Sarvam Thaala Mayam music review: AR Rahman delivers an enjoyable album with wide-ranging tunes

Tamil music buffs were on cloud nine when it was officially announced that Rajiv Menon was returning to direction and AR Rahman would join the team as a music composer. The duo has delivered two evergreen soundtracks in Minsara Kanavu (1997) and Kandukondain Kandukondain (2002). While Minsara Kanavu fetched AR Rahman his second national award for Best Music Direction, besides two more national awards for SP Balasubrahmanyam and KS Chithra, Kandukondain Kandukondain earned Shankar Mahadevan his first national award for playback singing. So, naturally, the expectations for the album of Sarvam Thaala Mayam are sky high. Although the soundtrack falls short of the duo’s earlier classics, Rahman has delivered an enjoyable album with an eclectic blend of Carnatic, folk, and classical tracks headlined by popular singers such as Chinmayi, Bombay Jayashree and Sriram Parthasarathy. [caption id=“attachment_5982681” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  GV Prakash in a still from Sarvam Thaala Mayam.[/caption] Sarvam Thaala Mayam ‘Sarvam Thaala Mayam’, the title track of the film, starts off with a fusion of mostly electronic sounds and the chendamelam. Haricharan, one of AR Rahman’s regulars in recent times, joins forces with Arjun Chandy for this toe-tapping song which flows excellently. Although the song doesn’t entirely live up to the reputation of the AR Rahman-Rajiv Menon combo, it, indeed, offers a nice listen. The well-integrated tune comes together in the end with a rousing chendamelam bit. Maya Maya With Chinmayi’s mellifluous vocals and Na Muthukumar’s lyrics, ‘Maya Maya’ fits perfectly in the AR Rahman - Rajiv Menon’s musical universe. Chinmayi’s silver-toned rendition is backed brilliantly by Rahman’s arrangement, where Keba Jeremiah’s guitar work and Kamalakar’s flute portions stand out for carrying the song’s flow. With ‘Maya Maya’, Chinmayi seals another chartbuster with AR Rahman, the person who introduced her to the music world in ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’ 17 years back. It’s easily the best track of the album. Peter Beatu Yethu GV Prakash plays a die-hard Vijay fan in Sarvam Thaala Mayam, and ‘Peter Beatu Yethu’ is a celebratory song for the theatrical release of Mersal in the film as revealed by the visuals in the lyric video. Led superbly by GVP’s energetic vocals, ‘Peter Beatu Yethu’ also gets enough support from Sathya Prakash and Arjun Chandy who progress the song well. Although the tune looks familiar, the singing keeps the track alive. Varalama I don’t remember the last time someone served as guest composer in an album composed by AR Rahman. The film’s director Rajiv Menon has scored ‘Varalama’ in Sarvam Thaala Mayam. The classical-heavy track is crooned by Sriram Parthasarathy, who aces it with his powerful rendition. ‘Varalama’ is undoubtedly going to be devoured by classical music lovers. Dingu Dongu After delivering two super-hit songs for Rahman in ‘Simtaangaaran’ (Mersal) and ‘Pullinangal’ (2.0), singer Bamba Bakya returns for ‘Dingu Dongu’, where he teams with another folk expert Anthony Dasan to churn out a definite, rhythmic dance number. Punctuated majorly by percussion instruments, the song works much better than ‘Peter Beatu Yethu’, which has earned a good response from Vijay fans on social media platforms. Maakelara Vichaaramu A recreated version of the original ‘Maakelara Vichaaramu’ written and composed by Thiyagaraja, this one belongs to Carnatic sensation Bombay Jayashree. In fact, she returns in an AR Rahman soundtrack 22 years after the all-time classic ‘Narumugaiye’ from Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar. For Carnatic music aficionados, ‘Maakelara Vichaaramu’ will be a treat.