MovieCrow Annual Rankings - Top Music Directors of 2017

The music scene in the Tamil industry remained fairly exciting this year. Good albums were produced by top music directors as well as up-and-coming composers. Not to forget, there were sparks of brilliance from newcomers and also lackluster compositions from established music directors. We've attempted to highlight the best of music from Tamil movies released this year.

The Top 5 Music Directors 

AR Rahman came up with runaway chartbusters for Kaatru Veliyidai, while he played to the gallery with mass numbers for Vijay's Mersal. Ghibran was mighty impressive with his wide spectrum of music across different genres of movies (Adhe Kangal, Magalir Mattum, Aramm, Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru, Maayavan and Chennai 2 Singapore). His background score played a crucial role in making these films create the intended impact with the audience.

Bindhu Malini and Vedanth Bharadwaj created quite some magic in Aruvi. Be it the soothing songs or the heartwarming background score, they were right on the money. Sam CS came into his own with brilliant tracks for Vikram Vedha and Puriyatha Puthir. The background score in Vikram Vedha was in a league of its own. Anirudh played commercially safe for Vivegam and Velaikkaran, and the fast-paced numbers pleased the fans as expected.

Other Notable Mentions

Sean Roldan came up with memorable melodies for Pa. Pandi, but he was slightly disappointing in other movies like VIP 2, Neruppu Da and Kathanayagan. Simon K King's Yavvana from Sathya was an instant catchy number and MM Keeravani's background score for Baahubali 2 was brilliant.

Pradeep Narayanan and Santhosh Narayanan came up with quirky and inventive numbers for Meyadha Maan. Hiphop Tamizha produced couple of chartbusters for Meesaya Murukku, while Imman was largely disappointing except for a few tracks like Senthoora and Rail Aaraaroo. Harris Jayaraj and Yuvan Shankar Raja seem to have lost their midas touch as their hit numbers were few and far between this year. With GV Prakash and Vijay Antony focusing majorly on their acting careers, their music has taken a backseat and it reflected in their songs.

Top 5  Background Score (Alphabetical Order)

•  Aramm (Ghibran)
•  Aruvi (Bindhumalini and Vedanth Bharadwaj)
•  Baahubali-2 ( Keeravani)
•  Theeran Adhigaram Ondru (Ghibran)
•  Vikram Vedha (Sam C.S.)

Top 10 Albums (Alphabetical Order)

• Aruvi (Bindhumalini and Vedanth Bharadwaj)
• Kaatru Veliyidai (AR Rahman)
• Meesaya Murukku( Hip Hop Tamizha)
• Mersal (A R Rahman)
• Meyaadha Maan (Pradeep Kumar and Santosh Narayanan)
• Power Paandi (Sean Roldan)
• Solo (Multiple Composers)
• Theeran Adhigaram Ondru (Ghibran)
• Velaikkaran (Anirudh)
• Vikram Vedha (Sam C.S.)

Other Notable Contributions

Best Male Singer: Pradeep Kumar (Enna Naan Seiven - Meyadha Maan, Kaadhalaada - Vivegam)

Best Female Singer: Shashaa Tirupati (Vaan - Kaatru Veliyidai, Oru Veetil - Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru)
Best Mass Number: Aalaporaan Tamizhan (Mersal)
Best Lyric Writer: Vairamuthu (Sarattu Vandiyile, Nallai Allai - Kaatru Veliyidai)