Malayalam film songs of 2013 – My picks

Been doing this list every year for the past 4-5 years and here comes the list of my favorite songs from the last year. I haven’t listened to all the songs and albums that were released last year, so this list comes from whatever I could listen to.

If I am to pick up the best music album of 2013, it will be “Amen“. Every song from this album is a treat to ears and Prashant Pillai is definitely a music director to watch out for. His music is fresh and captivating. Add to that the lyrics by the legendary Kaavaalam Narayana Panicker which makes “Amen” the album of the year.

Now to the list:

Song: Zammilooni
Movie: Annayum Rasoolum
Music: K
Lyrics: Rafeeq Thiruvallur
Singer(s): Shahbaz Aman

My top favorite song of the year. The highlight of the song is definitely Shahbaz Aman’s voice. There is love, pain and longing in his voice for this song. And it doesn’t have a heavy orchestral background. You will appreciate the song more if you have watched the movie which in itself is a beautiful work.

Song: Vattoli
Movie: Amen
Music: Prashant Pillai
Lyrics: Kaavaalam Narayana Panicker
Singer(s): Lucky Ali

I like everything about this song except that Lucky Ali was a misfit, not for the voice, but for the language. His diction is the only thing that kills the song because you can’t make out what he is singing except for a few words here and there. But you know it’s Lucky Ali and his voice is a perfect fit for this song. Almost all songs of ‘Amen’ is a favorite to me and this one tops the list.

Song: Aliveni
Movie: Kadhaveedu
Music: M. Jayachandran
Lyrics: ONV
Singer(s): Madhu Balakrishnan, Mridula Warrier

There isn’t anything fresh about this song. You have heard so many beautiful Malayalam songs in the same lines, the orchestral arrangement reminds you of many songs you’ve heard in the past but still, the singers – especially Madhu Balakrishnan – makes you play this song on loop.

Song: Ottakku Paadunna
Movie: Nadan
Music: Ouseppachan
Lyrics: Dr. Madhu Vasudev
Singer(s): Vijayalakshmi

I think probably the mass popularity of the song “Kaatte Kaatte” from his period venture “Celluloid” is what made director Kamal to come up with another song that ‘sounds’ old. However, Vijayalakshmi’s crystal clear rendition and voice with Ouseppachan’s melodic structure make this song beautiful.

Song: Otta Thumpi
Movie: Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum
Music: Vidyasagar
Lyrics: Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma
Singer(s): Shankar Mahadevan, K. S. Chitra

This is a typical Vidyasagar but that’s why you like this song.

Song: Laalee Laalee
Movie: Kalimannu
Music: M. Jayachandran
Lyrics: O. N. V. Kurupp
Singer(s): Mridula Warrier, Sudeep Kumar

A beautiful lullaby, sung so beautifully by Mridula Warrier. Her voice is so fresh, clear and beautiful.

Song: Shalabhamaay
Movie: Kalimannu
Music: M. Jayachandran
Lyrics: O. N. V. Kurupp
Singer(s): Shreya Ghoshal

This one is sung by Shreya Ghoshal and an absolute favorite.

Related Posts:

Malayalam film songs of 2012 – My picks
Malayalam film songs of 2011 – My picks
Malayalam film songs of 2009 – My picks
Malayalam film songs of 2008 – My picks

Malayalam film songs of 2011 – My picks

2011 may not have been an exciting year for Malayalam box office, but it certainly was a turning point in the history of Malayalam film music industry. The industry had opened up to the rock music genre last year and a new trend of movie inspired OSTs had been introduced. As a result, we had a song from India’s leading  and Kochi’s own rock band Motherjane for the film Anwar in 2010. The trend continued this year with the Malayalam rock band Avial played the end title song, Aanakkallan, for the film Salt N Pepper. It seems to be continuing as the audio of the end title song from the upcoming film Asuravithu, sung by the new rock sensation, X-Factor fame Piyush Kapur, is out on YouTube.

It shows that the new age film directors who target the young audience are ready to go beyond the regular track to try out something new. And the stage is set right. There has been no better time than now for the independent music scene in India and the youth in Kerala are also reaching out to different genres of music.

2011 was also the year of Shreya Ghoshal in Malayalam film music. She has probably sung more songs than Chitra in Malayalam this year. Unlike other singers from the north and south of India, she has given much effort in terms of pronunciation and that is evident from her renditions. But are the music directors trying to use her pan-Indian image for the publicity of their albums is a question. If that is the case, some of the equally talented young singers from Kerala – Gayatri, Manjari and Swetha – are missing out in the competition.

So here comes my list of top 12 Malayalam songs of 2011. You can view/hear the songs on YouTube, if you click on the song names.

