Released 23 July 2014 Length 22:10 Release date 23 July 2014 Producer Yuvan Shankar Raja | Recorded 2013-14 Language Tamil Movie Anjaan Label Sony Music | |
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Genre Feature film soundtrack | ||
Anjaan (English: Fearless) is the soundtrack composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for the 2014 Tamil film of the same name. Its Telugu version is titled Sikander. The soundtrack album features five songs, with lyrics written by four lyricists for the Tamil version: while Viveka had written two songs, Madhan Karky, Na. Muthukumar and Kabilan had written one each.
Contents
Development
By August 2013, Yuvan was reported to have composed the first song, a "beautiful romantic song" written by Na. Muthukumar. The "introductory song" was written by Madhan Karky and sung by Ranjith. In January 2014, the composer worked on the remaining songs with Lingusamy and lyricist Na. Muthukumar in Singapore. In June 2014, director Lingusamy stated that Suriya would be singing one song as well, which was eventually recorded in early July at A. R. Rahman's studio within two hours. The song, which marked Suriya's playback singing debut, was described as a "breezy, peppy number" and the last to be recorded after which work on the soundtrack was completed. The Telugu version of the song was sung by composer Raghu Kunche. Vennelakanti, Ramajogayya Sastry, Chandrabose and Bhuvanachandra wrote the songs for the dubbed Telugu version.
Release
The audio rights were purchased by Sony Music India for ₹75 lakh (US$110,000).
The planned formal audio launch function was cancelled and instead the team unveiled the videos of two songs, "Bang Bang Bang" and "Ek Do Theen", for selected fans on 22 July 2014 at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, After which the movie's audio was released in the stores and online platforms directly on 23 July 2014, which also happened to be Suriya's 39th birthday.
The audio launch of the Telugu version Sikander took place on 31 July 2014 at the Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad, with actors Allu Arjun, Akkineni Nagarjuna and director S. S. Rajamouli being present as chief guests, although it was initially reported that Kamal Hassan and Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar would attend the function.
Reception
The album topped the iTunes India charts and received generally favourable response from fans, while its critical response was mixed. Indiaglitz stated "the album sounds quite innovative from Yuvan's regular style. Yuvan hit the first six after his 100+ albums". Bollywood Life stated "Anjaan music is a treat for Suriya fans while the rest can enjoy this likable album" and rated the album 3 out of 5. Siddarth Srinivas of Cinemalead stated that the album was "Pure chartbuster material.", and gave 3.5 out of 5. Akilan Nagarajan of Moviecrow gave 3.25 out of 5 and concluded, "On the whole, Anjaan may not be a Paiyya, but is definitely Yuvan back to his energetic times. He plays safe as he includes a track or two that are meant to be purely for commercial reasons and not to be taken very seriously, but nevertheless entertaining". M. K. Surendhar of Only Kollywood gave 3.25 out of 5 stars and summarised, "Though Anjaan is not a powerhouse Yuvan album, it's closely enough. This is the Yuvan we missed badly. Undoubtedly, an assuring comeback from the composer after a long time.". K. Siddharth of Sify gave 3.25 out of 5 and wrote, "On the whole, Anjaan is a complete package catering to the fans of all genres consisting of a melody, rock, item number & a folkish number. Yuvan Shankar Raja makes sure he blends his experimentation along with the mass expectations. The 'Lingusamy-Yuvan Shankar Raja' track record is intact!".
In contrast, Behindwoods stated "Yuvan gives some of these familiar templates a fresh overhaul" and rated the album 2.75 out of 5. Milliblog too gave a mixed review calling it an "uneven commercial soundtrack by Yuvan".