‘Kisapaathiyil’ - Kismath (Malayalam)
Music: Sushin Shyam
Sushin Shyam has been a familiar name in the musical circuit, having been associated as the vocalist and keyboard player in The Down Troddence, a thrash metal band from Kerala. He has also scored the background music for films like Sapthamashree Thaskaraha and Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi. He debuts as a composer with Kismath and has composed the album’s best song. Sushin opens ‘Kisapaathiyil’ to the serene sounds of rain, takes on Charukesi raaga for the oh-so-beautiful melody and ends it on a lingering serene note too.
‘Mana Ho Tum Behad Haseen’ - Cover: Suraj Jagan.
Music rearranged by Rohit Bhushan.
That Toote Khilone’s (1978) ‘Mana ho tum’ is one of Bappi Lahiri's finest songs is no debate at all. And it is sung by Yesudas no less, easily featuring in every single Hindi compilation of the celebrated singer. So, when Suraj Jagan takes on the challenge to create a cover version of the song, he, and his composer Rohit Bhushan, do try something mighty interesting. Not only do they recreate the song into a more austere version, they also tweak the first instance of the lovely, ‘Dekho kabhi toh, pyaar se’ line to a tantalising effect, while retaining the original for the line’s second occurrence.
‘Rabba Rabba’ - Chuttalabbayi (Telugu)
Music: S.S. Thaman
Composer Thaman usually has two signature musical styles. One is the busy, heavy on rhythm techno songs. The other is more Harris Jayarajish--an indulgent and lush tune, amidst minimal orchestration. Kick‘s ‘Gore Gore’ falls in this category, for instance. A recent entry to this is Chuttalabbayi‘s ‘Rabba rabba’. The minimal background is accentuated by an absorbing background sound akin to abrupt keyboard plays, while Deepak and Megha deliver the melody well.
‘Jadoo Rawan Rawan’ - Kabali (Hindi)
Music: Santhosh Narayanan
Santhosh Narayanan may be the only composer in India who actually bothers to add some regional nuance to his music dubbed in other languages. He first demonstrated this in the Hindi dubbed songs of Saala Khadoos (dubbed from Irudhi Sutru), where there were marked differences between the two otherwise-identical soundtracks. In Kabali too, he pulls off a similar feat. The most interesting addition he makes is in ‘Maya Nadhi’s Hindi variant, ‘Jadoo rawan rawan’. The tunes are exactly the same, but with a pleasant surprise. After the Hindi equivalent of ‘Desangal thirindhen thaniye, thaniye’ (Khushiyon ke aansoon chalke, chalke), Santhosh introduces Sai Saravanan on tabla to add to a new, subtle dimension to the familiar song.
‘Rabha’ - Joi, featuring George Brooks.
If Papon is the shining star of Assamese music taking on the state’s music to mainstream, Joi Barua is not far behind in that endeavour. Joi’s 2011 debut album Looking Out Of The Window was an outstanding collection of songs and the man has been steadily producing assorted singles too. The latest one is ‘Rabha’, a delightful take on Assamese music with a solid world-music outlook. The song is instantly likeable, regardless of the language barrier (if you do consider it a barrier, that is), and the song’s highlight is the hypnotic sax by George Brooks.