 

Song: Naattu vazhiyorathe
Movie: Gaddhama
Singer: K S Chitra
Music: Bennet-Veetrag
Lyrics: Rafeeque Ahammed

Song: Chimmi Chimmi
Movie: Urumi
Singer: Manjari
Music: Deepak Dev
Lyrics: Kaithapram

Song: Chembarathi Kammalittu
Movie: Manikyakallu
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal, Ravishankar
Music: M Jayachandran
Lyrics: Anil Panchooran

Song: Ithile Varoo
Movie: The Train
Singer: Sujatha
Music: Srinivas
Lyrics: Rafeeque Ahammed

Song: Kannoram Chingaaram
Movie: Rathinirvedham
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal
Music: M Jayachandran
Lyrics: Murugan Kattakkada

Song: Himakanam
Movie: Violin
Singer: Gayatri, Ganesh Sundaram
Music: Bijibal
Lyrics: Rafeeque Ahammed

Song: Chembaavul
Movie: Salt N Pepper
Singer: Pushpavathy
Music: Bijibal
Lyrics: Rafeeque Ahammed

Song: Premikkumpol
Movie: Salt N Pepper
Singer: P Jayachandran, Neha Nair
Music: Bijibal
Lyrics: Rafeeque Ahammed

Song: Pranaya Nilaa
Movie: Teja Bhai and Family
Singer: Shaan Rahman
Music: Deepak Dev
Lyrics: Kaithapram

Song: Manjil Melle
Movie: Makaramanju
Singer: Yesudas
Music: Ramesh Narayanan
Lyrics: Chandran Nair

Song: Amruthamaay
Movie: Snehaveedu
Singer: Hariharan
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Rafeeque Ahammed

Song: Mazhaneer Thullikal
Movie: Beautiful
Singer: Unni Menon
Music: Ratheesh Vega
Lyrics: Anoop Menon

 

Honorable mentions:

To Reshmi Satheesh for the songs Appa Nammade and Chalanam Chalanam from the movie Urumi. The highlight of both these songs is Reshmi’s powerful voice.

To Rex Vijayan for the background score of Chaappa Kurish. Rex has given a totally different approach compared to the traditional way our musicians have been scoring music for films.

 

Related posts:

Malayalam songs of 2009 – My picks
Malayalam songs of 2008 – My picks

 

Yamuna Veruthe from Ore Kadal

It has been a very long time (almost 2 months) since I have sung or recorded anything. The change in the climate did not go well with me and the sinusitis took this chance to attack me all over. I had no choice but to keep quiet. This week seemed to be better and I couldn’t wait any longer. 🙂 Today after coming back from work, I recorded one of my favorite songs from the recent times – Yamuna Veruthe – again. Everything about this song is so beautiful – the lyrics, the music and the wonderful renditions by music director Ouseppachan himself and the Shreya Goshal of Malayalam, Swetha Mohan. 🙂

I had posted an unplugged version of this song earlier. You can check it out at my music blog. Also thanks a lot to Rosh for sharing the karaoke track. This song is also my first music post in the new year. Hoping to get back to my song posts here onwards. 🙂

Movie: Ore Kadal
Lyrics: Gireesh Puthenchery
Music: Ouseppachan
Original singer: Ouseppachan
Sung by: Joseph Thomas (Jo)
Requested by / Dedicated to: Rosh

Download the MP3 of this song


Yamuna Veruthe (with karaoke track) | Music Codes

Malayalam songs of 2008 – My picks

Choosing the top 10 Malayalam songs of 2008 was not at all a difficult job. It was pretty easy as most of the songs were run-off-the-mill junks. However, there were still some songs, not exceeding 8, from the year 2008.

The most notable music director of 2008 was Sreevalsan J Menon with his songs for the movie Laptop. Bijibal is also a promising young music director. The notable fresh new voice for the year 2008 was Amal Antony for the songs he sang for Laptop. Music directors Dakshina Moorthy and Sarath have made a comeback to Malayalam with the movies Mizhikal Sakshi and Thirakkatha. And the interesting thing to note is that Malayalam is hearing very less of Yesudas in the recent years.

So here is my Top 8 Malayalam songs list for 2008.

1)
Song: Ilam neela neela
Movie: Laptop
Singer: Sreevalsan J Menon
Music: Sreevalsan J Menon
Lyrics: Rafiq Ahmed

2)
Song: Arikil Nee Illa
Movie: Thirakkatha
Singer: Madhu Balakrishnan
Music: Sarath
Lyrics: Rafiq Ahmed

3)
Song: Kaanin Vaathil
Movie: Mulla
Singer: Gayatri
Music: Vidya Sagar
Lyrics: Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma

4)
Song: May Maasame
Movie: Laptop
Singer: Amal Antony
Music: Sreevalsan J Menon
Lyrics: Rafiq Ahmed

5)
Song: Mizhi thammil
Movie: Minnaaminni Koottam
Singers:
Music: Bijibal
Lyrics: Anil Panachooran

6)
Song: Paalapoo Eethalil
Movie: Thirakkatha
Singers: Nishad, Swetha
Music: Sarath
Lyrics: Rafiq Ahmed

7)
Song: Chethiyum
Movie: Mizhikal Sakshi
Singers: K S Chitra
Music: Dakshina Moorthy
Lyrics: ONV Kurup

8 )
Song: Kanalukal
Movie: Mulla
Singers: V. Sreekumar, Sujatha
Music: Vidya Sagar
Lyrics: Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma