Released:30 July 2018
The feature film soundtrack to the 2018 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age romance film 96 is composed by Govind Vasantha. The film starred Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha in the leading roles,and was directed by cinematographer C. Prem Kumar in his directorial debut. It revolves around two high school sweethearts,Ram and Jaanu,hailing from the batch of 1996 parted ways,and they meet at a reunion after 22 years. Govind was hired as the film's composer,following his relationship with Balaji Tharaneetharan during the production of Oru Pakka Kathai ,where Prem Kumar handled the cinematography for the film. The delay over the film's release meant that 96 becoming the composer's third film to be released after Solo (2017) and Asuravadham (2018).
The soundtrack had eight songs in total;five of them featured only in the film. Govind had made use of minimal instruments in the film and had two playback singers Pradeep Kumar and Chinmayi,providing vocals to most of the songs in the film's soundtrack,and also serving as playback for the lead characters. One of the tracks "Kaathalae Kaathalae",was initially meant to be an instrumental,not being included in the album. But,as it received rave response,after being featured in the teaser,the song was released as a single from the film on 30 July 2018. [1] The album in its entirety was released on 24 August 2018 by Think Music India, [2] and opened to widespread critical acclaim from music critics,praising Govind for the music production and instrumentation,which were considered to be "fresh and vibrant" unlike mainstream songs dominated by EDM-based soundscape prevalent in Tamil films. It was further certified as the "best Tamil soundtracks of 2018". It also received wide consumer response from the audience and the songs,particularly "Kaathalae Kaathalae" topped radio and music charts. It eventually became a breakthrough for Govind Vasantha,who went on to work with prominent celebrities in the Tamil film industry. [3]
The music of the film was nominated at several award ceremonies including Filmfare Awards South,where it won three awards at the Tamil branch —Best Music Director (Govind Vasantha), [4] Best Lyricist (Karthik Netha) and Best Female Playback Singer (Chinmayi). The album won two awards each at the Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards (out of three nominations),Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards and Behindwoods Gold Medal Awards. The album was nominated at three categories at the Edison Awards and four at the South Indian International Movie Awards,but did not receive any win. Film critics had highlighted the songs,score and use of film music as metaphor,is considered as one of the factors,that had contributed to the film's success,apart from the performances of the lead actors,direction,scripting and other technical aspects.
Govind Vasantha (formerly credited as Govind Menon) signed his maiden Tamil project Oru Pakka Kathai ,directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan in September 2014. [5] During the period of delay over the film's release,following financial constraints,C. Prem Kumar,who worked on that film as the cinematographer,roped him for 96. [6] Eventually,it was his third Tamil film to be released,the first being Solo (2017),where he was one of the 22 ensemble artists worked in the film and Asuravadham (2018),as a single composer. Prem Kumar believed that even before the film's shooting,the music would be an integral part of the film,saying that "though the film not being a musical drama,the emotions revolving around the characters will be conveyed through the music". As the film's story being set in one night,Govind said "I knew the characters in their entirety,their past and their future which didn't feature in the film. Maintaining the mood wasn't the challenge,but making sure the tunes didn't resemble each other was tricky". [7]
Though the original soundtrack album had eight songs,five of them were featured only in the film. Three of the songs in the album are in a duration of about 5–7 minutes. The album had a minimal use of singers and instruments with only the guitar and violin interludes used in the film songs. [8] Chinmayi and Pradeep Kumar were the playback singers for the lead characters Jaanu (Trisha) and Ram (Vijay Sethupathi),and predominantly contributed for most of the tracks. Govind Vasantha eventually recorded two songs for the film. The other singers were Gowri TP,who dubbed for the younger version of the character Jaanu (Gouri G. Kishan),and carnatic musician Bhadra Rajin. Since the director and composer felt that "her character was musically inclined and had wanted an artiste who could dub as well as sing",Govind initially zeroed another singer despite knowing that Chinmayi earlier gave voice-over for Trisha in the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010),he approached her and immediately agreed to be on-board after she liked the story. [8]
The first song to be composed for the film was "Anthaathi",which had a poetry written by the director Prem Kumar was added to the end of the song,and recited by actor Nassar,though he did not act in the film. [9] Govind took more than six months for the composition,because he felt difficult to crack that song. Govind said that "Anthaathi" is the central piece of the film's album,which was meant to be a love anthem with a holistic perspective on love. [10] Govind made use of carnatic elements infused with rock-and-pop mix,a huge choir ensemble was used for the larger-than-life-experience,the song is about. He composed for promotional purposes and not used in the film. Eventually,when he watched the final cut with the team,he asked Prem Kumar to use the track in the film. [8]
