Ai - song review

Very rarely does a song does full justice to its tune. Songs are like rasam. It has to be a perfect blend of all ingredients. Don't ask me for recipe. I neither know it from the music side nor from culinary section. But being an ardent foodie, I can vouch for those that enthral my taste buds. This particular song from Ai - Pookalay satru oivedungal, fit right into all the right sections. A typical ARR song after a really long time.

Tunewise its a mix of "Kaathal anukkal" from Enthiran and "Khamoshi raath" from Thakshak, both credited to ARR who has done a Harris jeyaraj with this song ala rehashing his own hits. Since both songs are some of his best compositions, it doesn't hurt to hear the same again with different lyrics this time. After listening to "Mersalaaitten" in Ai movie, I really did became "Mersal"!!(??). Now that one think of it, almost all of ARR's songs have been of excellent language quality when it comes to lyrics. Be it Vairamuthu, who polishes of school poetry as lyrics or Vaali, the awesome man who can bend words and syllables to suit the tune, the duo have adorned some of the most mellifluous tunes of Rahman with awesome lyrics. But with Mersalaitten Rahman hits a low. The absence of Vaali is more felt in this song, who could've taken it to a whole new level even within the constraint of local lingo. Wonder how come Shankar allowed it!! All depends on the picturisation, where Shankar is a past master. The much hyped "Ennodau nee irunthaal" survives by power of repetition. The same lines are repeated like a dozen times over and over again in a matter of seconds and it kinds of grows on you. Obviously the picturisation is the talk of the town and probably one of the key highlights of the movie itself. The lesser said about "Aila Aila" and "Ladio" the better. Both sounds like mash up version from the play list of Kohl's or Shoppers Stop. Hardly a meaningful word and even the pronunciation is so confusing, they make it difficult to even hum.

Coming to the crowning glory or possibly the (only) best song in the list. "Pookkalay Satru oivedungal". The lyrics by Kabilan are so gentle and smooth that they ride along the crests and troughs of the tune like a solitary leaf floating on water, forever at the risk of drowning, with the hope that there wouldn't be an unruly ripple and with the vocal quality of Haricharan and Shreya Ghoshal to navigate. The section

"Haiyo ena thigaikum
Ai ena viyakkum
Ai galukellam vidumuraiyai aval thanthuvital..
Aval vanthuvittal..
"

resembles a sharp hairpin bend of a steep gradient on a high mountain ridge with two way traffic where you've to turn without slowing down from original pace and smoothen it down to normal. Haricharan does an awesome job of holding steady the steering. And not just that. He has excellent sense of pronunciation. The "la" "La" uchharippu makes it a delight to hear. Tamizh may be rightfully called the pioneer of all object oriented language for introducing the OOPS concept of reusability and inheritance. It may look so simple with its character set but it deserves to be handled with care. The richness of the language is more felt and enjoyed when one pronounces it properly. You've to hum the song mentally to realise how tough a manoeuvre it is and I am sure this is one song that is a tough one to crack on any competition. The song describes and clears any question on the meaning of the movie's title - Ai. It oozes with teasingly tasteful lyrics on the lines of Vaali and matches Vairamuthu's calibre in chastity of wording.

I've only one thing to say about this song to sum it up - Listen to it :)

Pookkale sattru oyivedungal
Aval vanThuvittaal
Aval vanthuvittaal
Pookkale satru oyivedungal
Aval vandhuvittal
Aval vandhuvittal

Hey ai endraal athu azhagu endral
Antha ai galin ai aval thaana
Hey ai endraal athu kadavul endral
Antha kadavulin thugal aval thaana
Haiyo ena thigaikum
Ai ena viyakkum
Ai galukellam vidumuraiyai aval thanthuvital..
Aval vanthuvittal..

Pukkale sattru oyivedungal
Aval vandhuvittaal..aval vandhuvittaal..

Indha ulagil unai vella oruvan illai
Undhan asaivugalil yaavilum i
Veli azhagai kadanthu un idhayam nuzhainthu
En ainpuzhan unarnthidum i
Evan bayathai anaikka
Aval evanlai anaikka
Aval seigaiyil peivathu ai
Aval vizhiyin kanivil
Enda ulagam paniyum
Siru noiyalavu iyam illai
En kaigalai korthidu i viralai
Ini thaithu nee vaithidu nam nizhalai
Aval idazhgalai nugarnthuvida
Paadai neduga thavam puriyum

Pookkale sattru oyivedungal
Aval vandhuvittaal
Aval vandhuvittaal
Hey ai endraal athu azhagu endral
Antha ai galin ai aval thaana
Hey ai endraal athu kadavul endral
Antha kadavulin thugal aval thaana
Haiyo ena thigaikum
Ai ena viyakkum
Ai galukellam vidumuraiyai aval thanthuvital..
Aval vanthuvittal..

Neer veelichi pole ninravan
Naan neentha oru oodai aanai
Van moodum malaiyai ponravan
Naan aada oru medai aanai
Ennulle ennai kandaval
Aarendru enai kaana seithaal
Kelamal nenjai koithaval
Sirpam seithu kaiyil thanthal
Yugam yugam kaana,
Mugam ithu pothum
Pugazhidam enre undhan..
Nenjum mattum pothum
Maru uyir thanthaal..
Nimirnthida seithaal
Nagarnthidum paadhai engum
vaasam veesa vandhaale

Pookkale satru oyivedungal
Aval vandhuvittaal
Aval vandhuvittaal
Hey ai endraal athu azhagu endral
Antha ai galin ai aval thaana
Hey ai endraal athu kadavul endral
Antha kadavulin thugal aval thaana
Haiyo ena thigaikum
Ai ena viyakkum
Ai galukellam vidumuraiyai aval thanthuvital..
Aval vanthuvittal..