Minnale is the debut soundtrack album composed by Harris Jayaraj for the 2001 film of the same name, starring Madhavan, Abbas, Reema, Vivek and Nagesh, and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon in his directorial debut.[1] The film's soundtrack comprised nine songs, written by Vaali, Thamarai and C. S. Amudhan.
The soundtrack which was distributed by Saregama and Cee (I) TV Audio, was released at a function held in Chennai and received critical acclaim, thus becoming a major contributor to the success of the film. It also fetched Jayaraj his first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in Tamil, which is the second time ever for a debutant after A. R. Rahman for Roja (1992).[2] The song "Vaseegara" became a chartbuster, and also served as breakthrough for the lyricist Thamarai, and carnatic musician Bombay Jayashri, who later became a prominent playback singer in films. The soundtrack was dubbed in Telugu as Cheli, with lyrics written by Bhuvanachandra. Harris Jayaraj reused five tracks in the Hindi remake of the film Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, excluding four songs from the original, and also composed two tracks originally for the film.
Before his debut as music composer, Harris worked as an instrumentalist, synthesizer and keyboard programmer for more than 600 films and with various composers ranging from A. R. Rahman to Yuvan Shankar Raja.[3] While Menon roped in Harris, for the film's soundtrack, he wanted to ensure the quality of the music production, not only for the songs but also for the film score, as songs constitute only 25 minutes of the film's runtime, than its score, which will be about two hours. The album and score in its entirety was recorded within 11 months. Apart from composition, Harris Jayaraj took charge in programming, recording, mixing and mastering of the songs, as well as dubbing, when the film and its soundtrack was dubbed and released in Telugu as Cheli.[4] Initially, producer Kalaipuli Thanu wanted Harris to score for Kamal Haasan-starrer Aalavandhan, in his debut, but Harris refused to do so as he owed to work with Menon.
A promotional event to distribute the film's audio cassettes and CDs was held at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai on 12 January 2001 with the film's songs were also screened.[13] Actors Madhavan, Vivek, Vikram and Manoj Bharathiraja among other celebrities from the film industry were present at the event, excluding Reema and Abbas, who could not attend the function due to busy schedules. The composer's musical team performed the songs on stage, with dance choreographer Brinda's team danced to the tunes.[13]
The soundtrack received critical acclaim and was a major contributor to the film's commercial success.[14] In its review for The Hindu, Savitha Padmanabhan praised the film's music and picturisation as "stylish" and "youthful".[15] A critic from Sify, considered the background score and the songs (particularly "Azhagiya Theeye"), as the "highlight" of the film.[16] In the film's 18th anniversary, Abhishek Bachchan replied to one of the ardent fans of the film, praising the film and added that its songs still feel fresh to listen even after several years.[17] Ritz Magazine called "Venmathiye" and one of the best compositions from Harris Jayaraj,[8] as was The Indian Express,[18] while "Vaseegara" was listed as one of the best songs from Harris in the review for The Times of India.[19]
I grew up with Hindi and a lot of Marathi music. We lived in Ghatla in Chembur. During occasions like Ganapathi Pooja and Navratri, we heard Sudhir Phadke, Shrinivas Vinayak Khale and Hridaynath Mangeshkar. In between hearing Hindi, Marathi and Malayalam songs, I was exposed to Tamil music too. Among the first songs I heard in Tamil, the one that stood out was 'Paarthen Sirithen' from Veera Abhimanyu written by Kannadasan, sung by PB Srinivas, P Susheela, and composed by KV Mahadevan.
Jayashri loves to sing for autistic children and believes in music therapy by appreciating the value of finer things. She recollected how a child named Prakash came up to her long back after a concert and told that whatever she sang was all wrong. "This boy used to hear my songs and minutely follows it. I realised after a few months when I heard the recording that there were flaws in my singing and the boy had only corrected that. I have not met the boy even till date but it is etched in my memory."
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