YOGI - MUSIC REVIEW

A bullet through the brain that asked me not to write to a newspaper again: Here's what was never published (alongside parts, of course, that made it through half-witted pairs of hands).

MUSIC REVIEW – YOGI (2009)

COMPOSED BY: YUVAN SHANKAR RAJA

Yuvan’s seventh feature of the year and sixth in tamil could come with a certificate saying ‘mature audiences only’, and that would be only apt, considering the level and seriousness of the music, as well as its aesthetic impact. The compilation of six tracks, two of those featuring Sarangi virtuoso, Ustad Sultan Khan (of ‘Tabla Beat Science’ fame) both in vocals and instrument-play is certainly not the everyday thing that tamil film music is associated with, and it is for this reason that I urge the active-listener to look deeper than the sheen. Both ‘Yaarodu Yaaro’ and the ‘Sarangi theme’ (the former rendered along with Yuvan himself) are examples, where there’s not just a showcase of exemplary play of the bow-type instrument, but rather a use in a different context, where the effect is something surreally surly, and more moody than sad. It’s psychotic, to be short, an emotion that is provoked no less by the ‘Main Theme’ itself, and the bunch of these three tracks score for unique and riveting tunes amidst the current chaos where there’s an uncertainty between pop-rock, hip hop and ‘dappankuthu’. Apart from the three, ‘Yogi Yogi Dhaan’ (both versions) is a rage, featuring Blaaze and the vocal seduction of ‘Viva Girl’ Neha Bhasin and it’s impulsive with no check on the rush of adrenalin. ‘Seermevum Koovathile’ is something on the lines of ‘Oororam Puliyamaram’ featuring an ensemble of Ameer, (Director of ‘Raam’, ‘Paruthiveeran’ who debuts as protagonist) Naveen, Snehan (lyricist, who debuts as actor too) and Jijuba and that’s about all the album has in store. All lyrics have been written by Snehan where there’s not much room to let the words flow, and thus there’s no remarkable lyrical accomplishment: It’s somewhere between clichéd and passable, and the line’s thin, yeah.

Overall, ‘Yogi’ doesn’t hold ‘anthems’ or tunes you hum at your leisure: It’s thought-provoking, to say the least, and I would recommend you dive straight in if you don’t fear the deep. If there’s a narrow-mindedness propelling you to stay adverse, I’d say you don’t listen to it then, for there’s nothing shallow over here…