Music Reviews – Enthiran(Robot) & others

Enthiran (Robot)– Hypnotic, Robotic, Supersonic (Superstar)

I will give this one to Shankar, for the decade-long cherished dream project, and completing this somehow, anyhow. I have had a decent share of listens of the album and can comfortably comment on the music by now. Must mention the levels of insanity it can lead to, going back and forth between this and earlier Rajini films’ trip like Sivaji, Muthu etc. I would not call it guilty pleasure because the music has never been shoddy.

An entertaining commercial sounds album, very in sync with the team and sound that one associates with it. Songs that do cover 3-4 genres, but share the common beat-heavy and rhythm-crazy mood.
I have enjoyed all earlier Rahman-Shankar & Rahman-Rajini albums not to mention. It had been some time since I last heard Sivaji but Robot made me go back to it(even found a hilarious Hindi version of the songs). As of the man it all revolves around, I have stopped reacting to any film buzz off-late, films in India have been now set in a restrictive homeostasis model, either overtly conformist or blaringly newage, both of which does not really bring home anything new, so why bother? All I can say is yes it is an ambitious film, it would really be more a surprise to see Rajinikanth dancing with Aishwarya against some demanding high standards that the music sets than to see Shankar do his regular now-patented thing. As always, some more unplanned surprises are always welcome.
Now coming to the brighter side, the music. And it’s really only the music. I got the Tamil version, not knowing it has whole lot of other language versions too. But given Shankar-Rahman track, I wouldn’t really bother with checking out any other version either. Tamil would be just fine. I did check the Hindi tracks today, and they were obnoxiously written to say the least. Though Mohit Chauhan & Srinivas were good in adapting 2 tracks apart from Rahman singing in a little tweaked for sounding more ‘bossy’ track. Besides this is no Maniratnam project where each department would be well-worked, at least song writing is certainly not the top priority here.

Puthiya Manidha – Saint goes Cyber
Singers: S. P. Balasubramaniam, A. R. Rahman, Khatija Rahman
The song took me some time but when I did discover it, it was some moment. SPB sings his heart out and the vocals are nicely tempered with, Rahman enters with a recipe book on Robot-making and its a nice build up, very entertaining, Shankar style. I like it when Rahman plays with the slow unveiling of the grand sound, here he does it with Khatija’s wonderfully mystifying vocals and some exotic sounds in the background. The theme track hits home soon and you see a brilliant SPB going Vairamuthu-philosophy-on-overdrive on poor Chitti.
The theme altered-voice-to-sound-virtual track ends up being very reliable and infectious. Reminds me of the nicely programmed MJ tracks in his later years. The song moves into a milder symphony towards the second half, giving a richness in sound, and effect. The chorus is further anointed by chanting of ‘Robot, Robot’, if you didn’t yet get the point.

Kadhal Anukkal- Oh! Baby Rock! Baby!!
Singers: Vijay Prakash, Shreya Ghoshal
I have rarely heard a song of the breezy genre in Shankar films. It might have been the soothing genre, like one song in Indian/Hindustani but never this back-handed and breezy. And I yet again enjoyed Vijay Prakash exploring and canning another mood, and I can’t stop marveling and this artist’s immense range as a singer and the ease with which he adapts himself to it, be it a Quick Gun Murugan, Raavan, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya or now, Enthiran. The way he smiles behind the song reminds me of an early Udit Narayan or Shaan on his better day. Arresting format, flowing melody, loop-friendly hooks, all make it an instant favorite.

Arima Arima- Smile, now that you are here.
Singers: Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam
Additional Vocals: Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer
Another tough hear, yet a rewarding one. Hariharan’s vocals are as majestic as Shankar Mahadevan’s superlative prominent tracks for Rahman in Kandukondain…(Yenna Solla Pogirai)and Rhythm(Nilame/Thaniye). The track serves more of a ‘building up the enigma’ purpose a la Oruvan Oruvan (Muthu) or even a Vaaji Vaaji(Shivaji), but this time has some never-done-before arrangements and transitions.

Chitti Dance Showcase
Singers: Pradeep Vijay, Pravin Mani, Yogi B
Additional Arrangements and Programming: Pravin Mani
Praveen Mani comes back to the party after long. And the lights are not getting a shade paler. A slower Boom Boom Robot Da beat hits on the head like a dream-dance competition, and the track slowly gets to the forefront of kicking ass. And kick ass is what it totally does, something Rahman can manage in his sleep, there is even a mellow symphony here though, accompanying the now-characteristic aalaap/dance fusion sound that he has mastered in the recent few scores.
I love the way the song fades and restarts, never say die, and th ebeat builds back again before concluding.

Kilimanjaro-Ladki parvat ki yaaro!
Singers: Javed Ali, Chinmayi
Additional Vocal Arrangements: Clinton Cerejo
My second favorite from the album as far as ‘easy on ears’ goes. Javed Ali. Another singer who is doing very well for his form of singing, though not as diverse as Vijay Prakash but still a delight to hear when he gets to do fun tracks like this one.

Boom Boom Robo Da- Boys, anyone?
Singers: Yogi B, Keerthi Sagathia, Swetha Mohan, Tanvi Shah
Might become the biggest hit of the album, and should be a treat to watch given the infectious punchline. Isaac Asimov, Newton and lesser fortunate souls join in the toast too. A carefully planned song, the infectious rap, a little surprising to not see Blaaze present but the effect is no less. Like all the other Robot songs, one can’t really talk much about this one too, it is highly electronic yet highly enjoyable. No questions asked, none answered.

Irumbile Oru Idhaiyam-Robot on a Dance command in a loop
Singers: A. R. Rahman, Kash’n’Krissy
A dance track from the very first click, all the elements are very much present here – a free-flowing female voice, some crazy electronic sound mood building(all systems DNA algorithm operators lingo), the words Robotic Hypnotic Supersonic playing in constant melody, and Rahman’s fun outing. A thouroughly enjoyable track, best recommended for a free-of-human-intervention night ride.

Leave all those Rajini doubts aside, this music is the reason why they still stack those CD’s up in your friendly neighborhood mall.

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