Although first-look posters and trailers of upcoming films are celebrated on social media, the real curtain raiser to a movie is its album release. And as has often been the case, if songs hit its mark, the expectations from the rest of the movie skyrocket.
So the rousing reception accorded to the songs of Bejoy Nambiar’s Solo can perhaps be interpreted as a precursor to the success of the movie. Three songs of the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer were released on Tuesday via India's leading digital music platform Saavn. All three songs belong to the fusion genre and make for a pleasant listening experience.
Going by the heterogeneity of the songs composed by Prashant Pillai, Filter Coffee, and Sooraj S. Kurup, it’s pretty sure that Bejoy is brewing something that will last in the hearts of movie lovers forever.
♫ Roshomon...♪
Double the pace of the Russian folk song famous for its high tempo, that is 'Roshomon' for you. Following the (Russian) tradition, Prashant Pillai opens 'Roshomon' with a piece on Bayan Accordion, adds some highly addictive beats and then, deftly blends in some open throat vocals in Malayalam and Tamil – not sure if I missed any other language in the adrenaline rush.
'Roshomon' could be the fastest 2:51mins of Ashwin Gopakumar, Arun Kamath, and Niranj Suresh, who have done full justice to the open-throat singing. The energy from the singers gets transmitted to the listeners each time they click ‘repeat’.
But here's a word of caution: refrain from adding 'Roshomon' to your playlist for road trips as the song could be highly distracting.
Though the pace could make it sound a bit funny initially, you will soon forget about all that and the song will grow on you. Prashant has brought in some gunshots as beats, which would make you nostalgic about at Ennio Morricone's 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' theme.
Poster of the movie and composers Prashant Pillai and Sooraj S Kurup♫ Sajan More Ghar Aaye...♪
The song is a fusion of Hindustani vocal with percussion jathi and electronic sounds arranged by the band Filter Coffee. Staying true to their style, Filter Coffee showcases all their ingredients right in the pallavi lead by Jahnvi Shrimankar Sajan's vocal. In the anupallavi, however, they bring in a Shiv stuti by Swarupa Ananth backed by violin and jathi. Bit by bit, the song will work on you and the only option is to shut your eyes and get lost in its magical charm.
♫ Sita Kalyanam...♪
Composed by Sooraj S. Kurup, 'Sita Kalyanam' is fresh like a mountain rain and it drenches you to the core. Sooraj sets the mood with a slow piano piece and some English verses. With the beats, in comes the opening verses of Sita Kalyana Vaibhogame... and just as you get ready to decide that this is a fusion of the Thyagaraja Kriti, Sooraj moves on to some beautiful Tamil lines written by Sangeeth Ravindran.
Vocals by Renuka Arun and Sooraj goes well with the mood of two beloveds communicating to each other - the longing is deep in the lines and in the singing. 'Sita Kalyanam' will be a love-at-first-hearing for you, this reviewer is pretty certain about that.
Verdict: Highly addictive
