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Dasavatharam Music Review - Another Avatar Of Reshammiya

APK | April 27, 2008

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Rating: ***.25 (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)

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Dasavatharam took almost a decade to complete, and everyone knows all the details of it as it keeps popping up in the news on and off. For Kamal Hassan's ambitious project, getting Himesh Reshammiya to compose the music might be one the most eccentric decisions he's taken. A decision that people who haven't heard anything he composed apart from his recent chart-busting melodies, that have as many skeptics as they have admirers.

The album is nice, a diversion from his regular stuff, and makes a good hearing for that. The album is very youth-oriented, and one is forced to dwell on how the super-talented, but nevertheless soon-to-be 60 year old will carry it off. You take it for granted when Rajnikant does it for he became the king of gimmicks, while Hassan is his more somber counterpart. There is only one song that one can spot as a Reshammiya number.

Come Dance With Me From Chiranjeevi to NTR and all the other stars in Telugu and Tamil cinema, songs are written in praise of them, praising them to the skies. Kamal Hassan has joined the club finally, with some references to 'Oscar' and all his other ambitions. Of course, this applies as much to the character as it does the actor. You breathe a sigh of relief when the first song doesn't have playback by the ever-eager Reshamiyya, whether or not you like him. Vineeth lends his voice to this cool number, which is a peppy and youthful start to the album. A cute dance number to start the versatile compilation. ***1/2

Raayini Matram Hariharan, in his totally inimitable voice, renders this aggressive and passionate number about faiths, with opinionated and extremist philosophical lyrics by Vennelakanti. The playback is flawless, this is obviously a difficult number to compose in terms of keeping it likeable and the composer does a good job with it. It speaks of very limited aspects of religion and myth though. The chorus and the beats are quite intriguing in between all the vaishnava-shiva arguments. ***.25

Oh Sanam Oh Sanam Shaan has a refreshing voice in this song, and sounds very pleasant rendering this typical Reshammiya number, Oh Oh Sanam, Oh Oh Oh Sanam...This even has a DJ remix, which is just a faster version with some domineering drums. Mahalaxmi Iyer gives Shaan company, for the lyrics penned by Chandrabose. Again, a very youthful number. ***.25

Mukunda Mukunda Reshammiya loves to repeat the lyrics and then rhyme it nice and proper. What if it's not supposed to be a mark of talent, it's heavily catchy. This song about Krishna is a sweet and non-assuming number. There is a chorus in praise of Lord Rama right in the middle of the song. It's a long song, with simple lyrics by Veturi, beautifully rendered by Sadhana Sargam. Hassan chips in his two cents, by rendering an interlude in the voice of a very old woman. ***

Kamal Hassan

Ka Katukaki Shalini Singh renders this solo, which is very western influenced. Bhuvanachandra pens the lines for this song, which sounds like one of those hippie 70s numbers. This has some sensuality, which is lost somewhere in the fast pace and the several languages that show up in the number. ***

Bottom Line Reshammiya is one of the cleverest men out there. He was giving normal, above average music for movies like Tere Naam, showing occasional promise and spark. Then came the nasal humming, which became a huge hit.

So the formula-find something you do well and public like, do it again and again, till they tire of it. He saw that perhaps most of the mainstream public, except the hardcore fans, were getting bored of it. Now this is something different from Reshammiya, and unlike Banaras-A Mystic Love Story, which he gave totally different beats but went unnoticed, Dasavatharam is bound to get massive attention. The album has good music, although heavily self-indulgent lyrics for Hassan. Let's just hope the movie isn't like Abhay, and is at least as pleasant as the music.