Despite all this, you still know that it's going to become a super hit. It sounds like Oh Aayiye + Unnale Unnale. And finally, it's nice to hear Harini after something like 3 years.

2. Yeno Yeno : This is supposed to be the first tamil song to be shot in Iceland. Some portions of the first stanza remind you of Yedhedo ennangal from Pattiyal. Also Sudha Raghunathan sings her 2nd song for Harris after Annul maelae, which makes one wonder why she's needlessly venturing into commercial film songs. The song is just average.

3. Vaarayo Vaarayo : Starting with a good piano bit, this slow duet is sung by Unnikrishnan and Chinmayi, with Unnikrishnan sounding a lot like Sonu Nigam in the beginning parts. Again, it slightly resembles a few of Harris's old songs but otherwise it's good.

4. Dheko Dheko : Bad, like honey honey in Ayan. Don't waste your time listening. One of Harris's worst songs ever.

5. Damakku Damakku : Again, here's a song that's plain average but would eventually become at least a decent hit as it's supposed to be the hero's intro song. Still, some parts of the song make you feel that you're listening to Pala Pala from Ayan.

6. Masi Masi : "Mano? Really?", you think when you read the singer's name. You also expect the near extinct, experienced, once-an-ARR-favorite singer to make a comeback. Never did you think that he would do so with a trashy song like Masi Masi.


At the end of it, Aadhavan is a huge disappointment. All songs look like variations of Harris's previous songs. In the long run, it would be remembered as a small mistake of Harris Jayaraj. Also of K.S.Ravikumar.(For not choosing Himesh again? :) )

Kaminey

Vishal Bhardwaj is an extremely talented guy who never fails to surprise us. Few know that he started off as a music director and only later ventured into direction, only to excel in that too. His last movie Omkara had good music (by him, of course), with beedi still being extremely popular.

Along with his movies, his music also earned critical acclaim all along, but his movies usually outshone his music. In Kaminey, however, the situation might change. For, what we get to hear is an excellent album that is more commercial than any of his previous albums yet is in perfect sync with the theme of the film.


1. Dhan te nan : The similarity of this song with Misirlou ( the Pulp fiction theme) and the beginning of the title song of Cash is noteworthy. Local examples that i can relate this song to are deepavali ( from sivakasi), engeyum eppodum etc. Of course, the culprit is ragam thodi! Despite the similarities, the song is a high energy track and is rendered aptly by Sukhwinder & Vishal Dadlani.

2. Pehli baar mohabbat : Mohit Chauhan, who has had a great year so far, continues his great run with this stunning mild rock track that talks about the first love of the protagonist, which also happens to be his last love. The lyrics penned by Gulzarji are different, nice & fresh and complement the song well.

3. Kaminey : The multifaceted director himself comes behind the mike this time. The result is a slow, okay-ish song with periodic, affectionate calls of "kaminey"! How times have changed! When was the last time you heard a hindi song in which the singer politely refers to somebody/something as "kaminey"?

4. Fatak : The only song that's not immediately impressive. Especially when you expected something great when you see Kailash Kher's and Sukhwinder's name mentioned. Fatak is meant to appeal to the masses like beedi, but i doubt if it would achieve the same popularity. But repeated hearing should do the trick.

5. Raat ke dhai baje : Thankfully, there's no disappointment this time as the combination of Sunidhi & Rekha Bhardwaj works big time. Again, this is a song about the first love and last love being the same, as told by the female protagonist. This would probably turn out to be the most popular song of the album in the long run.

6. Go charlie go : It's just the theme track but Vishal's made this one sound very interesting too with all that instuments! This will probably be used extensively in the background.

Kaminey joins the small list of very good albums that have come this year. It also brings the best out of Vishal Bhardwaj till date. Very Very Fexy indeed!