‘Vasanthamallike’
Chandrettan Evideya (Malayalam)
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At one point in the start of the music video (from the film, of course), Dileep sings aloud the verses he has so painstakingly written, when the phone rings. It’s Anjali and she, at 1.40 a.m, asks him if she can sing to him the jadhi she has just composed. He agrees, albeit with an equal mix of hesitation and expectation. As she sings, his eyes light up, I assume, more for the reason that she continued to sing in the raga he had started his song with — Abheri. For a raga suitably and wonderfully adapted to films by Ilaiyaraaja many times (remember
‘Pilla Nee Kallakunna’
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Music : Mani Sharma
Mani Sharma, once the reigning king of Telugu film music, has been on a downward spiral lately. Even his one-off sojourns into Tamil Nadu for a Vijay film from time-to-time has dried up. But the man makes a good comeback in Balakrishna’s Lion . ‘Pilla Nee Kallakunna’ is as pulpy Andhra and catchy as it can get, almost like the kind of song and dance one would make after biting into smoking hot gongura chutney. Simha and Sudhamayi sing it with the perfect verve and you can almost imagine Balakrishna’s playful (as playful as a 54 year old can get) expressions as Simha sings.
‘Bezubaan’
Piku (Hindi)
Music : Anupam Roy
Bengali composer, once a Texas Instruments techie in Bangalore, has indeed come a long way. His transition from Bengali pop and film music, to mainstream Bollywood is special because director Shoojit Sircar opts for him over his regular, Shantanu Moitra. Anupam composes and sings ‘Bezubaan’, an easily likeable, evocative tune that goes a wee bit more than the standard-issue Hindi song where the leads are mooning over the good times they had 75 minutes before, as the director and editor showcase their skills in cutting montage shots.
‘Padayatra’
Music Mojo Season 3 (Malayalam)
Music : Job Kurian Collective, featuring Harish Sivaramakrishnan of Agam
Job Kurian is one of the most promising composers from Malayalam and has been doing stellar work with Kappa TV’s Music Mojo (a more austere, lesser known Coke Studio equivalent), besides producing needlessly amazing music in flop Mohanlal-starrers like Rasam . Padayatra is a song he composes and sings, along with Agam's Harish Sivaramakrishnan and the result is astounding. Job is already a brilliant singer, and when another darn good singer like Harish joins him, that too, for a tune as hypnotic as the one Job conjures, things can only get — to quote an(y) excited Malayalee — adipoli !
‘No Problem’
Vajrakaya (Kannada)
Music : Arjun Janya
Arjun Janya is arguably the top composer in Kannada cinema today. For a new song in Shivrajkumar-starrer Vajrakaya , he ropes in Dhanush to do what he does best — sing-recite street-smart lines that no doubt include a generous smattering of English and of course, the phrase ‘Kolaveri di’. Dhanush delivers the cool, simple tune effortlessly, even as Arjun adorns it with a neat harmonica sound now identified as ‘that Harris Jayaraj sound’.