Punnagai Poove Music Review

Punnagai Poove

If we were to be asked who's the busiest music director in Tamil cinema today, then the answer is incredibly simple. The answer is Yuvan Shankar Raja, who now has an amazing six albums out at the same time in the market ("PopCarn," "Punnagai Poovae," "Mounam Paesiyathey," "April Maathathil," "Bala," and "Kaadhal Samraajiyam"). The best album out of all of those is still "Mounam Paesiyathey" but I'm hoping "PopCarn" -- released very soon -- will top that.

"Punnagai Poovae" -- an album for a new director who's working with new actors -- at least for now doesn't. It's still a very good album, and the music is actually, in several places, very fresh, very Western, and very innovative. It's, for the most part, the lyrics that bring this "Poovae" down. But still, there are some very good songs on this album.

I was listening to one of the "Punnagai Poovae" songs, and my father walked in and asked me what English song I was listening to. I told him it was a Tamil song. He was very surprised -- that's how Western some parts of "Poovae" are.

A good album with a strong innovative Eastern-Western fusion. Also, YSR usually has a very distinct paint-by-numbers song structure; he's broken free of that and has experimented with song structures as well. It's really interesting to watch this young man grow as a music director in this way.

Oh yes, in keeping with the Western style, this is an album of very short songs. Two of the songs are bit songs, and not a single one of the other songs is longer than four-and-a-half minutes. This leads to clean quick enjoyable listening.

Repeated listening might well make me change my opinion and upgrade the album to a 3.5 / 4, too. Keep posted.


1. Yen Kaadhal -- Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Very innovative. Very fresh. Hummable listenable song. I totally enjoyed this song until we get to the English rap interlude. I have nothing against rap, but the lyrics in the rap are hilarious -- "So why? You never know we rock up in the mother / Ooh-aah, I make 'em watch a twenty-four track, then I / Light your body, I know you got the body" and stuff like this. Still, considering most of the Tamil population isn't going to understand what those rappers are saying anyway... Okay. YSR sings fine, the music is innovative and sharp, and the lyrics -- for the Tamil sections -- are decent. A song I enjoy. A good start to the album. Very Nice.

2. Jogging Seiyum Caesar (Bit Song) -- Shalini.


And here comes possibly the weakest link in the "Punnagai Poovae" armor. The music is usual "faux-sexy," and the lyrics are flat-out dumb and hilarious ("Ziz-zag nadaiyil vanthu / Zoom-zoom paarvai thanthu / Lub-dub veettil nindru / Ivannthaan noottril ondru"). These dumb dumb lyrics and the really not that different from heard-before music mean I don't enjoy the song too much. It is a bit song, so I'm not minding the song too much, though. Between a Mediocre and a Nice.

3. Oru Poonkili -- Srinivas, Prasanna.

And then comes the required folk song. Since it's a folk song, once again the lyrics aren't that good. The beat is nice, but not as innovative and fresh-sounding as some of the other songs. Okay to listen to, but it's not going down in my list of favorites. Nice.

4. Siragaagi Ponathae (Bit Song) -- Susithra Ganga, Kovai Ranjani.

I listened to the first many lines of this song, and I was thoroughly enjoying the melodious beat, the nice lyrics, and the soft singing. And then all of a sudden, there's this whoosh sound, and the song gets much harder -- and much less pleasant to listen to. It's still a good song, but I would have preferred it if it had remained soft throughout. Nice.

5. Thilaakkaeni Gaanaa -- Karthik, Tippu.

Okay, and here comes the song that I know is going to be the biggest hit with the youth population out there. Great beat, nice music, and great singing by both Karthik and Tippu. The problem for me, once again, lies in the lyrics. The lyrics are very average, and at one point, Tippu begins singing, "Wakku wakku wakku." What is that? But the quality of the music and beat and the fun nature of the song are making me disregard the lyrics a little for this one. Very Nice.

6. Vaanam Thoovum -- Harish Ragavendra, Kovai Ranjani.

And boom, we get to the best song on the album. It's a melodious slow love song. Strong lyrics, strong music, and strong singing (of course) by Harish Ragavendra. Kovai Ranjani also does well. I like the lines, "Kaadhal tharum vaedham neethaan... / Naervili thanthathu, vaalkaiyin aarambam." Just a great song. Excellent.

7. Yaeno Uyirmaelae (Bit Song).

And we have another great song. This one's a bit song as well with some great lyrics, great singing, and some really nice music. It should go really well with picturization as well. Very Nice.

8. Venus Venus Pennae -- Devan, Harini.

The two songs that are going to be the biggest hit with the youth audience from this album are "Thilaakkaeni Gaanaa" and this "Venus Venus Pennae" -- another very Western, very modern, very fresh innovative youth song. But once again, despite the great music, the lyrics keep this song from achieving an excellent status. The English rap which comes in the middle of this song also comes complete with ridiculous lyrics, and even the Tamil lines aren't so great in this one. But still, the music is so fresh and innovative that I like this song a lot as well. Very Nice.

