'Kadal' - Falls short to be called Rahman's best

Film: "Kadal"; Music Director: A.R Rahman; Singers: A.R. Rahman, Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Abhay Jodhpurkar, Chinmayi, Haricharan Seshadri, Harini, Shakthisree Gopalan, Sid Sriram, Tanvi Shah and Vijay Yesudas; Lyricists: Vairamuthu, Madhan Karky and Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam; Rating: ***1/2

The "Kadal" album has seven tracks, featuring the voices of A.R.Rahman, Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Abhay Jodhpurkar, Chinmayi, Haricharan Seshadri, Harini, Shakthisree Gopalan, Sid Sriram, Tanvi Shah and Vijay Yesudas. While Rahman himself has crooned two songs, the rest of the singers have one song each to their credit.

"Chithirai Nela" by Vijay Yesudas is a comforting number to open the album with. Vairamuthu's emotional lyrics set the mood of the song for a pleasant and elevating listening from the very first minute, while Vijay's vocal is highly stimulating. The soft baseline of the song leads into heavy thumping percussion beats.

Sid Sriram breathes life into "Adiye", a soulful number heavily influenced by gospel style singing. Sid's powerful vocal is backed by energetic choir and Rahman's pick of Indian instruments. Though the song sounds very blue overall, but due to the use of light instruments, the overall mood of the song is very real.

"Elay keechan", crooned by A.R.Rahman, has traces of the original soundtrack from Hollywood movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou". Acoustic guitar drives through the beginning, making the song a dedication to seamen and their lives. One can also feel the effervescent mood of the song throughout, formed by the wonderful collaboration of lyricist Karky, composer and singer Rahman. Rahman's matchless voice adds a special ring to the song, while the tune is catchy enough to draw some attention.

"Nenjukkule" is undoubtedly the best song of the soundtrack. Having been released much before the official audio launch of the film, this song has already caught the attention of one all, including several non-Tamilians. Shakthisree Gopalan's stunning voice not only makes this song melodious but highly emotional as well. For those who've heard the live version of this song on MTV's "Unplugged", the studio version may or may not impress as one might feel it misses the charm one would've found while hearing the live version. The guitar preface perfectly syncs with the backing of heavy percussions.

"Anbin vaasale" crooned by Haricharan Seshadri is yet another track in the album with a gospel feel to the overall output. The church choir is perfectly supported by Haricharan's lead voice that reminds one of the strong lines penned by Madhan Karky.

"Magudi magudi", a digitally mastered track is highly energetic and racy, but at the same time, broody. What's different in this number is, it mixes few dialogues with the song to make it part serious and part catchy. Since most of the song is digitally composed, there isn't any scope for musical composition.

"Kadal" is enjoyable, but isn't Rahman's best.

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Kadal