Kadhal Samrajyam Music Review

Kadhal Samrajyam

The last month or so has not been a good time for Tamil music fans. We've been given subpar work by even the greats like Ilayaraja and A.R. Rahman, and it's been quite a long time since I've heard a good Tamil album I could get into. The last good album was "Hey! Nee Romba Alagaa Irukka" and it's been a while since that came out.

Being a Yuvan Shankar Raja fan, I was pinning all my hopes on YSR to produce the next good album.

Thankfully, he does not disappoint, and we have some very nice songs for his new album. This is not a classic album, and it won't go down in history as the best, but it'll bring my attention back to Tamil music from Hindi music (I've been listening to "Mera Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai"'s superlative soundtrack in recent days).

Good consistent effort.

Oh yes -- starring in this film are SPB Charan, Yugendran, and a couple of other singers. That's one major hype-mark for this movie. We've had dance masters become heroes; next directors are becoming heroes; and now singers are becoming heroes.


1. Iru Kanngal Sollum -- Balram, Gopika Poornima.

Melodious music, melodious singing, and good lyrics. The more I listen to this song, the more I discover to like. It's a great song of first love, and a great way to start off the soundtrack. Balram is fantastic, proving his mettle after "Paarthaalae Paravasam." Gopika Poornima has a great voice as well. Both singers have done very well. I'm liking this song quite a bit. Between a Very Nice and an Excellent.

2. Kalloori Paadam -- Shankar Mahadevan.

We have a youth song sung with excitement by Shankar Mahadevan. The lyrics are the usual youth song lyrics, though there are some funny lines here and there ("Ava paesum English-a kaettukko / Puriyaatti thalaiyai mattum aattikko!") The beat is very fast and very good, and I'd like to see this song picturized. It's a youth song, but with a great beat, and God help me, despite the lyrics, I like this song (especially the chorus instrumental!) Very Nice.

3. Sithamma -- SPB, Sujatha.

SPB and Sujatha, who have been singing duets from since before I was even born, continue with a pretty good love song. The music isn't as modern and as nice as the other songs, and the lyrics aren't that great, either, making this song a step down from the previous songs, but it's still pretty good. Nice.

4. Tholi Thola -- Karthik.

Aha. What a beautiful song. Karthik, who's been given the dumbest songs to sing in other films, here melodiously sings a beautiful sad song with excellent music and excellent lyrics. This is just a beautiful song and the best on the album. I simply love it. The instruments used are excellent, the singing is excellent, the lyrics are excellent. Excellent.

5. Vidinjaakka Kalaanam -- Chitra Sivaraman.

At first listen, this song begged to be labeled the worst song on the album. But it'll grow on you. The music will grow on you and Chitra Sivaraman's singing will grow on you. The lyrics -- not that great -- do provide a few insights as to what the story of this film is going to be about (I'm not optimistic -- "Vidinjaakka kalaanam / Moonu paeru maappillai" doesn't seem like the best plot- line, but we'll see). Maybe the worst song on the album, but in a good album like this, that's not a bad thing. Nice.

6. Mullai Poo -- SPB Charan, Venkat Prabhu, Yugendran.

Wow. Another great song. The music is just innovative and different. The singing is appropriate and beautiful. The lyrics are pretty good. This is not the kind of song for everyone, but I like it a great deal. SPB Charan does quite well. Excellent.

7. Poovai Soottu -- Pavithra.

Remember the "Wayawayaho" song from "I Love You Daa"? This song reminded me of that quite a great deal. Here's a youth song from the female point of view. Pretty good youth music, pretty good singing, but the problem lies with the lyrics. (Does "Naan chicken soup" really mean anything?) This is a good song to listen to, but the lyrics kind of bring it down a little. Between a Nice and a Very Nice.

8. Salsa Theme -- Instrumental.

An okay instrumental, except for the fact that I don't really see its point of being. Why include it at all? It's not really that great an instrumental. It's all right. Nothing great. Nice.