Mumbai Ramki - I have already given a short review...you pls dont go for 20 second clips or go by trailers (which as told by thumburu and agreed by me are poor selections by the producers) - PLease get the CD - the CD cover design is very good with 3 sub-layers and in one of those layers it has karunanidhi's image ...
sola vala naadu - covers the salient points of chola saamraajiyam - though lyrics by kalaignar and kamakodian, i thought there could have been a deeper research into the lyrics...one look at the wikipedia page could have given lyrics with even more vigour and power - sung by ilaiyaraaja, madhu balakrishnan and chorus
kallil uyir kaatidalam kanni mayilae - sriram parthasarathy - this starts with a simple kalyani'sh melody (pallavi) but charanams deviate to other notes - very well sung by sriram - raja chips in with a musical quiz in between in the charanams - very interesting song and hail maestro's ability to seamlessly weave several different swaras (swara kalappu) in and out of the melody and still make it all natural..
agandhaiyil aaduvadha baratha kalai - very very good lyrics (ponnadiyaan?) explaining how great bharathanatiyam is....another excellent work by sriram parthasarathy...god, he has come a long way from this 'ilangaathu veesudha; days..
aada vandha - sudha ragunathan and bombay jayashree - in chola period, art had so much preference / priority that even two competing artists did it beautifully and poetically (when compared to adi dhadi range mood created by songs like p.s.veerappa presided fight between padmini and vyjayanthimala or even raja's own isaiarasi ennalum naanae vagaiyaraas) - so in this song, though there is a competition, the tune is very soft, even through to the climax ...appreciate the way both these capable singers have rendered the tune..
kallai irundhaen silaiyai yen vadithai - a new singer tanya - very nice love duet - the tune is soaked with love emotion..
azhagi vara soru thara vekkapada maatom - ultimately this may top the charts even before people wake up to the classical numbers - i thought this would dilute an otherwise very classical style album - typical raja song, but kind of grows with each listening (thats my personal opinion) - you need guts to score such a song for a film set in historic background - but raja raja chola's life and rule touched all stratas of the society, did it not?
lastly, one pathos by bhavatharini - a very good number i think in naadhanamakriya (in the lines of endhan pon vannamae anbu poo vannamae)....
