Unconventional Soundtrack. Review on Pudupet Songs

The very first note of the soundtrack starts with a unique flute sound playing a melody (reminds God Father theme, just the sound not the music) and then the same melody is played by a full throttled symphony orchestra which makes it evident that this is not a soundtrack that we usually get to hear in Tamil film music. Also it is evident that Yuvan and Selvaraghavan has strived hard to make this soundtrack unique with a never before heard feel and sound. As they do in Hollywood, this music is more of a soundtrack for the movie, which we will be able to appreciate better after watching the movie. There are 10 tracks, 4 of them are songs, 5 are theme music and one is a remix song.

Now are they really successful in trying something completely different? Well somewhat. For the sake of trying something daringly different, I think they have gone too far, I mean the use of symphony orchestra for movie with such a gangster movie. It sounds too European and

I don’t know how well it is going to fit in the situations in the movie. Also I should say it is quite an amateur attempt from Yuvan’s side. A symphony if not done well may turn into a cacophony. I don’t say that it is too bad. He has got the melodies right but it is the orchestration where he has to learn a lot from his own father and other western classical composers. Here is an evidence of what would happen when a composer, who doesn’t know to write the notes on score sheet of his own compositions, composes a symphony

But yet I should say Yuvan has handled some of the solo Thai instruments deftly in the songs, which adds to the overall uniqueness of the songs. Selling dope is better than other theme tracks in terms of deft orchestration and also has got various moods in it meeting the needs of the situation. Going Thru Emotions: Prelude is a nice fusion of various string instruments, sounds, rhythms, voices and thereby emotions. But I don’t know why I hear the music that I got to hear in advertisements in the between the songs when I hear them in Raaga.com at some places in this song. Night Life is the catchiest of the lot with a flute piece playing a dappanguthu tune accompanied by heavy rhythms. Clash of Titans and Pudupettai Theme are the tracks that are evident of what I said about Yuvan’s orchestration abilities.

The blend of Thai instruments, strings, synthesizers and rocking percussions and electric guitars makes this unconventional number Ithu Enna Kadavulae stand out. Kamal Haasan’s voice is rough and tough in this song and he is just perfect with right expressions. The guitar strumming in the start of Yenga area is nice but it is too situational to grab our attention with just the audio. The rap like singing in Tamil is quite different but there is too much of electric guitar and synth in the song that makes it sound alien. Oru Naalil is the pick of the album. The song is a nice melody with some good philosophical lines penned by Na. Muthukumar. Better Yuvan can stop singing such emotional songs. He is just not perfect in pitch and expression. In spite of Yuvan’s faulty singing, the song works mainly because of the simple rhythm and beautiful guitar and violin pieces performed by Amalraj. Don’t ever try to listen the remix version of this song at all. We should definitely not encourage such songs. It is pure noise. Pul Pesum Poo Pesum starts with a catchy synth piece but soon falls flat as the vocal tune of the song is not so exciting but the interludes and the strings are great in this song.

I don’t know how commercially viable this album is. There are no romantic or peppy dance tunes in it. Anyway in spite of its flaws, I really like this album for its experimentation more than anything else. Let us wait and watch the movie for this soundtrack to grow on us. And also for an extended soundtrack release after the release of the movie as it always happens with Yuvan + Selva movies.