Chart | Song | Position | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Radio Mirchi (Top 100) | "Kaathalae Kaathalae" | 1 | [40] |
"The Life of Ram" | 9 | ||
"Anthaathi" | 13 | ||
Film Companion (Top 10) | 2 | [46] | |
The New Indian Express (Top 10) | "Kaathalae Kaathalae" | 5 | [47] |
Moviecrow (Top 20) | 1 | [48] | |
"The Life of Ram" | 6 | ||
Saavn (Best of 2018 – Top 50) | "Kaathalae Kaathalae" | 1 | [45] |
"The Life of Ram" | 2 | ||
"Anthaathi" | 7 | ||
"Thaabangale" | 13 | ||
"Iravingu Theevai" | 29 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Anthaathi" | Karthik Netha, C. Premkumar | Chinmayi, Govind Vasantha, Bhadra Rajin, M. Nassar | 7:14 |
2. | "The Life of Ram" | Karthik Netha | Pradeep Kumar | 5:53 |
3. | "Yean" | Karthik Netha | Gowri T. P. | 2:23 |
4. | "Vasantha Kaalangal" | Uma Devi | Chinmayi | 4:56 |
5. | "Thaabangale" | Uma Devi | Chinmayi, Pradeep Kumar | 3:58 |
6. | "Iravingu Theevai" | Uma Devi | Chinmayi, Pradeep Kumar | 3:41 |
7. | "Kaathalae Kaathalae" (Version 1) | Karthik Netha | Chinmayi, Govind Vasantha | 3:15 |
8. | "Kaathalae Kaathalae" (Version 2) | Karthik Netha | Chinmayi, Kalyani Menon, Govind Vasantha | 3:16 |
96 (Original Background Score) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Film score by | |||||
Released | 25 October 2018 | ||||
Recorded | 2017–2018 | ||||
Genre | Feature film score | ||||
Length | 31:45 | ||||
Language | Tamil | ||||
Label | Think Music | ||||
Producer | Govind Vasantha | ||||
|
The original film score was released on 25 October 2018, following popular demand. The score was released in digital music platforms which had 18 tracks. [60]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "9 to 6" | 1:05 |
2. | "Thanjavur" | 1:05 |
3. | "School Entry" | 3:05 |
4. | "96 Get Together" | 1:29 |
5. | "Waiting" | 2:40 |
6. | "First Love" | 3:35 |
7. | "Ink" | 2:18 |
8. | "Jaanu Intro" (Flute Theme) | 0:57 |
9. | "School Reopening" | 0:36 |
10. | "TC" | 1:45 |
11. | "Loneliness" | 1:08 |
12. | "Sharing" | 2:29 |
13. | "Eyes" | 1:19 |
14. | "Romba Dhooram" | 0:53 |
15. | "Hair Cut" | 0:36 |
16. | "Jaanu's Wedding" | 1:06 |
17. | "Climax" | 2:22 |
18. | "End Title" | 3:13 |
On 17 July 2020, Think Music uploaded a 10-minute video titled 96 Medley in YouTube featuring a compilation of scenes and montages from the film. [61] Songs such as "Iravingu Theevai", "Yaen", "The Life of Ram", "Anthaathi" and "Kaathalae Kaathalae" were used in the video, which was composed and sung by Govind Vasantha. The song was mixed and mastered by Rajan KS, while Vijay M. Raghavan edited the video and title animations done by Robin. [62] The audio version of this medley was released in music streaming platforms the same day. [62] [63]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "96 Medley" | Karthik Netha, Uma Devi | Govind Vasantha | 9:57 |
For the Telugu remake of 96, titled Jaanu , the director Prem Kumar, retained the major technicians from the original counterpart film, including the composer Govind Vasantha, for whom, the film marked his Telugu debut. [64] Though, he composed four tracks originally for the film, Govind had retained three tracks from the Tamil album, [65] which was released separately by Think Music. [66] [67]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Oohale" | Sri Mani | Chinmayi, Govind Vasantha | 4:55 |
2. | "Komma Veedi" | Sri Mani | Chinmayi, Govind Vasantha | 3:50 |
3. | "Anantham" | Sri Mani | Chinmayi, Govind Vasantha | 8:24 |
The album emerged as a breakthrough for violinist-turned-composer Govind Vasantha, who went on to work with prominent celebrities in the film fraternity. Impressed by his work in the film, actor Suriya decided to rope Vasantha as the composer for Uriyadi 2 [68] [69] and Ponmagal Vandhal , [70] both the films were backed by his home production 2D Entertainment. [71] During the audio launch of Thambi , actor Karthi had said that he was "excited to work with the composer as he was impressed by his compositions on the 96 album" and praised him for bringing "a diverse range of songs in the album". [72] Mani Ratnam eventually roped him as the composer for Vaanam Kottattum , produced by Ratnam's production house Madras Talkies, [73] [3] but production delays meant that Govind was replaced by playback singer Sid Sriram, for whom, the film marked his debut as music composer. [74] Post the success of the album, he made his return to Malayalam cinema, by scoring for the big-budget film Padavettu, starring Nivin Pauly, Aditi Balan and Sunny Wayne. [75]
At the 66th National Film Awards, Govind Vasantha was the strong contender for the nominations of Best Music Direction (both songs and score). However, to much displeasure, the film along with several other critically-acclaimed Tamil films were not shortlisted for nominations at the award ceremony; members of the Tamil film industry blamed the absence of jury members from the Tamil branch which led Tamil cinema not winning any awards at that ceremony. [76] [77] Composer A. R. Rahman listed Govind as one of the "promising music composers in South India" following the album's success. [78]
Credits adapted from Think Music India [79]
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