Chandramukhi - Average musical fare
The Superstar's audio cassette release is a big event by itself. Lakhs of his fans buy the cassettes well before the film's release and prepare themselves for the film. The 'Chandramukhi' music album has already done well with over two lakh cassettes having been sold, says Sanjay Wadhwa of A P International Films, which has released the audio cassettes. There is demand for more, adds Sanjay; so he should be happy as the producers, Sivaji Productions.
However, the music score is just about average, given the massive hype and expectations. Vidyasagar is a gifted composer but has apparently felt cramped by the tailor-made songs that a Rajni film demands of him.
The 'Devuda Devuda' number well exemplifies this. Every line in this song reminds one of an earlier Rajni song, particularly the 'Autokaran' hit in 'Annamalai'. There is a mix of Telugu and Tamil here too. And if you think you are listening to one of those SPB devotional numbers at Tirumala, you will not be far off the mark.
There is another song 'Ra Ra', sung by Binni Krishnakumar and Tipu, is in the same mould.
A better number is 'Konja Neram' by Asha Bhosle and Madhu Balakrishnan. With lyrics by Yugabharathi, this is a pleasant number, though it reminds you of an S Janaki melody, 'Pagalile Oro Kanavinai Kanden -- Athu Vasantha Vizha'.
SPB has two numbers in this film as Tipu, who is now cast in the fast and vigorous mode like Shankar Mahadevan, is himself typed. 'Kokku Para Para' is bound to be popular, where Tipu is joined by Manicka Vinayagam and Rajalakshmi (song is by Na Muthukumar). KK, Karthik and Sujatha have teamed up to provide 'Annanodu
Pattu'.
What remains to be seen is how director P Vasu has handled the song situations. As for Vidyasagar, this is not his best. He sounds more like Deva. This is not to belittle Deva's compositions. Rajni doesn't require anything more than Deva's robust songs. And there was really no need for Rajni to look for another composer when Deva delivered the goods in 'Annamalai', 'Arunachalam' and 'Basha'. Ilayaraja, too, was another intelligent composer who knew exactly what Rajni and his fans needed. The maestro's experimentation was restricted to Kamal Hassan's films. For Rajni, he played safe. Deva adopted the Raja style, and stuck to the formula. Vidyasagar has tried to follow the Deva route.
The audio is released by AnAk of Sri Balaji Enterprises. The CD is priced at Rs 99.
Order online here for the
CD. Delivery is free in Chennai.
R Rangaraj
