Bijibal (on left) and a poster of 'Maheshinte Prathikaaram'.Music director: Bijibal
Lyrics: Rafeeq Ahammed
While sitting to write this music review, a Facebook post on Bijibal caught my eye. "Why is Bijibal getting so many films? Name any movie song of his that can be termed brilliant. None of his movies are above average...," goes the one who put up the post on Facebook group Cinema Paradiso Club.
We will come back to this after going through the songs of Maheshinte Prathikaaram, the latest movie of Bijibal as music director. The album has four songs, all written by Rafeeq Ahammed with whom the composer shares a good rapport.
» Idukki song (Bijibal)
When Bijibal is at the helm of a song that fleshes out the beauty of Kerala, it could just be the recipe for a sure-shot winner. And his brilliance, as a composer and singer, is in display in the 'Idukki' song. The composer-singer gives Rafeeq's simple, smile-evoking lyrics the right treatment, keeping to minimal instruments while executing a soulful rendition. He is ably backed by the wonderful female chorus. Even without the visuals, one would long to feel the beauty of Idukki after listening to this song. Take a bow, Rafeeq Ahammed and Bijibal.
» Theliveyil (Sudeep Kumar, Sangeetha Sreekanth)
The composer begins the song with the vocals of his trusted bunch of child singers. What follows is a short, soothing melody. Sangeetha sounds sweet and Sudeep matches up to her, giving the song the romantic tone it requires. The violins and the tabla charm the listeners as Bijibal sticks to basics, giving us another quality number.
N.B: Both 'Idukki' song and 'Theliveyil' are must-watch videos as well.
Read:'Theliveyil' song of 'Maheshinte Prathikaram' is love in times of death
» Mounangal (Vijay Yesudas, Aparna Balamurali)
Bijibal perfects this one with the fine layers—of clarinet, of saxophone, of violins, of guitars, of sitar, to name it all—added in. These elements blend in the right proportions to produce a fine song. Vijay Yesudas and Aparna Balamurali make no mistake behind the microphone. The loop before the charanam is musically rich with the enchanting association of the instruments mentioned above. Class act by the composer, again.
FYI: The versatile Aparna is also doing a role in the movie.
» Cherupunjiri (Nikhil Mathew & Bijibal)
The moody song of the album. Nikhil Mathew has the perfect sound for the track, and Bijibal gives him the right company with backing vocals. The humming by the composer is a fine value addition. The guitar, violins and the keyboards collaborate well to form the exquisite flavour. Bijibal wins over with the melody.
Verdict
The 'Idukki song', sung delightfully by Bijibal, becomes the pick of the album quite easily. 'Mounangal' is another favourite. All the four songs are fine works individually. A gem of an album from Bijibal, who proves for his consistency for versatile music yet again.
Coming back to the Facebook post. It saw a flurry of comments by Facebook-ers who took time to explain why Bijibal is classy and listed out the composer's songs to justify their claims. The songs from Maheshinte Prathikaaram were also there. Bijibal himself liked the post and commented there, taking the criticism well in his stride, saying "I am an ordinary person who got trapped in here." In that case, we are happy to have gotten you trapped!
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