Easily the most electrifying combo of Indian cinema, Shankar - Rahman holds a 100% winning record so far, and a simple announcement from this pair is enough to brew the excitement for all the fans across the world. 'Let's see whether they have lived up to their reputation. Here's our detailed analysis of the much anticipated album of the year 'I'.
1. Mersalaayitten
Singer(s): Anirudh Ravichander Neeti Mohan
Lyrics : Kabilan
Welcome to the magical world of fusion, and this time it is the word fusion is not describing the music front. Kabilan's vintage Chennai (Madrash'ish) lyrics meets the James Bondes'que prelude and goes on to keep serving the surprise elements one by one. The song is an out & out Anirudh's show as he projects the joy of a guy who fell in love with a gorgeous girl & Neeti Mohan chips in by rendering the title word in a porsche way. The violin part in the first interlude which starts in 2.47 and travels for a good 40 seconds to give the baton to Neeti Mohan is a master stroke. Like, Glenn Maxwell, Rahman delivers the first huge six in the opening song itself.
2. Ennodu Nee Irundhaal
Singer(s): Sid Sriram, Sunitha Sarathy
Lyrics : Kabilan
Sid Sriram, who sung the path breaking 'Adiye' in 'Kadal' has come back to sweep off everyone with his dynamic rendering. The Piano preludes paves way for Sid to take off slowly, and Rahman keeps playing with his drums, chimes, and bells softly around Sriram's sensational vocals for a good 4 minutes. The soft drum beats meets the flutes in the midway to emote the feelings of a fluctuating heart and let Sunitha to render her part. Sid signs off with an unimaginable high pitch portion in the last part only to make us press the repeat button to ensure what we heard is real!
3. Ladio
Singer(s): Nikita Gandhi
Lyrics : Karky
Madhan Karky - The lyric engineer strikes once again with his out of box thinking to take the classic Tamil to the generation Y kids by penning them to a club number. Rahman dons the role of a DJ here, and the way he raises the tempo of the track after slowing down is sure to become a new strategy with all the DJ's. This one could well be the intro song for, Amy Jackson and it will be interesting to see how Shankar will present this one; on screen.
4. Pookkalae Sattru Oyivedungal
Singer(s): Haricharan, Shreya Ghoshal
Lyrics : Karky
Stop! Take a breath, and proceed; because this one will take your breathe away. Haricharan is the new go to man for Rahman in the recent times, and he keeps raising the bar in every outing. With regards to Shreya Ghoshal, we have to dig deep the dictionary to come up with some new adjectives to praise her singing. Rahman does not experiment too much with this track and he seems to have let the lead singers improvise to make the song sound beautiful. Madhan Karky's lyrics deserve a special mention once again for exhibiting what he can do with a single letter 'I' to provide a bewitching experience. Here we quote a few mesmerizing verses from the song..
Hey 'I' endraal adhu azhagu endraal.. andha 'I' galin 'I' aval dhaana
Hey 'I' endraal adhu kadavul endraal.. andha kadavulin thugal aval dhaana
5. Aila Aila
Singer(s): Aditya Rao : Natalie Di Luccio
Lyrics : Karky
Rahman got this adroitness in his routine to keep introducing a brand new style of compositions often, and here comes one more to that list. The Canadian singer, Natalie Di Luccio renders her portions in Opera style while Aditya Rao plays within his strength to make his mark. One cannot categorize the song to a particular style as it keeps shuttling between two different universe. A stylish mystery number will top the charts very soon.
6. Ennodu Nee Irundhaal (Reprise)
Singer(s): Chinmayi, Sid Sriram
Lyrics: Kabilan
Contrary to the earlier version, Rahman gives a different tone to the song by introducing guitars to this one and architects a poisonous shell with his sound arrangements. Chinmayi takes complete control of the song from the very moment she starts to croon the verses, and Sid Sriram accompanies her in the later part of the song to produce a perfect duet.
7. Mersalaayitten (Remix)
Singer(s): Anirudh Ravichander, Neeti Mohan
Lyrics : Kabilan
Probably for the first time in his career, Rahman is composing a Remix of his own song, and the result is mightily impressive. This one is a bit shortened compared to the original one, but, Anirudh & Neethi displays the minute difference to make this more foot tappable and a more repeatable material. Neeti Mohan's first & final 20 seconds of the track is addictive and ensures another home run for, Rahman.
Verdict - As usual Rahman has set a new trend and delivered a cracker of an album.
Pick(s) of the album - Mersalaayitten (Original & Remix), Ennodu Nee Irundhaal (Original & Reprise), Pookale Satru Oyivedungal, & Aila Aila
Stars - 4.25/5