Released 1978 Length 17:03 Label EMI Records | Genre Film soundtrack Language Tamil | |
Mullum Malarum (English: Thorn and Flower or Thorns also Blossom) is the original soundtrack composed by Ilaiyaraaja to the 1978 Indian Tamil film of the same name. It's Telugu version is titled Mullu Puvvu.
Contents
Overview
The lyrics for the songs were written by Panchu Arunachalam, Gangai Amaran and Kannadasan. While the film features 5 songs, the soundtrack features only 4 songs; the song not included in the soundtrack is the introduction song Maan Iname. The album was released under the label EMI Records. The film has no duet songs—a notable rarity for Tamil cinema. The soundtrack cover shows the film's four protagonists, arranged clockwise from top left: Valli (Shoba), Manga (Fatafat Jayalaxmi) and Kali (Rajinikanth) sharing the same frame, Kumaran (Sarath Babu) and Valli again.
Telugu
This is the track listing for the soundtrack's Telugu version Mullu Puvvu. L. Vaidyanathan and Ilaiyaraaja have composed two tracks each for the album.
Reception
The soundtrack received positive response. In 1978, the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan stated that though there were only four tracks, Ilaiyaraaja had composed them with strands of sweetness. A review from The Hindu on 25 August 1978 described Ilaiyaraja's tunes as "delicious" In his 2011 book The Best of Tamil Cinema: 1977 to 2010, G. Dhananjayan stated that with Mullum Malarum, "Ilaiyaraaja proved his deep knowledge in background score", while praising every single song of the soundtrack. Upperstall.com named Senthazham Poovil as one of Ilaiyaraaja's "most memorable songs". In July 2011, D. Karthikeyan of The Hindu singled out the film's re-recording and ranked it alongside the music director's other films such as Uthiripookkal (1979), Moondram Pirai (1982), Nayakan (1987) and Thalapathi (1991). In an interview with film critic Baradwaj Rangan, director Mani Ratnam stated that there was "something really special" about the film's music, because of which the film "really stood out".
Media usage
Elements of the song "Raman Aandaalum" were later used in the song "Thambikku Indha Ooru", composed by Dharan for the 2010 film of the same name, and also in the song "Machi Open the Bottle", composed by Ilaiyaraaja's son Yuvan Shankar Raja for the 2011 film Mankatha. A remix of "Raman Aandaalum", composed by Dhina, is featured in the 2010 film Magane En Marumagane. In the 2002 film Baba, the title character is shown listening to "Raman Aandaalum" on a radio. "Senthaazham Poovil" was included in a compilation album of Yesudas' songs released by Saregama, as the title track.