No other album has raised so high expectations and created quite as much frenzy among eager fans like Escape Artists 'Motion Pictures' Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (Will You Cross the skies for me?). The Tamil film has everything going for it namely Gautam Menon as director, Oscar-winning AR Rahman [Images] as a composer and lyricist who Thamarai, Kalyani Menon and Kaithapram.
And with Simbhu Trisha [Images] as the leading couple, VTV has made headlines ever since it was launched as a touching love story with music set to blitz everyone's heart.
Add to that the fact this is the composer back to Tamil after his Oscar success. So does the collection lives up to the hype? Let's find out.
Lazily strum a guitar, reminding very weak in the old Wild West, and then morphs into something that could be an old native Indian song - it's Aaromale, sung by Alphonse. The text in Malayalam appear to offer a nice complement to the overall structure of song. There is a soothing, gentle feel to the number, an experience that lets you sink into it. The song actually starts some time later, with a weak strain of violins somewhere far away. Even as Alphonse voice rises to higher octaves, failing hug the original depths, providing a many-layered experience. An intense number that.
You sit flashes when you're listening to Avan Anbil you are transported directly to a church choir, until you realize that the song rendered by Devane Ekambaram and Chinmayi is actually a conglomerate that describes two kinds of religious weddings. The texts are all about bonding eternal, endless affection and essential basic vows. It's got a peppy feel full of happy anticipation, an eagerness to find the next intoxicating experience, supplemented with synthesized instrumental arrangements. It works a bit like Ibiza number - but you are also carried away by his eagerness to note that until the end.
At a half romantic, half-mournful note of a flute interlude begins perhaps the most published numbers from the album: Hosanna by Blaaze, Vijay Prakash and Suzanne. The musical arrangement or otherwise take you back to the early days of ARR, until you realize what number they refrain, Hosanna, bears a striking resemblance to: Only Time by Enya. Closely follows the RAP segment melody well, the lyrics celebrate the lover Pining away for her lover until his world shrunk to just her. There is no doubt that it is romantic, what with church bells pealing, complicated violin and a chorus, all of which reach a crescendo in the finale. It is a pleasant listen, but still
Violin transfer in the first seconds of Kannukkul Kannai is enticing and the number itself, delivered by Naresh Iyer in a fast and almost breathless manner that seeks to bring the heady feeling of being in love. Apart from the violin segment, if you feel like this is a musical arrangement, you have heard often in Rahman's earlier albums, and faithfully imitated by others follow in his footsteps. In terms of ARR numbers, it is pretty run-of-the-mill.
Shreya Goshal's melodic voice begins Mannippaya with anxiety, and it morphs gradually into a more gentle melody. Repentance and forgiveness are the predominant themes in this issue, and the soothing tones match the expectations of the ARR even providing accompaniment.Attractive, yes, but the text takes precedence in this song and the melody seems to have been composed to accommodate it. Even flute segment reminds you jingle Titanic [Images]. Thekural couplets which suddenly appear to take you by surprise. They're a pleasant listen - and then it's back to the meandering melody.
Kalyani Menon and Benny Dhayal begin Omanappenne that acts as a fusion of western and classical music with a violin suddenly launch into a classical melody at certain points. And it is the essence of the whole song: a gentle composition that attempts to cross-over from one genre to another, while a nadaswaram makes an unwelcome appearance, not to add another flavor to the proceedings. That said, we have heard many such songs from ARR himself, and with more variety.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, accompanied by guitar strings and rendered by Karthik, comes in a different way entirely. It's slow, introspective, and the general tone does not seem to care much whether it hits the highs and lows of notes in an approved manner, which actually is a plus. The melody moves from contemplative to Satisfaction with questioning, and there seems to be the essence of number itself: all the different emotions incorporated into a question.
It is not possible to cast an opinion from an AR Rahman album is just based on a listener. This composer has a talent to come up with tracks that grow on you.
Lyricist Thamarai stands out so well. That said, it does not look like VTV is one of her best efforts.
Blame the post-Oscar hype or the burden of too many projects, but apart from a few moments of glorious heights, ARR largely sticking to its proven template.
In this collection, he has gone more to the western audience, it seems, and there is little room for experimentation. A discerning music-lover may be longing for something more. For diehard fans ARR itself, it is a musical treat.
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