Nanban – Audio Review

Ilayathalapathy Vijay’s films have had albums from Srikanth Deva, Dheena to Ilayaraja, A.R.Rahman and it is a record that almost all of his albums have been successful irrespective of its music composer. So it is a natural expectation that the first time combination of Vijay and Harris Jayaraj will be a rocking album and given the earlier record of Shankar with Harris in Anniyan, expectations were two fold. The audio of Gemini Film Circuit’s “Nanban” released today has given to listeners more than what they expected out of it. The album is an ultimate bundle of chart busters which are sure of stay on top of charts in the days to come.

The album begins with “En Frienda pola yaaru machan“, an anthem of friendship speaking of how the relationship is essential in life and how superior is its worth. Sung by Krish and Suchith Suresan, this song has so much vigor and intensity that it oozes out youthfulness all over. Your close friends will really flash across your eyes for a moment atleast, as you hear this song. Meaningful lines like “Thozhanin tholgalum annai madi, avan dhoorathil poothitta thoppul kodi” catch your attention instantly. Mixture of colloquial and poetic verses, the song speaks enough for itself through its lyrics written by Viveka. Harris Jayaraj’s simple orchestration with Guitar running throughout retains the feel in the voices of lead singers perfectly.

“Heartiley Battery charge thaan All is well” is an all fun song composed in complete peppy and hip hop style. The song through its simple yet intelligent lyrics by Na.Muthukumar teaches the don’t care attitude to enjoy life to the fullest by following your heart. There is more to college life than books, marks and ranks which is beautifully told in the lyrics. Hemachandran and Mukesh give all elements needed for this typical college song and make this an out and out enjoyable song. The visuals are sure to take the song to a different level making it more entertaining.

Chinmayi starts off the melody in “Ask Laska Amour Amour Ai Ast Ast Liebe”, a beautifully crafted duet, both musically and lyrically. The opening lines are full of words meaning love in different languages. The violin and kanjeera mix in the second interlude along with trademark chorus of Harris sounds too good.  Madhan Karky‘s imagination has no bounds as he mixes simple science and maths for his similes and metaphors in the song, a very very novel idea. But what stands out is again his opening lines- it is not difficult to gather words for love from 16 languages but it requires great technique to put them together in a tune that too with rhyme. On the other hand, Vijay Prakash and Chinmayi rock with their vocals, full of romantic intensity and Suvi gives ample support through her rap lines. It is always a pleasant feel to hear Chinmayi’s non-modulated voice and being a language expert she does the multilingual verses even better. The composition, a mixture of western, middle east and carnatic is very neatly done.

“Endhan Kann Munne Kaanamal Ponene” is a soft romantic number- short and sweet- with lyrics penned by Karky once again. With a simple guitar accompaniment, this Tamil version of ‘Give me Sunshine’ is so mellifluous that you are lost in it in no time. Aalaap Raju like his previous hits with Harris, brings out the pain of love in this song very beautifully. It would be a perfect situational song that will fit in well in the film.

Composed fully in Middle east style with western beats, “Irukaana Iduppirukaana Illayana Illeana” is a peppy duet that lingers in your ears for a long time even after you finish listening. The song is rendered with full vibrance by Vijay Prakash and Sunidhi Chauhan while Javed Ali gets a small verse to sing in the middle. The harmony is something never heard before in Harris Jayaraj’s compositions. Pa.Vijay‘s lyrics are full of imagination and rare words like Thuthanagam (which means Zinc). The lyricist has cleverly played with words a lot throughout giving it both the rhyme and pattern instantly catching your attention. It is really difficult for anyone to get all words in the song right without lyrics in hand.

 

“Nalla Nanban vendum endru” is a pathos song with an amazing melancholy feel brought in by the rendition of Ramakrishnan Murthy, a new find of Harris. Composed in classical style and written by Na. Muthukumar, this is another song that goes along with the situation in the film. A lot of orchestration dominates the number and it is all very well done to suit the mood. The veena and mirudhangam in the interludes are worth a mention. A wish for best friend, the song ends the album on an emotional note.

A long time after the days of Minnale and Ullam Ketkume, here comes an album from Harris Jayaraj with has youthfulness written all over it. Harris has two strong candidates for his support who make his tunes win hands down – all his lead singers many of whom are first timers with Harris and all his lyricists who have not just written words for the tunes, but have indeed made the tunes speak through their words. An album that not only caters to music lovers but also entertains the masses, this is the perfect one for a Vijay-Shankar combination film.

Nanban – Ilamai Pongal