'99 Songs' is written and produced by AR Rahman while the screenplay and the direction are by Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy. The film has Ehan Bhat and Edilsy Vargas in the lead roles while Manisha Koirala, Tenzin Dakha, Ranjit Barot and others play crucial supporting roles among others.

Ehan Bhat plays the role of Jay, a musician who believes that one song can change the whole world. He is deeply in love with Sophia, who is mute, played by Edilsy Vargas. When he meets Sophia's father to seek his daughter's hand for marriage, he insults Jay by calling him a struggling artist. There begins Jay's journey of creating that one song that is powerful enough to change the world.

The plot is wafer-thin per se, but the subplots and the nuances help add weight to the script. Now, this genre has already been beaten to the pulp with a lot of underdog stories. Where '99 Songs' differs is that Jay is no underdog. He has a great music sense and his college mates love his music too. Hence this becomes a journey of discovering the undiscovered and taking that extra step ahead.

Ehan Bhat is pretty convincing as Jay. He appears like a rockstar for one half of the film and has a rugged look for the rest. He sells both sides of his character with ease and this is indeed a memorable debut for him. On the other hand, Sophie's character has her own moments but they don't come together as an arc. Edilsy could have certainly done better in the emotional scenes to create a better impact.

The film's soul lies in Rahman's music. While he sets fire to the screen with his terrific background score, the songs paint a picture on their own. However, having 14 songs in a film of this length certainly affects the engagement to a certain extent. Most songs have been conceptualized like a music video which takes us further away from the film.

A corruption angle appears out of nowhere and doesn't create the intended impact. When a large part of the film is dependent on this plot point, and it doesn't work, the rest becomes weak. However, some sparkling visuals and the music keeps you going no matter what.

The visuals here look extremely stylish with an unsaturated colour palette. The usage of a greyish tone depicts the protagonist's hardship filled journey and the cinematography team deserves appreciation for their choices. The editing is slick and the overall technical quality is top-notch.

Overall, the film has its intent at the right place and subverts stereotypes wherever it has the liberty to. It looks like a story you think you know by heart, and yet the film will surprise you at places. The film is extremely urban in nature with an international appeal in mind because of which a set of the viewers might find it difficult to connect with. If the film finds its right audience, then this will work well.