Muthirai's music is good in parts

ASA productions and Vision Jeeva Studios' Tamil movie, Muthirai (Mark), directed by Srinath and the brainchild of Anees Tanveer Jeeva has music by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Here's what you can glean from a listen:

Neha Bhasin's moans and humming lead you to Om Shanti Om complete with thumping beats and Na Muthukumar's lyrics. It does manage to make an impact, especially the acoustic and electric guitar segments. In a bizarre way, it reminds you of the James Bond singles, with nubile girls slinking all over the place. Of melody, there's precious little; the emphasis being mostly on the rhythm and Bhasin's supposedly sexy voice. It manages to engage you pretty well.

You feel like laughing when you hear Naresh Iyer sing Azhukkaana Neeyum!  And then you find that he's been emphasising the wrong places -- its actually Azhagana Neeyum, which he waltzes through in company of Manjari Phadnis. When it begins with the simple strains of the guitar, you're assured of a clean romantic number by Snehan that comes with appealing instrumental music. An oft-heard romantic number but with some cool beats.

Heavy on the synthesised rhythms is Night is Still Young, rendered by Krish, Benny and Preethi. It takes you some time to get used to the orchestration, but after a couple of minutes, you slowly get into the mood. The refrain, in particular, is pretty catchy, and is obviously meant to make you jive away which it does. Worth multiple listens.

Mohammad Aslam, Rahul Nambiar, Tanvi and Priya sing July Madhathil, yet another optimistic number that's all about catching sight of lightning on summer evenings, the sudden discovery of the vigour of love, even lust, and Na Muthukumar tells you how to make the best of them all. The melody is familiar in certain places, and after a certain point, tapers off into mediocrity.

Uyire Uyire, written by Snehan, has been sung by Javed Ali and Madhumitha. Once again, the acoustic and electric guitar segments save the track, which meanders without direction.

Beginning with the mantra mandatory to all Hindu marriages is Nenjukulle, sung by Shwetha, a sorrowful number that drips anguish in every note. Her clear, lucid voice is a definite asset to the short number which doesn't really have anything else to recommend it.

The remaining two tracks are remixes of Night is Still Young and Om Shanti Om, both by Aditya  and essentially even more synthesised versions of the originals.

It looks like Yuvan needs to find his moorings back again. He probably needs it after a spate of releases one after the other. Still, there are a couple of good numbers that make this album worthwhile.

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