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The final instalment of this series… is also the first since I upgraded to WordPress 2.1 (Ella).

10. Oru Naalil Vaazhkai (Pudhupettai; Yuvan Shankar Raja): Many people would forgive Selvaraghavan for the unmitigated gore unleashed on screen in Pudhupettai. What they could not digest was the non-inclusion of the song in the movie. Well, I don’t see how this song — global and generic — could have fit in in any part of the movie. Selvaraghavan, therefore, should be congratulated, because including this song might have attracted more criticism.

Agreed this is a superb song, but could Yuvan have not found someone else to sing it? This is one aspect in which he differs from his father. Most songs that Ilaiyaraja has chosen to sung himself sound very appropriate. Yuvan’s list of songs marred by his own voice gets one more addition.

9. Something Something (Unakkum Enakkum; Devisri Prasad; Tippu): A commendable aspect of Unakkum Enakkum is that the songs are brilliant, and more so, placed very appropriately. The first half is so lively it just rushes past you. This song is a typical marriage song, except that the choreography is a stand-out. Seems like the crew spent many evenings shooting this song. And it shows. In terms of achievement in choreography, this song is next only to Enga Area Ulla Varaadhe (Pudhupettai).

Tippu deserves a special award for the sheer versatility of voice he has displayed in this song.

8. Nenjaangoottil Neeye (Dishyum; Vijay Antony; Jayadev, Rajalakshmi): For a long time, the only thing I noticed about this song is the line:

“latcham pala latcham endru thaaimozhiyil sol irukka
ottra sollu sikkavillai edhanaale?
pandhi vecha veettukkaari paathirathai kazhuvittu
pattiniyaa kedappaale adhu pole…”

Nice song; grows on you slowly; poorly picturised though. Vijay Antony caps an excellent album with this lovely piece.

7. Uruguthe Maruguthe (Veyyil; G.V. Prakash; Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan): What is common to the following songs? Megam Karukkayile (Vaidehi Kaathirundhaal), Chinna Puraa Ondru (Anbe Sangeetha), Nitham Nitham En Kannodu (Kootu Puzhukkal), Kannaale Pesipesi (Adutha Veettu Penn). Well, these are popular songs picturised on people we would never have expected to feature in them. Uruguthe is this list’s newest entrant.

A lilting melody, with a superb performance from both the singers.

6. Eno Kanngal (Kalvanin Kaadhali; Yuvan Shankar Raja; Sadhana Sargam, Yuvan): It is a measure of how good this song is that despite S.J. Surya’s korangu seshtai a.k.a dance movements (for the equally stupid lyrics: “adi naakula, mookula, vaayila, kaadhula…”), this song makes it to my list of favourites. Of course, SJS is overcompensated for by Nayantara’s sheer presence and Sadhana Sargam’s awesome rendition.

5. Poi Solla Poren (Thiruttu Payale; Bharadwaj; Kay Kay, Kanmani): It is a measure of how good this song is that despite Kanmani incessant and intolerable laughter (aggravated by some unintelligible talkback too), this song makes it to my list of favourites. Of course, this is overcompensated for by the rustic tune and Kay Kay’s awesome rendition.

Pardon the repetition of comment. In addition, the lyrics were down to earth, thus a huge plus.

“Otha maanga nee dhaane, uppu kallu naan dhaane, orasiye thinnaal enna?
Kaatukathir nee dhaane, thattuchittu naan dhaane, kothi kothi thinnaal enna?
… Rasikkindra penne, un rasanaigal ennenna, enakkingu sonnaal enna?”

4. Neruppu Vaayinil (Pudhupettai; Yuvan Shankar Raja; Kamal Hassan): If I had published an intermediate list sometime in May / June, this song would have been on top. So loved this song that I told myself this would be Kamal Hassan’s performance of the year. Like his brother did in Ullaasam, Yuvan invites Kamal to render this very offbeat song.

Again, song placement is a huge huge plus. It starts as a natural extension of the scene where Kokki Kumar is challenged to stay alive for a day. “Enna aanaalum, <expletive> moonjila bayam mattum kaattaadha” warns Ravi anna. Kamal has given his soul into making this song as expressive as possible, as he tries to capture Kumar’s emotions as his longest day wanes. Terrific song. My favourite from the first half of the year.

3. New York Nagaram (Jillunu Oru Kaadhal; A.R. Rahman): To someone like me, who doesn’t listen to Hindi soundtracks, it is hard to accept Kollywood’s loss as Bollywood’s gain. Which only heightens expectations every time Rahman composes for a Tamil movie. New York Nagaram is a masterpiece in itself, though of course it stands out because there are very few songs of this nature. The abysmal picturisation is the only negative.

The highlight of the song, or at least what I considered the most catchy part is when the female voice sings the pallavi. The subtlety of introducing an infinitesimally small time delay to produce a choric effect was absolutely excellent. You might want to listen to how this is employed in Bryan Adams’ Summer of ’69 in the lines “… standing on your mama’s porch, you told me you’d wait forever… ”

2. Manjal Veyyil (Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu; Harris Jeyaraj; Hariharan): Another New York song. Another one abysmally picturised (why should a crowd follow Kamal Hassan all the time as if waiting to open fire, as if he were Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York?). Another fabulous song. Hariharan carries it so well, exploiting the range and depth of his voice.

