Music review: Gangs of Madras

Film:

Gangs of Madras

Composer:

Hari Dafusia

Just four songs, but as varied as the four directions in treatment, the songs of Gangs Of Madras are lighthearted, easy on the ears, and very listenable. They are a mix of fast and slow, rustic and western, and shows that debutant composer Hari Dafusia definitely has a ken for lilting tunes. The result is that the songs, despite using a plethora of instruments, never compete with each other or overpower the singer, but maintain a harmonious medley.

The first,

Malai Malaruthada

, is soft, lyrical, very much on the lines of Vaseegara, and whispers of the magic of first love. One can clearly hear the piano, loads of string instruments, the guitar, cello, harp, violin… all in the background, as we can the panpipe-like tunes of the flute. But all these sounds are restrained and give way to the breathless and dewy freshness of Jyotsna Radhakrishnan’s husky voice, that does sexy things to Muthamil’s lyrics.

In complete contrast is

Ettu Mela Ettu

. Raw, rustic, drunk-dancing song... Jay Kha Ra’s lyrics are fun, and he and Muthamil, have themselves sung this fast-paced, percussion-based piece. So very kuthu-ish, and yet, not exactly. The song flirts with various genres, and yet falls into none. Retta Jeda, penned and sung by John, is rather more slot-able as a kuthu-cum-gana piece, more because of its arrangement and composition, and not because it defines that genre.

But

Agayam Suduthey

, sung by the rich-voiced Luksimi Sivaneswaralingam (the Senthoora singer), is where Hari shows he surely has a western influence in his music. The song soars beyond its instrumental accompaniment, goes strong, and falls, stops and picks up, and ends in a crescendo of beats… very western in concept and composition. Going purely by this album, we might get to see more of this debutant composer if he manages to keep up the good work.