Mankatha – Tamil Music Review

Mankatha (Tamil: மங்காத்தா) is a 2011 Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It will feature Ajith Kumar in the lead role, starring in his 50th film,along with an ensemble cast including Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and Anjali. It was produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri’s Cloud Nine Movies while Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the musical score and soundtrack, with Sakthi Saravanan working as the cinematographer and the duo Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth as editors.

Mankatha’s story is said to revolve around a Mafia gang gambling during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket season.The film was formally launched in August 2010,[8] with its principal photography beginning on October 25, 2010. Filming was held for more than eight months and took place primarily across Chennai, the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and Bangkok, Thailand.

Vilayadu Mankatha(Anitha, Premgi Amaren, Ranjith, Suchitra, Yuvan Shankar Raja and others)
The title song of the album is peppy and heavy on percussion. It roughly translates to ‘ Are you ready to play the game ? ” Yuvan has succeeded in creating the perfect intro song for the album. Rap interludes make the song that much more interesting. I was extremely impressed with the violin piece.This song was released before the rest of the songs in the album and was a massive hit with the audience

Nee Naan (SP Charan, Bhavatharini)
The only romantic melody in the album , this song has lyrics by Niranjan Bharathi, great grandson of Mahakavi Bharathiar. Yuvan definitely has some affinity towards SP Charan and the versatile singer has not disappointed. Yuvan has used the guitar to good effect , a first for the music director.

Machi Open The Bottle(Haricharan, Mano, Naveen, Premgi Amaran, Tippu)
It is impossible to imagine a Venkat Prabhu movie without a spirited Kuthu Song ! Yuvan has remixed the yesteryear Rajnikanth Hit “Raaman Aandalum ” to good effect.The song does remind us of some of Yuvan’s previous hits but I don’t think it will matter to the audience.

Vaada Bin Laada(Krish, Suchitra)
Vaali is responsible for the lyrics for this youthful song. Only Yuvan can dare to use the Veena for a song like this.Kris and Suchitra do a commendable job. The rhythm , typical of Yuvan’s compositions makes the song mildly likable.

Nanbane(Madhushree, Yuvan Shankar Raja)
Madhsuhree excels in this pathos song. Yuvan has kept the background instruments to a minimum. Yuvan has provided able assistance to Madhu and is voice is typically suited for this genre. Vaali’s lyrics convey the anguish of the characters with ease.

Balle Lakka(Karthik, Vijay Yesudas, Anusha Dhayanidhi)
Anusha Dhayanidhi is the surprise package and she has delivered big time.She definitely has the potential to make it big if she keeps the focus. The song is not bad but does not have a major impact.

Mankatha Theme Music
This theme music is scintillating to say the least. This score would have fit any war movie perfectly and I am sure the decibel level will be high in the movie theater when Ajith starts swaying to these thumping beats. Yuvan has definitely spent a lot of time to get this right and the result is just mind blowing.

This may not be Yuvan’s best music score but it fits the bill perfectly for the movie. The title song and the soft melodies alone will be good enough for me to download the songs from Itunes or Amazon.