1. Ranjithame 👍
Singers: Thalapathy Vijay, M M Manasi
Lyricist: Vivek
This song is the biggest hit there in Tamil cinema over the last couple of months. Wherever you turned it was always this song, that is close to 122 million views and more than 2.2 Million likes. The drummer boy from 'Boys' is a popular composer in Tollywood, but now he has started scoring more frequently in Kollywood as well. S Thaman is one of those composers who gets the pulse of the audience and music lovers. Ranjithame is one such example as he gets the dance rhythms spot on. Thaman plays all the acoustic drums and electric rhythm, but that is no match to the live drums and percussions played by The Gongura Band & Thamania and live percussion are played by Anandan Sivamani with another bright young talent Krishna Kishore. Sivakumar plays the Nadaswaram in the interlude and intervenes during various instances. Vivek's lyrics add nativity and once MM Manasi rolls into the scheme of things, she ups the ante and her style of singing truly works wonders for the song. Sahiti Chagati, Ramya Behara and Sruthi Ranjani perform the backing vocals in the chorus and Sri Krishna is the vocal supervisor. One can feel the adrenaline pumping, and it will be widely used in functions and celebrations as a dance anthem but, Thaman for sure could have done better with the underlying melody. The best part is certainly the title line. Godfray Immanuel plays the guitar and Subhani plays the Mandolin. The track is mixed and mastered by Shadab Rayeen.
2. Thee Thalapathy 👍
Singer: STR (Silambarasan)
Lyricist: Vivek
It is heartening to see STR sing the lead for this song, as he himself is a very famous star in Kollywood, with many actors who are his fans. We can only assume this shows his humble side. STR has been sort of a regular for Thaman's musicals in Telugu and Tamil and so that way it is not surprising. Vivek is the lyricist for this number. Anandan Sivamani is once again the lead drummer and he is aided by the electric guitars of Godfray. It is interesting to see a nice Orchestra from Bangkok being used here against the usual European ones. We have the entire Brass and Horns section with live instruments including Horn, Trumpet, Tuba, Trombone etc, with Andrew T Mackay as the co-ordinator. The song has a very able and efficient harmony line up, like Narayanan Ravishankar Sri Krishna Prudhvi Chandra & Saicharan, Rahul Nambiar & Deepak blue , and Harika Narayan. The song is heavy on synths and it's entirely an anthem kind of a song with a chorus of singers.
3. Soul Of Varisu 👍
Singer: K.S. Chithra
Lyricist: Vivek
Thaman brings in the legendary KS Chitra to deliver this special song and it works because none can match her in getting the emotions, age-appropriate delivery right. Once again we have Vivek as the lyricist adding love and life in his lines. The Grand Piano is played by Thaman, with another dominant instrument being the electric violin played by Sandilya Pisapati. Joes plays the guitars and the additional vocals of Rita and Roshini and the heartwarming harmonies involving Vrusha Balu, Reshma Shyam, Pavithra Chari, Aishwarya Sivaranjini, Kumuthini, Deepthi Suresh, Bhuvana, Surabhi, Kiran Sravan adds more life. The song is an instant hit and it is expected to work better post release with the visuals and its situation.
4. Jimiki Ponnu
Singer: Anirudh,Jonita Gandhi
Lyricist: Vivek
Why won't you use Anirudh's magnetic voice and stylish delivery even if he is your rival? Yes, that is why Thaman makes Anirudh sing the way he sang one for Thaman's movie 'Prince'. The song does have a decent impact and that is probably only thanks to Anirudh's singing. The rhythms and keyboards are pretty much repetitive. The combination of Anirudh and Jonita Gandhi created a rage when they sang "Chellama" a couple of years ago, and that is why Thaman experiments with the duo again. Jonita is the female lead vocalist and she chimes in with a few lines.
5. Vaa Thalaiva
Singer: Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik, Thaman S, Deepak Blue, Arvindh Srinivasan
Lyricist: Vivek
The last song once again used the anthem style with multiple singers, and legends like Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik, and younger ones like Deepak Blue and Arvindh Srinivasan. The opening folkish cry by the lady sets things up well and when accompanied by electric guitars it does make things quite feisty. This is a combination that you wouldn't have heard much and that is why we need to give points for novelty. Then the roaring percussions start playing. The popular opinion, is that the best-suited vocalist for Vijay over two decades has been Shankar Mahadevan and that is why he becomes the perfect choice for this number. Karthik becomes the lead singer in the stanza at the beginning, and then it is Shankar towards the end.