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Mumbai: Kamal Hassan’s newly released film ‘Indian 2’ has gathered mixed reviews from cinephiles since its release on July 12. A sequel to Hassan’s 1996 blockbuster ‘Indian’, the film has been directed by legendary south-Indian film writer and director Shankar, aka Shankar Shanmugam. Despite extravagant advertising and promotions, the much-anticipated sequel has fallen flat at the box office.
Initial audience reviews uploaded by users on social media expressed utter disappointment due to the absence of AR Rahman’s music, which had a significant impact on the Hassan-starrer ‘Indian’ in 1996. Rahman was previously rumored to direct the music for ‘Indian 2’, but later director Shankar opted to choose music composer Anirudh Ravichander for the film.
The complete OST for ‘Indian 2’ consisting of six songs composed by Anirudh Ravichander was unveiled at a grand audio launch event in Chennai on Saturday, July 2. The film directors and cast, including Kamal Hassan, Kajal Agarwal, Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh, and Priya Bhavani Shankar, also attended the event.
The first track of ‘Indian 2’ named ‘Paraa’, composed and sung by Anirudh Ravichander and written by lyricist Pa Vijay, has gathered moderately positive reviews from Tamil audiophiles. The female voice segments were sung by Tamil playback singer Shruthika Samudhrala. The song runs at 4:12 minutes, making it the longest among the six tracks. Since its release on YouTube, the song has gathered 8.5 million views to date, making it the highest-grossing song in the film ‘Indian 2.’
The second track of the movie, ‘Calendar Song’, composed by Anirudh Ravichander and lyricized by Kabilan Vairamuthu, has received mixed responses from audiences. Sung by playback singers Aishwarya Suresh and SuVI, the fast-paced musical number has been accused of being out of place in ‘Indian 2’, given the latter’s transition from past to present. Created under the advice of Tamil singer Ananthakrishnan, the track comes across as far more radical in comparison to the conservative air in ‘Indian 2’, giving it an unrealistic but melodious vibe. Despite the shortcomings, the soulful track has garnered nearly 4 million views since its release on YouTube.
Track three, named ‘Neelorpam’, composed by Anirudh Ravichandran, is the first soulful melody in the film ‘Indian 2’ that entirely focuses on the theme of love instead of patriotism. Lyricized by Thamarai and sung by Tamil playback singers Abby V and Shruthika Samudhrala, the song features an extensive mix of classical music tones that gives it a soulful, light-hearted flow, serenading audiences with a mellifluous tune. The song has garnered 4,069,728 views since its release on YouTube.
The fourth track is named ‘Zaga Zaga’, and has been composed and sung by Anirudh Ravinchandran. Despite the initial hype over the track, after its unveiling, most fans claimed the song to be repetitive. Lasting at 2:07 minutes, the track has fallen flat on YouTube as well as other audio-streaming platforms in the absence of a much-needed BGM that could have mulled over the repetitions. Ravichandran’s attempt at mixing dubstep and psytrance with the track ‘Zaga Zaga’ lacks luster and thus fails to capture the attention of audiences.
The fifth track, named ‘Come Back Indian’, composed and sung by Anirudh Ravichandran, has taken third place after the tracks ‘Paaraa’ and ‘Neelorpam’. Composed by lyricist Arivu, the song has received positive reviews from fans across the nation. Despite the positive reviews, many netizens also expressed their disappointment at the filmmaker’s decision not to include the original AR Rahman-directed music from ‘Indian’ that had popularized the film in 1996. Lasting at 3:37 minutes, the song ‘Come Back Indian’ is fast-paced like the first track ‘Paaraa’ and embodies the struggle of Hassan’s character in ‘Indian 2’.
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The last track, named ‘Kandharalz’, composed by Anirudh Ravichandran, is a hip-hop head-jerker that has garnered positive reviews from India’s younger audiences. Lyricized by music composer Rokesh, the track lasts 3:57 minutes and has garnered 13,290,051 views on YouTube since its release. The fast-paced dance number has audiences grooving to its dubstep beats already. It is currently trending on Spotify’s Tamil Songs of the Week, in third place after Prabhas-starrer ‘Kalki 2898 AD’s Ta Takkara’ and Fasil Fahid starrer “Aavesham’s Gallatta.’
While some tracks composed by Anirudh Ravichandran have been making the news, the failure of other tracks like ‘Calendar Song’ and ‘Zaga Zaga’ has made fans wonder if AR Rahman could have done a better job on the OST. Released on silver screens on July 12, whether Hassan-starrer ‘Indian 2’ can overcome its initial hurdles, only time will tell.
