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'Vada Chennai’ jukebox out, Santhosh Narayanan’s album is an exciting mix of genres

Written by : TNM Staff

The official jukebox from Dhanush-Vetri Maaran’s ambitious project Vada Chennai is now out. The makers had announced the tracklist on Friday. Composed by Santosh Narayanan, the album consists of a total of nine songs and one main theme.

Vada Chennai stars Dhanush, Kishore Kumar, P Samuthirakani, Daniel Balaji, Pavan, Andrea Jeremiah, Aishwarya Rajesh and Ameer in lead roles. Written and directed by Vetri Maaran, this film will be his fifth collaboration with Dhanush.

An interesting mix of genres, delivered in trademark Santhosh style, the album is the music composer’s 25th project. Some of the singers include Ka Ka Balachander, Gaana Bala, Sriram Parthasarathy, Vijaynarain, Ananthu, Pradeep Kumar, Sid Sriram, Dhee, Sindhai Rev Ravi, Arivu, Dholak Jegan in addition to Santhosh and Dhanush. There’s gaana, melody, local folk and pop, giving us a peek into the film’s theme and its characters.

The film’s main theme, that we heard briefly in the trailer, is a three-minute instrumental heavy piece with singer Ananthu leading it with his mighty voice. Songs like 'Sandhanatha, Goindhammavaala', 'Maadila nikkura maankutty', 'Eppadiyamma', 'Mathiya serayila' and 'Alangaara pandhal' are remarkable gaana pieces with distinctive renditions.

'Alangaara pandhal' is a mourning number, a gaana version of the traditional oppari (lament) that reminds us of a similar song from Santhosh Narayanan’s Madras – 'Irandhidava nee pirandhai' sung by Gana Bala. 'Maadila nikkura maankutty' with its unique vocal combination of Gaana Bala and Dhee is perhaps a love song that captures the dialogue between Dhanush and Aishwarya Rajesh. Then there’s 'Mathiya serayila', a song that makes you imagine prisoners singing it while at work.

The names of the film’s characters were revealed one after the other a few weeks ago. Dhanuah plays Anbu, Ameer will be seen as Rajan, Aishwarya Rajesh as Padma, Daniel Balaji as Thambi, Pawan as Velu, Kishore Kumar as Senthil, Samuthirakani as Guna and Andrea will be seen playing Chandra.

Anbu, is a talented carrom player who aspires to become a national-level champion. The film details the challenges he faces during the course of his journey.

Velraj is the cinematographer for Vada Chennai and GB Venkatesh is the editor. The film has been produced by Dhanush under his banner Wunderbar Films.

Listen to the album here:

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