Kaala music review: Santhosh Narayanan gives us an eclectic mix of genres and sounds

Kaala’s music album is out and it is interesting. And I say this in the most neutral sense. Composed by Santhosh Narayanan, Kaala’s album has everything we can expect from Santhosh. An incredible sense of sound, some beautifully used vocals and an eclectic sense of arrangement and orchestration – Santhosh’s music always brims with flavour to the brim. But what Santhosh brings is also a lot of soul that seamlessly blends into whatever socio-geographic canvas the music is placed in. Right from Attakathi, Madras to the recent Meyaadha Maan, his jazzy, orchestral sound never needed visuals to make its presence felt. Here, it feels like it needs the Superstar Rajinikanth to make more sense. Experimental and definitely not the material of a full-blown mass film, Kaala’s music is a mishmash of genres and instruments that is interesting but leaves us with a mild feeling of being lost.

Take Urimayai Meetpom for example. The song starts off as a soulful cry, Vijay Prakash’s voice places a fist on your heart. But before the hold tightens, the songs shifts to a groove that reminds us of Meyaadha Maan’s Enga veetu kuthuvilake — a rhythm that is more fun. Since the rhythm is more powerful than the vocals, the anguish doesn’t power through.

Here are all songs of Rajinikanth starrer Kaala

But one has to give it to Santhosh for his pick of voices – I can say he uses Pradeep Kumar and Dhee the best. After giving us two separate, amazing songs with Pradeep and Dhee in Meyaadha Maan, Kaala’s Kannamma brings them together. The song’s elements move and shift through various moods, it becomes a mosaic of intriguing elements that isn’t cohesive. In that sense, Thanga Sela is probably the most successful combination of sounds that belong to different universes, thanks to the non-shifting emotional core of the song.

Despite all this, Kaala’s album continues to intrigue me as a music lover. Santhosh is easily one of the most exciting composers we have around and here’s to looking forward to the surprises we have in store for the film.

Helmed by Pa Ranjith, Kaala stars Nana Patekar, Anjali Patil, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao and Pankaj Tripathi apart from Rajinikanth. The film is backed by Dhanush and Lyca Productions and is set to hit the screens on June 7.

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