Ah Aah Best Friend - A review

Rahman's back in Tamil after a long time. One has to wonder though..why an SJ Surya movie ? If you're doing only 2-3 Tamil movies a year, why not something more classy ? Starring S.J Surya and Nila - From the music, one gets the impression that this is a typical S.J. movie - Youthful, refreshing and a lot of masala! Here's (an attempt at) a review of the songs.

Anbe Aaruyire - A.R. Rahman

Has a distinct "New New" (from New) feel to it. Fast paced and very catchy. A.R. Rahman's voice is refreshing. The part "Anbe, Yen anbe, Aruyir neeye" especially gets you pumped up. This song will probably climb up the top 10 list first. 8/10

Mayilirage - Madhusree and Naresh Iyer.

A simple and elegant tune. I am guessing that this is Naresh's first song in Tamil. His voice has a lot of resemblance to Balram (Ranjano Ranjana) and nothing great to write home about in his voice. Maybe it's just me, but I like how Rahman uses the tabla. Maybe a little un-orthodox, but it is attractive.The lyrics is the speciality in the song, however, with both these non tamil singers singing this pure-tamil song, deciphering the lyrics is quite a challenge. Madhusree is a poor man's sadhana sargam and honestly, with all due recognition to Rahman's utilization of available talent, I would like to see him use Tamil singers for songs that require good uchcharippu. - 6/10

Varugiraai - Hariharan and Chitra

Heavy instrumentation with some resemblance to "Taal se taal mila" (heavier version). When I first heard the song, it didn't make a great impression. But as I listened to it a few more times, it grew on me. Hariharan has impressed with his nonchalant yet perfect rendering and chitra is reliable as always - 6.5/10

Thigu Thigu - Sadhana Sargam and Blazee

Rahman's love affair with Sadhana Sargam continues. I don't understand what these music directors find in sadhana sargam. She's a pretty good singer, but with her horrendous ucharippu, it beats me as to how she's survived in the tamil and telugu industry so long. To be fair to her, the ucharippu in this song is not as bad as some of her previous ones. The whole song has a beautiful flow to it and the saranam is really melodious, especially the "angam thangam mridangam" part. Not a chartbuster, but definitely in the "better than tolerable" range. - 7/10

Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu - SPB and Shreya Ghosal

Sensuous song. Wonderful choice of singers. SPB delivers the emotions flawlessly and shreya ghosal does a good job of matching up to SPB's intensity in Bhaavam. First use of shreya in a song of this nature and she's performed better than expectations. Good bass guitar usage and the percussion (bongos) is also simple but attractive. The part "manam thadumaari thavi thavikkudhu" tells you that SPB has a lot of years left in this field yet, and makes the people who write him off look real bad. The lyrics are substandard and carelessly crosses the line between sensual and vulgar. Shreya - 9.5/10 SPB - 10/10 Song - 7.5/10

Maramkothiye - Shankar mahadevan, Shalini and Blazee

Typical fast paced, techy song. Fails to catch one's attention for long. A clear attempt to justify his vulgarity (SJS') in movies with the lyrics "Paasam pesum mozhiya abaasam enbadhu thavaru" and "Manidhan kaattum punidham silar thavarena kooriduvar". A singer of shankar mahadevan's caliber is wasted with an average song like such. - 5.5/10

Fast paced and youthful. But not as powerful as some of ARR'S previous movies that demanded the same fast paced and youthful music(Boys, Kaadhal desam etc). Maybe that says something about the director's ability to extract from the music director and the depth of the story. Some songs however make you sit up and take notice. Difficult for a Rahman fan not to expect better. Overall - 6.5/10.