Endhiran

Music: A.R.Rahman

Endhiran though being a sci-fi movie is a love story of a robot at the core. Just like the name of the film the music or rather the sound of the album is robotic and techno. Rahman here plays by the cards handed over by Shankar and we can clearly imagine the magnitude of visual that the song will carry. More than magnificence the audio of Endhiran is all about experience. So I stopped stripping the songs and started enjoying it thanks to the lyrics. We can go on and on about the lyrics itself as they are surprisingly the highlight of most of the numbers – a feat in itself for a Rahman number. This doesn’t mean Rahman has been pushed to the backstage. It is more of him pushing the lyrics to the front. Take for example “Arima Arima” song. Even though every other song of Rahman has wonderful layers aiding the lyrics or mood, the way the beats and arrangement of instruments in this song aids the powerful lines, reverberates throughout our soul: especially through the line “un pachai thennai ootru” which comes after the humungous line “naan atlantickai otri parthen agni koraiya villai”. The beats aren’t new to ears or for that matter the song. We have heard the likes of it as “mudhalvane”, “kapal yeri poyachi” to name a few. But the whole package makes all the minute basic details stand out. This approach is carried over to “irumbile irudhayam” song too. It is more of a Barbie meets techo-pop song which gets a facelift thanks to Rahman’s impeccable variations at every phrase overcoming the harsh electronic synthesizing of his voice, making the song sound fresh to ears. Lyrics here too astonish us with lines like “google kaanada thedal ennodu” credits to Karki. Krish n Krishy play the perfect partners increasing the peppy quotient especially at the end when parallel tracks of her’s & Rahman’s play to us. Tested, often heard, or even clichéd method you might say but the song is nothing of that.

The race between lyrics and music touches newer heights with “Pudhiya manida” song. Rahman cleverly borrows the tune that is used as a chant while performing mantras to evoke this enthiran. The complements from the metallic voice of enthiran SPB and carnatic based human SPB in the style of a prayer connects humans, robots and this music to God. A love story of a robot need to have a romantic number and there comes “kadhal annukal” songs where again Vairamuthu creates robotic-romantic lines sung by the rustic Vijay Prakash and the ethereal Shreya Goshal; perfect choices indeed. The way the pair sings “kaadhal annukal” pallavi in typical western style brings life to the metallic heart. But shouldn’t there be a song for the gallery when Rajini is the star? How will the song be if he turns into a robot? “Boom Boom robo” answers that with the line “auto auto karan, automatic karan”. Reminiscing “thigu thigu” song, this Yogi B and Swetha Menon number is laced with synthesized trumpet sounds and vocals akin to the “boom boom” song by the same team, clearly meant for the fun visuals like “boom boom” song. The “boom boom robo” hanger over continues to “Chiti dance showcase” track, which from the mix we hear, can outdo the brilliance that Shankar showcased in “kannodu kanbadellam” song. Interestingly the song shifts mood only to reveal that is would be used as bgm throughout the movie. The grinding sounds of motors and the eery-techo feel fuses well and doesn’t make us feel they are individual set pieces that will be used for different scenes mainly due to the fusion of rap & carnatic, that loops as the background layer. Unlike all these numbers that fits the theme of the movie, “Kilimanjaro” which will feature the human Rajini takes a different path; that of tribal sound. The paced rendering by Chinmaye & Javed Ali which stresses out at unexpected places and goes for sharp falls often, keeps us entertaining.

Within the framework of songs for great visuals and situations that are larger than life, Rahman has created entertaining tunes which might sound simplistic now but from what the lyrics promises, the visuals could bring out hidden layers of the song complimenting the charisma of Rajni for which the songs were created in the first place.