CE Year in Review 2022: Reminiscing the music of Tamil cinema

With 2022 coming to an end, we take a look at some of the most spellbinding tunes that ruled our playlists throughout the year
CE Year in Review 2022: Reminiscing the music of Tamil cinema

Sivakarthikeyan, who penned Arabic Kuthu (Beast), the most streamed Tamil song of the year, made a self-aware statement about his lyrical works during one of our interactions. “The shelf life of my songs is just four months. For a song like Arabic Kuthu, perhaps it will be over a year.” He added that the sole purpose of these songs is to give a pre-release momentum to the film. Well, this statement of SK is best suited for most of the chartbusters that came out in 2022. The songs that were resonating in every corner, were soon dethroned by the next viral song in a month.


On repeat mode


The organic interludes in songs have made way for hook lines, which are dictating the reach among millennials. Whenever a song managed to crack this coveted ‘hook music’ code, it translated to thousands of micro-videos online. Best examples of this trend are songs like Pachai Elai (Love Today), Vikram title track (Vikram), Bullet Song (The Warrior), and Private Party (Don) that adorned the most random unboxing, ASMR, and food review vlogs in social media platforms like Instagram.
The year also witnessed the trend of songs suffering from the ‘too soon or too late’ syndrome. The songs which deserved more love like Nenjorama (Madhil Mel Kadhal by Nivas Prasanna), Naan Varaigira Vaanam (Connect by Prithvi Chandrasekhar), Jail Kuthu (Pattampoochi by Jai) missed their spotlight because of rushed or delayed release of the films. On the flip side, album songs Othai Thamarai by Sandy Sandellow, Mayakirriye by AniVee, and Kannoram by Stephen Zechariah proved that with the right planning and marketing songs without A-listers can also become chartbusters. The rise of independent artist Vaisagh with two back-to-back hits (Kaaka Kadha and Edhuvum Kedikalana) and his successful transition to film music with Chilla Chilla and Kasethan Kadavulada from Ajith’s Thunivu composed by Ghibran are sure to have inspired many aspiring musicians out there.


Neighbouring notes

 
Probably after decades, a host of dubbed songs from Telugu and Kannada films became instant earworms for Tamil listeners this year. Aagoozhile from Radhe Shyam by Justin Prabhakaran, Toofan and Sulthana from KGF Chapter-2 by Ravi Basrur, Varaha Roopam, Karma song from Kantara by Ajaneesh Loknath, and the entire album of Sita Ramam by Vishal Chandrashekhar were celebrated as our own thanks to the brilliant regionalization by lyricists Madhan Karky, Madhurakavi and Palani Bharathi.


Comeback of the legends


Curiously, we saw fans of Yuvan Shankar Raja celebrating the comeback of their favourite composer for the nth time. I won’t blame them though as he gave something to every music lover to relish this year. While Viruman felt like a warm hug to his Paruthiveeran fans, Yuvan showed that with the right combo magic is bound to happen through his reunion with Selvaraghavan for Naane Varuven and finally, right before the end of the year, he gave Love Today surprising his core fans who were longing for a soulful album.

But it was Yuvan’s contemporary Harris Jayaraj, who gave a comeback in a true sense. The composer who was missing in action for almost three years returned with the versatile The Legend album. Though the film walked right into unfavorable reviews, the songs were unanimously lauded by everyone. Be it the celebratory Vaadi Vaasal or the peppy Mosalo Mosalu, every song in The Legend felt like a fun time travel to the 2000s. Harris also proved that he is still on top of his game with the background score of the film.


