Velayudham (soundtrack)

Velayudham
Front Cover
Soundtrack album to Velayudham by
Vijay Antony
Released28 August 2011
RecordedAudiophiles
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length25:04
LanguageTamil
LabelSony Music Entertainment
ProducerVijay Antony
Vijay Antony chronology
Vedi
(2011) 		Velayudham
(2011) 		Naan
(2012)

Velayudham is the soundtrack album to the 2011 film of the same name directed by Mohan Raja and produced by V. Ravichandran, starring Vijay, Hansika Motwani and Genelia D'Souza. The soundtrack featured six songs with lyrics written by Annamalai, Viveka, Priyan and Siva Shanmugam. It was released through Sony Music Entertainment on 28 August 2011 at an open event in Madurai. The album received positive reviews from critics and sold more than one lakh audio CDs on the day of its release, becoming a commercial success.

Background

Harris Jayaraj was initially approached to compose music for the film, but he declined citing scheduling conflicts.[1] Later, Vijay Antony was signed in as the music composer. The film marked Antony's second collaboration with Vijay after Vettaikaaran (2009) and first with Raja.[2] The soundtrack to the film featured six songs under the lyrics of Annamalai, Viveka, Priyan and Siva Shanmugam, and the songs were performed by Antony, Haricharan, Srimathumitha, V. V. Prasanna, Supriya Joshi, Karthik, Charulatha Mani, Sangeetha Rajeshwaran, Veera Shankar and Mark.[3]

On composing music for Velayudham, Antony had stated "I work for every film with the same amount of diligence. But here it is also the draw of the hero that's working magic for my music" and admitted that Vijay had liked the songs upon first listen.[4] Antony worked on the music discussions with Raja in late-2010 and early-2011, where he sent the tune to Raja after each lyric which he liked.[4] The song "Molachu Moonu" was recorded by Mumbai-based newcomer Supriya Joshi, who sent her demo vocals to Antony on e-mail and thereafter being roped in for recording. Besides composing, Antony had further sung two songs—"Sonna Puriyadhu" and "Vela Vela".[4]

With Vijay Antony's use of gibberish words in the lyrics, he also coined the term "Chillax" for the romantic number pictured on Vijay and Hansika. He added "I intend relegating such rigmarole to the background for a while because my melodies get buried in the bargain. All the same, on the very day of the audio release everyone in the crowd screamed 'Chillax.' So the draw of such usages is obvious."[4] Prior to the film's music launch, three songs from the album were leaked onto the internet.[5]

Release

Initially, the makers planned to host the audio launch of Velayudham during the summer of that year, and also intended to invite the then-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa for the event, which did not happen.[6] Later, the audio launch was held at the CSI Grounds in Madurai on 28 August 2011, the first instance where a music launch event was held in the southern part of Tamil Nadu.[7][3] Vijay, Hansika Motwani, S. A. Chandrasekhar, Vijay Antony, Viveka and several distributors and theatre owners were present in the function.[8] The audio CDs were distributed by two fans of the actor, Uma Maheshwari and Deepak.[9] Within its launch into the market, the album sold more than 100,000 CDs on the first day of its release.[10]

Reception

"We are overwhelmed with the response the movie and the music have received. Velayudham has broken all records and we have sold all our units within a day of its launch. The soundtracks are original, soulful and memorable. We're sure that the compositions will go down in history as some of the best melodies of our times."

— Ashok Parwani, marketing director of Sony Music Entertainment Chennai, on the success of Velayudham's music.[10]

Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave 3/5 stars and wrote "For an album that's got promising numbers like Rathathin Rathame and Molachu Moonu, Velayudham steadily descends into the mandatory Vijay album with the requisite kuthu and fan-pleasing songs. Vijay Antony plays it safe mostly, with the result that there's nothing new."[11] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu admitted that the songs are "an assortment of melodies and peppy numbers".[12] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog wrote "Composer Vijay Antony did start the soundtrack well, but sadly loses track after those two lovely songs."[13]

A reviewer based at Indo-Asian News Service wrote "Vijay Antony's music is not fine but fits the bill. Placement of songs weakens the flow of the script."[14] Sify wrote "One major plus for the movie is Vijay Antony's songs which are melodious and mass. The Vijay introductory song Sonna Puriyadhu.., Chillaxxx.. and Molachu Moonu... are the pick of the lot."[15] N. Venkateswaran of The Times of India stated that composer Vijay Antony is "on a roll, and 'Velayudham' is one of his best albums this year. 'Molachu moonu', beautifully sung by Prasanna and Supriya Joshi, is the pick of the lot, though 'Chillax' (Karthik and Charulatha Mani) and 'Maayam Seidhayo' (Sangeetha Rajeshwaran) are also pleasant on the ear."[16]

Track list

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Rathathin Rathame"AnnamalaiHaricharan, Srimathumitha4:38
2."Molachu Moonu"VivekaV. V. Prasanna, Supriya Joshi4:52
3."Chillax"AnnamalaiKarthik, Charulatha Mani4:25
4."Mayam Seidhayo"VivekaSangeetha Rajeshwaran4:14
5."Sonna Puriyadhu"Siva ShanmugamVijay Antony, Veera Shankar5:39
6."Vela Vela Velayutham"PriyanVijay Antony, Mark1:16
Total length:25:04

Awards and nominations

Award Date of ceremony[a] Category Recipient(s) and Nominee(s) Result Ref.
South Indian International Movie Awards 21–22 June 2012 Best Male Playback Singer – Tamil V. V. Prasanna for "Molachu Moonu" Nominated [17]
[18]

Notes

  1. ^ Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

References

  1. ^ "The HUMAN Touch". The Indian Express. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  2. ^ Ramachandran, Avinash (30 October 2018). "I am a good judge of what works and what doesn't: Vijay Antony". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b Shrikumar, A. (31 August 2011). "Beat treat". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Rangarajan, Malathi (17 September 2011). "For the record". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Velayudham audio leaked". The Times of India. 20 August 2011. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  6. ^ Kumar, G. Pramod (16 January 2012). "Jaya to the rescue: Superstar Vijay rules again with Nanban". Firstpost. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  7. ^ "'Viruman' to 'Velayudham': Five times when the audio launch of Tamil films took place outside Chennai". The Times of India. 5 August 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  8. ^ "The Velayudham Effect". The Times of India. 28 August 2011. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Velayudham audio launch a grand affair". The Times of India. 30 August 2011. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Velayudham smashes all records!". Sify. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  11. ^ "Velayudham music is for Vijay fans only". Rediff. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  12. ^ Kumar, S. R. Ashok (19 September 2011). "A different mix". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  13. ^ Srinivasan, Karthik (28 August 2011). "Velayudham (Music review), Tamil – Vijay Antony". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  14. ^ "Review: Velayudham". NDTV. Indo-Asian News Service. 31 October 2011. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Movie Review: Velayudham". Sify. 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  16. ^ "Velayudham review". The Times of India. 30 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  17. ^ Manigandan, K. R. (28 June 2012). "The South Shines". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  18. ^ "SIIMA Awards: 2011 Winners". South Indian International Movie Awards. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
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