Ram Gopal Varma's comic-horror flick Darling is the latest to find a new form in the Tamil and Telugu industry. It is being remade by Kona Venkat as Naan Aval Adhu (I, She and It) with Madhavan, Shamita Shetty and Sada in the lead. The film was earlier titled Leelai.
What's unique about the movie's music is that it's been tuned by four music directors: G V Prakash, R P Patnaik, Prasanna Shekar and Dharan. Have these four managed to blend their individual styles into one comprehensive album? Lets find out.
Naan Aval Adhu begins with a rather nice melange of piano and violins. Flute notes synchronise neatly into the proceedings. Karthik's voice begins confidently; Na Muthukumar's lyrics, which talks about life, love and everything else in a vague fashion, seem to give form to the general tone. The succeeding part reminds you a little of 80s Ilayaraja compositions. The second segment makes a departure from the first, with a rather sorrowful, angsty melody -- in fact, that tone runs through the whole song. Not exactly new, but worth a listen.
Mahathi's whispery voice starts off the romantic Va Nila, with a staccato rhythm and synthesised music providing the background. A harmonica breaks the monotony a bit, while Mahathi's fluid voice takes over again in a combo of whispers and song. The music itself is hard to slot -- sometimes the musical phrases rise and ebb; at others, give away to plainness -- more of the playing-indistinguishably-in-the-background kind. You get the feeling the singer wanted to do a lot more but felt constrained; the momentum of the pallavi doesn't carry over.
Ominous sounds, mysterious noises and effects pave the way for Nee Dooramai Ponalum, which is interrupted by sudden crashes and eerie notes. It's a nice change from the syrupy romantic songs and actually works. Sunitha Sarathy's voice is quite effective as it switches from soft and fluttery to vengeful. Her voice also sustains its flow in the succeeding segments. A rather beautifully tuned horror song -- you don't get many of those; it's hard to maintain the chilling factor. This number, with Na Muthukumar's lyrics, keeps it intact.
Kadhal Oru Kaatru is identical to Naan Aval Adhu, with Shreya Ghoshal picking up with her slightly shrill pitch; Nihal backs her up in this romantic number penned by Pa Vijay. Presumably this is the 'happy' version of the first, angsty number.
Sunitha Sarathy is back again in Akayam Irangiya -- and you can almost visualise the sensuous mood as she wings through the song. Once again, very up-market and urban with its flutes and gentle background; an ordinary fare.
Four music directors, declares the album. Regretfully, barring the horror number, it looks like the composers have decided to deliver the most basic compositions.
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