Muthu
Soundtrack album by
A. R. Rahman
Released8 October 1995 (1995-10-08)
Recorded1995
VenuePanchathan Record Inn
GenreFilm soundtrack
LanguageTamil
LabelPyramid
Star Music
Aditya Music
A. R. Rahman chronology
Rangeela
(1995)		 Muthu
(1995)		 Love Birds
(1995)

Muthu is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman for the 1995 Tamil-language film of the same name starring Rajinikanth and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It is the first film where Rahman, Rajinikanth and Ravikumar worked together.[1][2] The album have six tracks in each with lyrics with lyrics by Vairamuthu.[3] The Hindi version is titled Muthu Maharaja and had lyrics penned by P. K. Mishra,[4] whereas the Telugu version of Muthu is penned by Bhuvana Chandra.[5] Recording of the songs took place at the composer's Panchathan Record Inn studio in Chennai. The soundtrack was released on 8 October 1995 under the Pyramid label.[3] The Telugu version of the soundtrack was released under Aditya Music and Saregama distributed the Hindi soundtrack.

Development

Ravikumar considered "Thillana Thillana" the song "most difficult to crack". It initially had the lyrics, "Tamizh naatu makkal kootam unnodu dhaane, naan mattum thalli nippena" (transl. All of Tamil Nadu is with you, would I stand far away?) which Ravikumar disliked. Vairamuthu eventually became irritated and said, "Ennanga neena, thanana thanana thillana thillana-nu" (transl. What man, you are like thanana thanana thillana thillana) catching Ravikumar's attention. He realised it was the hook the song needed, so Vairamuthu wrote "Thillana thillana, nee thithikindra meena". The word "meena" was replaced with "thena" at Ravikumar's suggestion since he had previously written "Meena Ponnu" for Nattamai (1994).[1] The song sampled African humming which had been previously sampled by French group Deep Forest in "Night Bird".[6]

Rahman composed a tune beginning with the gibberish word "kuluvalilae". When it came to writing lyrics, Vairamuthu could not find a substitute word for kuluvalilae that was equally long but made sense. He and Ravikumar wanted Rahman to change the tune slightly to accommodate a better word but realised it was not possible without disturbing the song. As a result, kuluvalilae was kept. Ravikumar recalled, "I just made it seem as though the song was set in this village called Kuluvaele [sic] and put up a road sign indicating that it was the name of the village and then had the song start with the word".[7] The background rhythm and beats of "Kuluvalilae" were borrowed from "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass.[8][9] The song includes "Omanathinkal Kidavo", a lullaby composed by Irayimman Thampi.[10]

The concept of "Oruvan Oruvan", a song reflecting philosophies relevant to society through its lyrics,[11] was inspired by "Aandavan Ulagathin Muthalali" from Thozhilali (1964). Ravikumar told Vairamuthu what he wanted the lyrics to portray.[1] The song stresses that "God is above all and that greed will be the end of life".[12] Paravai Muniyamma was originally asked to sing "Kokku Saiva Kokku", but declined,[13] and the song was instead sung by Theni Kunjarammal.[3] It is set in the Carnatic raga known as Kalyani[14] while "Vidukathaiya" is set in Chakravakam.[15][16] Recording of the songs took place at the composer's Panchathan Record Inn studio in Chennai.[3]

Track listing

Tamil
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Oruvan Oruvan"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam6:25
2."Kuluvalilae"Udit Narayan, K. S. Chithra, Kalyani Menon, G. V. Prakash Kumar6:13
3."Vidukathaiya"Hariharan6:19
4."Kokku Saiva Kokku"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Theni Kunjarammal5:30
5."Theme Music" (Instrumental) —3:09
6."Vidukathaiya" (One Bit)Hariharan1:14
7."Thillana Thillana"Mano, Sujatha Mohan6:32
Hindi
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Uparwala Malik Hai"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam6:25
2."Phoolwali Ne"K. S. Chithra, Udit Narayan6:13
3."Koi Samjhade"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Ila Arun5:30
4."Rangeela Rangeela"Mano, Sujatha Mohan6:32
5."Chhod Chala Nirmohi"Hariharan6:19
6."Theme Music" (Instrumental) —3:09
Telugu
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Thillana Thillana"Mano, Sujatha Mohan6:32
2."Kalagalile Prema"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra6:13
3."Konga Chitti Konga"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Ila Arun5:30
4."Visirinada Vidhi Galam"Hariharan6:19
5."Okade Okkadu"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam6:25
6."Theme Music" (Instrumental) —3:09