Winner Music Review

Winner

“Eye” by Devan

It is a catchy, western style, dance number with foot tapping refreshing beats. Pa. Vijay has written the song, targetting the youth, with words like ‘babes, SMS, internet’ etc. Devan’s carefree voice with U.S accent is the perfect choice for this song. It’s sure to hit the charts.

“Endhan Uyir” by Udit narayanan

It is an enchanting composition. Though Udit’s tamil is injurious to our ears, the beautiful BGM and percussions save the song. Though it is slow paced, it is sure to attract the younger generation by the catchy rhythm. This song would have been the pick of this album, if only someone other than Udit had sung it. “Mathaapoo” by Tippu, Premji, Sri Ranjani is a dance number to be picturised in a marriage function sequence with herds of people let loose their feet. And again, Yuvan has proved his wrong choice of female vocals in this song.

“Muthal murai” by Srinivas and Mahalakshmi Iyer

It is a wonderful melody and such a beautiful song features as an unexpected surprise gift to melody lovers. Though rhythm reminds us of “Thulli thulli” song from “Unakkagaa Ellam Unakkaaga”, the song is hauntingly composed with beautiful guitar pieces. Pa.Vijay has given wonderful lyrics with lot of love feelings.

“Engirundaai” by Harish Ragavendra

It is again a beautiful melody number which is highly addictive. Yuvan has concentrated on the BGM and the class compositions are the outcome. This song will hit the charts though Pa. Vijay’s lyrics are illogical at places, like the lover asking the lady love, where she was, when he was born?. Doesn’t it imply that she is elder to him? Lyrics in second charanam humiliates the males by depicting the lover to be totally dependent on her and disturbed by her smile, movement etc.

“Kozhi” by Udit and Prashanthi

It starts with the music which makes the listener think it’s going to be a melody and suddenly pucca ‘dappanguthu’ song sets in. It is for the front row occupants and Yuvan has used flute innovatively for a dappanguthu song.

Overall, it is an above average album with a mixture of western, folk, dappanguthu and melody numbers. Though it is released without any publicity, it is sure to create some ripples. The recording and tape quality is also notably good and Yuvan is fast becoming a commercial hit giving music director.

Bala Music Review

Bala

No doubt the busiest music director working in Tamil cinema these days is Yuvan Shankar Raja. Ilayaraja's younger son has so many releases these days; if you go to a cassette shop, there are four recent YSR releases available to buy ("Mounam Paesiyathey," "Bala," "April Maathatthil," "Kaadhal Samraajiyam") and "Punnagai Poovae" is coming up soon as well.

If you ask me whether the sheer number of YSR's projects is lowering the quality of his work, I would say no. He consistently produces good music.

But if you ask me whether he's making superb music like "Nandhaa" or "Thulluvatho Ilamai" or "Poovellaam Kaettupaar," I'd have to say no to that, too. His music recently is not as very-high-quality as some of his initial efforts; it's never bad, but the recent ones haven't been excellent, either.

"Bala" fits that mold as well. There are a few good songs, a few not-so-great songs, and overall, we have a nice-to-listen-to, but no-classic album.



1. Poo Poovai -- Unni Menon, Ganga.

A great way to begin the album. Strong lyrics, good singing, and melodious music. This is a wonderfully melodious song, and the lyricist should be praised for this one. My favorite lines are, "Malai vanthaal / Athil nanaivoam / Athai thuvattum sugam kidaikka." Yuvan Shankar Raja knows when he should underplay his music, and he does so to considerable effect here. This should have a nice picturization, I'm hoping.
Very Nice.
2. Theendi Theendi -- Unnikrishnan, Sujatha.

A very '80s-sounding but very nice melodious love song. Both Unnikrishnan and Sujatha have done nice jobs. The music is melodious and nice. The lyrics are good as well. Neatly done.
Very Nice.

3. Vannatthu Poocchi -- Karthik, Madhangi.

And releasing himself from the subtle melodies of the previous two songs, Yuvan Shankar Raja has the first louder more brash song in "Vanatthu Poochi." Both Karthik and Maadhangi sing well, and the lyrics -- surprisingly -- aren't bad. The music, though, is innovative and very new-sounding. I'm not saying this is a loud song; it's just louder than the rest of the album. I wonder what the picturization for this is going to look like. It's very "different" kind of music, both quick and difficult to dance to.
Between a Very Nice and an Excellent.

4. Bailamo -- Yuvan Shankar Raja.


All traces of subtlety gone, we have a "dappaanguthu"-sounding song with poor lyrics. The good news about this song is YSR is very definitely trying to vary the kind of songs he sings. The bad news is while this music tries to be innovative, it's only successful up to a certain extent. Perhaps I'll like this more after seeing the picturization, but I don't know -- this isn't my kind of song, and so far, it's my least favorite on the album. It's not a bad song, but it's for the front-benchers.
Nice.

5. Yen Kannai -- Shankar Mahadevan.

I love the intro to this song, with the haunting unidentified female voice vocalizing. The main part of the song is also very well done and has a haunting undercurrent to it, and Shankar Mahadevan does a great job with the song. It's a love song -- but in YSR's hands, there's more to it as well. It's a pleasant way to end the album. We're coming back to that melody now. The lyrics are also good.
Between a Very Nice and an Excellent.