Ponnar Shankar (soundtrack)

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Ponnar Shankar
Ponnar Shankar (soundtrack).jpg
Front Cover
Soundtrack album by
Released7 March 2011 (2011-03-07)
Recorded2009–2010
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length38:34
Language Tamil
Label Saga Music
Producer Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja chronology
Ayyan
(2011)
Ponnar Shankar
(2011)
Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai
(2011)

Ponnar Shankar is the soundtrack album to the 2011 epic historical drama film of the same name directed and produced by Thiagarajan, starring Prashanth. The film's soundtrack featured six songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja with Na. Muthukumar, Vaali, Palani Bharathi, Snehan and Ilaiyaraaja himself. The soundtrack was released on 7 March 2011 at the Saga Music label and received mixed reviews from critics.

Contents

Background

Thiagarajan initially approached A. R. Rahman to compose the music for the film. [1] But Rahman declined the offer citing scheduling conflicts, and Ilaiyaraaja eventually replaced him as the composer. [2] [3] Ilaiyaraaja had composed three songs initially but after watching the visuals, he was motivated to compose a romantic number "Kannai Padithaen". [4] At the audio launch event, he recalled an incident that happened while re-recording the film in Mumbai, where a crew of a Bollywood film at the same studio, watched the song for a film and impressed by the grandeur, the producers there asked Ilaiyaraaja to dub the film, admitting that such high standards were not seen in Hindi cinema. [5] The film initially had a track about the glories of Kongu Vellalar which was removed later during the editing process. [6]

Release

The album was launched on 7 March 2011 at the Prasad Studios in Chennai. The then-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi preceded as the chief guest and further saw the attendance of film industry and political personalities, besides the cast and crew. [5] [7]

Reception

Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu summarized that "Ilaiyaraja rules in re-recording" and described "Kannai Padithaen" as "simply melodious and rings in ones ears for long". [8] Sify 's reviewer also stated Ilaiyaraaja's "re-recording is a big plus" and the song "Kannai Padithaen" being the pick of the lot. [9] The reviewer based at Nakkheeran also complimented Ilaiyaraaja's music and score. [10] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog stated "barring those minor quibbles, this is a majestic soundtrack from the veteran." [11] In contrast, the soundtrack received a negative review by Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com , which stated that the "tunes were all generic" and that the operatic background score did not gel well with the film's subject. It summed that "Ilaiyaraja had just skimmed the bare bones of his usually fulfilling musical compositions". [12] There was also a review in Dinakaran on the inappropriateness of the film's tracks as the reviewer felt they were ill-suited to the film's historical themes. [13]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Kodi Katti Koduthalum" Na. Muthukumar Haricharan, Sathyan 4:14
2."Annanmaar Kathai" Ilaiyaraaja Madhu Balakrishnan, Hemambika, Anitha Karthikeyan 9:04
3."Bavaani Varugira" Vaali Shreya Ghoshal 7:36
4."Kannai Padithaen" Palani Bharathi Sriram Parthasarathy, Shreya Ghoshal6:07
5."Thedi Vantha Devathai" Snehan Kunal Ganjawala, Shreya Ghoshal5:09
6."Malar Villile"Na. MuthukumarShreya Ghoshal, Darshana K. T. 6:24

References

  1. Moviebuzz (9 July 2008). "Ponnar Shankar announced". Sify Movies . Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  2. "Ponnar-Shankar shooting begins". The Hindu . 13 July 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  3. Nair, Unni R. (11 March 2011). "Ponnar Sankar : History repeats". The New Indian Express . Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  4. Shankaran, Malini (26 March 2011). "Prashanth on Ponnar Shankar". The New Indian Express . Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 "CM launches Ponnar Shankar audio". Sify . Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  6. "பொன்னர் சங்கர் க்ளைமாக்ஸ் தெய்வகுத்தமா?". Thenaali (in Tamil). 2011. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  7. "Audio launch of Ponnar-Shankar". The Times of India. 9 March 2011. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  8. Rangarajan, Malathi (9 April 2011). "An alluring canvas — Ponnar Shankar". The Hindu . Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  9. Moviebuzz (2011). "Ponnar Shankar". Sify Movies . Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  10. "பொன்னர் சங்கர் - பிரம்மாண்டமாய்". Nakkheeeran (in Tamil). 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  11. Srinivasan, Karthik (6 April 2011). "Ponnar Shankar (Music review), Tamil – Ilayaraja". Milliblog . Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  12. Srinivasan, Pavithra (11 April 2011). "Review: Nothing historical about Ponnar Shankar". Rediff . Archived from the original on 4 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  13. "பொன்னர் சங்க ர்". Dinakaran (in Tamil). 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2011.