Release

The soundtrack album was released on 8 October 1995 at Kalaivanar Arangam in Madras (now Chennai), where Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan along with Ravikumar, Rahman and Vairamuthu unveiled the audio cassettes to the public.[17] Over 400,000 cassettes of Muthu's soundtrack were sold on the release date.[18] It was the most popular foreign soundtrack in Japan.[19][20] "Thillana Thillana" was adapted by Nadeem–Shravan into "Deewana Deewana" for the 1996 film, Jung.[6] The songs from Muthu were later retained in its Kannada remake in 2004, Sahukara, though Rajesh Ramanath was credited for its music.[21]

Reception

Writing for INDOlink, Anand Kannan said, "Rahman is ok, as two songs are worth hearing. I can see why Rah- man and Vairamuthu make a good pair. They are so alike – Meticu- lousness and catchy presentation making up for not-so-consistent imagination; flashes of brilliance holding up lots of mediocre stuff; they give you have a feeling of having heard it all some- where."[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lakshmi, V (23 October 2020). "#25YearsOfMuthu: Rajini sir was confident that Muthu would work: KS Ravikumar". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Ramachandran 2014, p. 163.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Muthu". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Arunachalam, Param. BollySwar: 1991–2000. Mavrix Infotech. p. 615. ISBN 9788193848210.
  5. ↑ "Muthu". Gaana. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  6. 1 2 Ramachandran 2014, pp. 163–164.
  7. ↑ Mathai, Kamini (2009). A. R. Rahman: The Musical Storm. Viking. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-670-08371-8.
  8. ↑ Srinivasan, Karthik. "A R Rahman [Tamil]". ItwoFS. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Paneerselvam Umamaheswaran; Shravan Ramachandran; Shivadas D S (2020). "Retrospective Analysis of Plagiaristic Practices within a Cinematic Industry in India – a Tip in the Ocean of Icebergs". Journal of Academic Ethics. 18 (2): 143–153. doi:10.1007/s10805-020-09360-7.
  10. ↑ "Sruti Box". Sruti. No. 196–207. 2001. p. 3. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Ramachandran 2014, p. 162.
  12. ↑ Surendran, Anusha (5 May 2016). "When a Superstar enters". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "ஏ.ஆர்.ரஹ்மானுக்கே நோ சொன்ன பரவை முன்னியம்மா..! இந்த ரகசியம் தெரியுமா உங்களுக்கு.?" [Paravai Muniyamma said no even to A. R. Rahman..! Did you know this secret?]. TamilSpark (in Tamil). 1 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Sundararaman 2007, p. 139.
  15. ↑ Mani, Charulatha (25 May 2012). "A Raga's Journey – Charming Chakravaham". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  16. ↑ Sundararaman 2007, p. 168.
  17. ↑ Kavithalayaa (21 November 2018). Muthu Audio launch – Ulaganayagan Kamal Hassan speech | Rajinikanth | AR Rahman. Event occurs at 0:19. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ Pillai, Sreedhar (12–18 November 1995). "Setting the Scene". Sunday. pp. 22–23.
  19. ↑ Prasad, Ayyappa (29 August 2003). "Films don't believe in borders". Screen. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Ramachandran 2014, p. 20.
  21. ↑ M.L.N (23 August 2004). "Best of both". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  22. ↑ Kannan, Anand. "Muthu". INDOlink. Archived from the original on 7 June 1997. Retrieved 20 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

Bibliography

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