Va Quarter Cutting – Music Review

Starring Shiva and Lekha Washington, Va Quarter Cutting is an upcoming Tamil film written and directed by husband and wife duo, Pushkar-Gayathri, and with music by G. V. Prakash Kumar (who also did music for Madharasapattinam). A unique addition to this album is that every track is preceded with a snippet of dialogue from the movie to add a bit of context to each song.

Unnai Kan Theduthe is a great opening track, with a We Will Rock You-esque feel fused with the slow dappan koothu style. G. V. Prakash and Gana Ulaganathan have sung this number all about drinking alcohol, and have effectively put across a slightly drunken feel to their singing. Despite being slow, it still really sticks in your head, and the electric guitar interludes especially are amazing.

Thediyae Thediyae sung by Andrea Jeremiah is a wonderfully composed track, with simple piano chords repeated throughout in a march-like manner. Andrea’s eloquent delivery of the lyrics is beautiful to listen to, and while the song is simple in terms of instrumentation and melody, it never feels like it is lacking in anything.

G. V. Prakash Kumar has once again taken the mike for Saudi Baasha, this time singing with Bhargavi. This has a slight Arabic feel to it, with amusing lyrics suggesting this maybe be a spoofy item song. Both singers have kept to the Arabic theme of the song, and have done a good job of sounding authentic – I especially like Bhargavi’s voice in this.

Lakshmikanth joins GVP this time for Saarpu Saarpu Ji – another up-tempo song with catchy guitar undertones throughout. The instrumental interludes are really well-composed, and the lyrics are cheerful and also quite funny. Both singers have rendered them in such an unassuming way that you almost feel like you’re right there partying with them – you’ll find yourself humming the opening few lines repeatedly even once the song is over!

The final song is the DJ Chawla Club Remix of the first song (Unnai Kan Theduthe) and has also been named the Quarter Cutting Song. While the dance beat certainly makes this song a sure-fire way to get people going on the dancefloor in clubs, I much prefer the original version.

All in all, G. V. Prakash Kumar has done a great job of producing a commercial soundtrack for this film. The album is at the other side of the spectrum to Madharasapattinam, which was altogether more conservative and traditional in its music, but bearing in mind that Va Quarter Cutting is a comedy film about one night in modern Chennai, it seems to be an appropriate fit. My personal favourites are Unnai Kan Theduthe and Thediyae Thediyae. 3.5/5

Kavya Rajagopalan (c) Thamarai.com