The best moments of this song are when the mood changes ever so naturally over these words “aduthadhu enna enna endre dhaan theduthe … oh-ho-ho… vannangal vannangal attra vazhiyil…”

1. Pooparikka Neeyum Pogadhe (Unakkum Enakkum; Devisri Prasad; Shankar Mahadevan): Ease of transition – that’s where this song rules. As it starts out, the percussion is led by the guitar. At the end of the first pallavi, the percussion moves effortlessly to drums. The transition, though not new to our ears, is admirably done. It gets repeated many times during the song, and each time it is adorable. Where was Devisri Prasad all these years, one wonders.

The irony is, when compared to the original soundtrack, this is the only track that sounds better in Telugu (Chandrullo Unde Kundelu)! Probably the Tamil lyrics (which are very good) do not fit in as naturally as the Telugu lyrics (which I do not understand). You may scoff at this choice, but even after thousands of repeats, I still find this the most refreshing song of 2006! Probably the charm of sylvan climes won over the walks of New York.

“kuchipudi kathakali ellaam un nadayile, pudhu pudhu paadam padikkume!
rangoli kolam edhukkadi, konjam vetkappadu, kannathil vannam pirakkume!”

Traditionally – tradition being defined as anything carried into the second year – I have substituted for lack of topics at the end of the year by publishing movie and song lists. Some pressing work however has kept me away for a while, but here go the lists.

I have not much to offer in terms of detailed reviews, for I am a music lover than a critic. The criterion for rating is simple – the more number of times I listened to a song, the higher it is rated.

30. Ragasiyamaanadhu Kaadhal (Kodambakkam; Sirpi; Harish, Harini): A simple melody extolling the virtues of love (“kaadhalum kadavulai pola, adhai unarndhida vendum mella”). Safe on the ear, okayish picturisation.

29. Daai (Pattiyal; Yuvan Shankar Raja; Vijay Yesudoss): A superb opening song. The Udhayam theatre crowd resonated with the Daai so much that someone watching a Tamil movie for the first time would have felt intimidated. That’s sufficient; who cares about lyrics?

28. Vallavaa (Vallavan; Yuvan Shankar Raja; Sunitha Sarathy): As soon as the soundtrack for this movie was released, the following was published in the Hindu Metro Plus: “Thanks to all loose boys and loose girls for making Loosu Penne the song of the year.” I wondered about the choice of words – loose girls? If some of our feminist maariaatha-s had come across this, they would have filed a defamation suit. My crib though is not so much about the pathetic ad. It is about that pathetic song. And the audacity to self-proclaim (when credit is not due), that has become Simbu’s bane. This song offers the few redeeming minutes of a must-be-forgotten soundtrack.

27. Vaala Meenukkum (Chithiram Pesudhadi; Babu; ‘Gana’ Ulaganathan): I’m neither a fish-eater, nor a stickler for gana songs, but this one was pretty good, that is, if you choose to ignore the yellow shirt and the index finger dance. The singer’s ease with the song is reflected in the many variations he attempts. The “thalaivaru… thimingilam thaanungo” part was really funny.

26. Dailamo Dailamo (Dishyum; Vijay Antony; Sangeetha Rajeshwaran, Vijay Antony): Each song in Dishyum is worth a mention, and though the female lead in this song was (intentionally?) pathetic, and the lyrics penned to fill airtime, the song as a whole is ok. Sample this: “America nee aanal, Afghanistan naan aanal… ayyayyo vaaya konjam moodu… DMK nee aanal, ADMK naan aanal… kottaiyila namma veetta podu“

25. Iraivanai Unargira Tharunam (Veyyil; G.V. Prakash; Prasanthini): The short song of the year. The placement of this song is excellent – as Pasupathi finds comfort in Shreya Reddy’s company. “Indha uravin peyarinai yaar solvadhu? Tholaindhadhai vidhi vandhu inaikkindradhu… Mugavari maariya kaditham ondru, marupadi inge varugindradhu…” Super! Yaaruppa andha kavingar? The humming that follows is excellent.

24. Kummi Adi (Jillunu Oru Kaadhal; A.R. Rahman; Naresh, Siva Chidambaram, Swarnalatha): Typical Mani Ratnam – Rahman style village wedding song. The lyrics were good, but the song seemed pretty long. Also why does everyone say “kummi aaaaadi”?

23. Thayyatha Thayyatha (Thiruttu Payale; Bharadwaj; Amalraj, Reshmi, Sadhana Sargam): A friend tells me that all songs composed in this raaga (don’t remember the name, Charukesi, perhaps) have a haunting effect on the listener. That observation is perfect with regard to this song. I didn’t know for a long time that the word “payya” means “slowly”. Another melody for your playlist.

22. Karka Karka (Vettayadu Vilayadu; Harris Jeyaraj; Devan, Andrea, Nakul, Tippu): What a title song! The song scores on a lot of counts, especially percussion, and this should help you tide over the self-inflicted inferiority complex about the lyrics. My friends attempted to decode the opening, and failed miserably – “Raghavan, stay in the crisis… Tata the communist!” Another attempt – “… chop off the curry leaves!”

21. Sudum Nilavu (Thambi; Vidyasagar; Harini, Unnikrishnan): Make way for another slow melody. Though Unni’s voice doesn’t suit Madhavan, the song comes through rather well. The “kaadhaliththu paar” refrain could have been fine-tuned.