Vishal, the Tamil actor who shot to stardom with Thimiru and Sivappathikaram, stars opposite debutant Banu in director Hari's forthcoming Thaamirabharani. Thamiraparani is the river running through Thirunelveli and Tuticorin in Tamilnadu, and this film is set against a Thirunelveli backdrop. As the title itself indicates, this is a more rural film. Naturally, music director Yuvan Shankar Raja's soundtrack comes with a distinct folksy flavour, with percussion kept to a minimum.

The album has five tracks, with Na Muthukumar penning the lyrics of all the songs, bar one.

Opening number Kattabomma oorenakku is the intro, painting a picture of the hero as a fearless and violent rebel. The beats are moderately fast with changing rhythm. A folk tune, a nadaswaram interlude and references to native sport kabbadi all create the rustic ambience. Vijay Jesudas' forceful rendering adds some buoyancy to the number.

Karuppaana kaiyale is a pleasant melodious number but there is nothing in it for Yuvan to be proud of. As Yuvan himself has admitted earlier, it is a straight lift of LR Easwari's extremely popular devotional Karpoora nayakiye kanakavalli. Earlier Yuvan Shankar Raja used to repeat or remix only the opening verses of old hits, but has now obviously graduated to picking up full songs. Set to swaying palm trees, it is a joyful love song rendered effectively by Ranjith and Roshni.

Vaartha onnu, rendered by KK in his naturally vibrant style, is again a mixture of folk and modern melody. The hero laments how one word uttered in the heat of the moment can play havoc and regrets his mistake born out of arrogance. The flute interlude fills the track with a touch of pathos. Humming in between creates an almost- Calypso feel.

Thaaliyae thevayillai, sung with finesse by Hariharan and Bhavatharini, is the pick of this album. This track alone has lyrics by Hari and he has done a very good job. The message is that when the hearts have become one, ritualistic formalities become redundant. Bhavatharini's voice has a melodious lilt. The number strongly reflects Yuvan's illustrious father Ilayaraja's influence on the composer.

Thiruchendooru muruga is not as devotional as you might be led to believe. This is a song about the bittersweet pain of love. The lover rues how the girl, who initially had the aura of a goddess later, became a 'headache' tormenting him. There is an element of playful banter here.

Na Muthukumar uses weird metaphors pertaining to violence like chopping knives, sickles and swords, etc, and these harm the aesthetic quality of his lyrics. A strong undercurrent of melody is the outstanding feature of all the numbers in this album.

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