There is a tendency among the new crop of music directors to go only for loud, drums-based numbers. This may be because the heroes, with their propensity for dances, are looking for rhythms and not resonance. In the event, the slow-paced melodies that dreamily fill you with their soft essence are dying. The dance numbers, sure have their place. But the problem is that they, after a few hearings, lose their charm. Like fast food, they are good only when they are hot.
Dhana 51 songs carry the ineluctable stamp of Chakri. As an album, it takes the expected path. And that, really, is the problem.
1. I am in love
For starters, this is an airy-fairy kind of song. It is neither one thing nor the other. The use of computer program is pretty obvious. The rhythms too have set pattern to it. Kousalya, who gets to sing most part of the song, has a voice that comes across as a grating shriek. Chakri himself has chosen to wear the mantle of the lead singer. He lisps the lyrics. On the whole, what you end up with is a run of the mill number.
2. Aravirisina Mogga
The moment you hear the rhythm pattern, you know you are in for a disappointment. How many times have we heard this before? But strangely, the tune is not such a bad one. But Chakri, who sings it, botches it with some high-pitched false voice. The tune sure needed better handling. Somebody like Unni Krishnan would have fitted the bill ideally. Anyway, the Carnatic base to the tune holds it.
3. China Goda
There are no half measures with Shankar Mahadevan. He gives his heart content to every number. In this fast-paced number, he really goes over the top, and you almost feel like telling him to take it easy. The tune does him no good. It is like a train going non-stop at a fast clip. Kousalya offers nothing different in this song. At higher ranges, Kousalya seems to lose her essential control and craft.
4. 51 Title song
Again a confusing medley. Some portions remind you of a song from Student No 1. The tune, the orchestration, the singing style ...nothing has anything new to offer. The singers Vasu, Viswa, Surya Kiran (in the noisy stretch, it is difficult to identify the vocals) try their best to salvage it. But neither do they have the vocal powers nor has the song the intrinsic strength to come out with a blaze. A loud mismatch, really.
5. Kovaa Kovaa
The song lists a long roster of names. Ravi Varma, Pallavi, Vassu, Balaji, Martin, Gowri, Soorya Kiran, Kameshwari. Don't know who has really sung it. The singing is average. But the tune is not. It is folksy. It slowly grows on you. After a few hearings, you begin to unconsciously mouth the lines. But then again, you realize that it is a tune you might have heard before.
6. Ounanave Ounani Anave
Unni Krishanan at his best, really. He is the modern-day K J Yesudas. He brings the right amount of sorrow in his tone --- a pathos number, and in higher ranges, he is sublime. He seems to have changed his essential style for this gripping song.
Chakri is known to repeat himself. On the evidence Dhana 51, he seems to have done nothing to shake off that allegation.