Karthi's Madras Songs Review 

Akilan Nagarajan - Review Puram

Karthi's 'Madras' marks up and coming music director Santhosh Narayanan's first break into mainstream movies. He has delivered successfully standing up to commercial pressures. Santhosh Narayanan has presented the concept of "Chennai is a city, ‪Madras is an emotion..." with this fresh new album. 

• The album gets off to an explosive start with Madras. Hugely talented Hariharasudhan has proved yet again after his heavy exploits with D. Imman ("Oodha Colour-u Ribbon"). He grooves along with Meenakshi Iyer in this foot-tapping song. Director Ranjith may very well picturize it as a montage of the daily life in the vada chennai area, where the film is set in. 

• Kakidha Kappal is an enjoyable number, start to end. It has those slight splurges of electronic beats throughout, and they make the song even more alluring than it seems on the start. 

• Kaali Love (Theme) - Subtle and beautiful. Santhosh delivers the theme music in his own style. The tempo of music is similar to that of Yuvan or Anirudh's background singles. 

• Naan Nee exposes the ARRahman side of Santhosh. Shakthishree Gopalan makes it further tempting to draw this comparison! Dheekshita contributes in right measure to Shakthi's enthralling show. Definitely not meant for the masses, but rather a song that will capitalize on the merit of its visuals.

• Agayam Theepiditha takes off right away. Pradeep Kumar's solo rendition carries the song throughout. The song may sound like a crossover of "Kodaiyile" from #Cuckoo and "Aasai Oru Pulveli" from Attakathi, but it has a soul of its own.

• Irandhidava is as raw as it can get, Gaana Bala gives a rustic rendition of a deeply emotional number. It is his voice that holds the listeners together. Superficially it might seem one of the uninteresting numbers here, but pay attention to the lyrics, and you are sure to be on the side of realization.

• Suvar (Theme) is also the music from the trailer. The theme is definitely more than what meets the ears! It encompasses the emotions featuring the "walls" in the film.  The theme brings the album to a subtle and sincere end.

Bottomline: And at the end of the album, one may feel it as a bit schmaltzy akin to other Santhosh Narayanan. However, Santhosh's minimal sounds, interesting arrangements, and more emphasis on the singers has helped him manage to create a brand for himself with his unique compositions. Santhosh is yet to give a bad/average album and this album will only continue to help move his average higher.

Rating - 7/10

Listen to Madras Songs here