The usual suspects


Composer Govind Vasantha, who doesn’t fit into templates, once again showed us that he can deliver soul-stirring music like a breeze with the meditative Thozhi (Hey Sinamika) and Yaathri (Gargi). While major players Devi Sri Prasad and Hip-hop Tamizha settled for one functional album each (The Warriorr and Anbarivu, respectively) this year, the A-listers GV Prakash and D Imman, who were in a monstrous form in recent years, seem to have taken a back seat this time. The fantastic Yaerumayileri and Soraka Poove by GV Prakash in Sardar, which deserved to be bigger hits, got watered down by the lack of breathing space before the release. Whereas, Imman who started the year with a bang, with the massy Summa Surrunu from Etharkkum Thunindhavan, failed to recreate the magic in the rest of his albums.
Santhosh Narayanan’s theme for the year clearly seems to be quirk and he went full-on fun with the albums of Mahaan and Gulu Gulu. While Evanda Enakku Custody (Mahaan) became the OG club anthem, Anbarey (Gulu Gulu) felt like a letter from a long-lost love. I guess these two crackers of an album were enough to salvage the daring-yet-disappointing outing Santhosh had with Vadivelu’s Naai Sekar Returns.
Music director Thaman, who tested the waters with his new-found music palette in Sivakarthikeyan’s Prince, delivered a patti thotti hit Ranjithamey (from Varisu) in the latter half. The self-proclaimed fan of Vijay once again got the audience excited with his beats in Thee Thalapathy. With the recent Jimikki Ponnu by Anirudh and Soul of Varisu by Chitra finding their own fans, the album has got a clear nod from the Tamil audience.
 Interestingly, the OTT space which is notorious for attenuating songs gave us a lot of gems that gained prominence post-premiere this year. Sam CS’ Naan Unnodu Dhaan from Suzhal, Sathish Raghunathan’s Hero Naan from Kaiyum Kalavum, and Javed Riyaz’s Yaanaiyodu Modhum from Rathasaatchi stood out because of their distinct-yet-simple composition and lyrics.


The year of rockstars


The year truly belonged to two names — Anirudh Ravichander and AR Rahman. The composers took turns ruling the hearts of music lovers with back-to-back chartbusters. Rahman gave four full-fledged Tamil albums after years, each belonging to a unique genre. While he took up Parthiban’s single-shot film Iravin Nizhal for the sheer joy of experimentation with the background score and Ponniyin Selvan: 1 for the love of period films, literature, and Mani Ratnam, he also delivered Vikram-Ajay Gnanamuthu’s Cobra, a pucca commercial album. On the other hand, he also did Vendhu Thanindhadhu Kaadu, which was an intricate blend of rural elements in a gangster saga. It is surreal to realize that he gave us the haunting Kannethire (Iravin Nizhal), mystical Devaralan Aattam (PS-1), lively Mallipoo (VTK), and the triumphant Adheera (Cobra) in the same year and made it look a cakewalk.
While it was all about versatility for Rahman, it was virality for Anirudh. The young composer. who clearly understands the pulse of the young, theatre-going audience, delivered five smashing hits in a row, and also won their hearts with his arresting background scores. The hits consecutive hits of Arabic Kuthu from Beast, Bae from Don, Dippam Dappam and Naan Pizhai from Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal, Pathala Pathala and Porkanda Singam from Vikram, and finally, Megham Karukkatha and Thenmozhi from Thiruchitrambalam kept ensuring that Anirudh is the darling of the masses and he is here to stay. He is already set for a cracker of a year in 2023 with massive lineups of A-lister projects like Indian 2 with Kamal Haasan, Jailer with Rajinikanth, AK 62 with Ajith, Thalapathy 67 with Vijay, and his major return to Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan.
Tamil music seems to be going through an unexplored season of changes, as the most calculative songs are going unnoticed and the simplest ones are turning out to be chartbusters. I am pretty sure people in 2021 would have not believed that they would be vibing to a song that rhymes “Dappan guthu songo” with “Pradeep yuvan combo” the very next year. Times have indeed changed. But, does that mean we will be in for more songs aimed at micro shelf life and macro reach? Maybe. But to borrow a line from the star of the year, AR Rahman, the true idea of music “...is to liberate the listener and lead him to a frame where he feels he is elevated.” And as long as there are musicians and listeners who firmly believe in this, no volumes of quick-fix hits can take away the magic of music that directly connects with our souls.

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