Anegan (soundtrack)

Development

For the soundtrack and background score of this film, director K. V. Anand turned to his frequent musical partner Harris Jayaraj, which also marked the composer’s first time working with actor Dhanush. After wrapping up work on several other projects, Jayaraj started writing the songs in Paris at the beginning of 2014. In May of that year, he began laying down tracks for a folk piece called “Aathadi Aathadi,” with lyrics by Vairamuthu. Anand thought Bhavatharini’s voice would be a good match for the number, so the team asked her to sing it, and she accepted.

The following month, Jayaraj recorded another Vairamuthu-penned song, “Roja Kadale,” with Shankar Mahadevan—a singer he had worked with before on the 2005 film Ghajini. Later that same month, he put together an upbeat track that turned out to be “YOLO (You Only Live Once),” written by director C. S. Amudhan. This was only the second time Amudhan had written lyrics; his first was “Maddy Maddy” from the 2001 film Minnale, also composed by Jayaraj. Anand explained that since the song’s scene revolves around software workers looking for a relaxed weekend, he wanted a lyricist who could nail that vibe, and he settled on Amudhan because he saw him as fundamentally easygoing.

The dappankuthu number “Danga Maari Oodhari” came from first-time songwriter Rokesh and first-time singer Marana Gana Viji, with extra vocals from Dhanush and Naveen Madhav. Anand asked Jayaraj to skip western instruments and go for local ones like thaarai thappattai to keep the sound earthy. Once the tune was ready, Anand looked for a lyricist fluent in local Tamil slang, sifted through about 150 word options, and found Rokesh’s lines most interesting.

Rokesh, who worked as a machine operator in Vyasarpadi and wrote gaana songs as a pastime, was told to craft words fitting a 1970s slum setting and finished the lyrics in a single day. Since the team found the vocabulary unfamiliar, he had to explain each line and rework them several times before they were approved. Naveen Madhav, who sang on the track, mentioned that the pitch was extremely high, forcing him to push his voice to hit the notes correctly, which made his final sound quite different and hard to recognize.

Release

The six-song track list for the soundtrack was unveiled on 30 October 2014. A soft launch occurred at Suryan FM on 2 November 2014, with physical copies arriving later at the AGS Cinemas multiplex in T. Nagar. Digital availability on iTunes preceded this, starting 1 November. The launch event aired on Sun Music’s Cut 2 Cut show on 16 November 2014. For the Telugu version, titled Anekudu, the soundtrack debuted on 23 January 2015 during a promotional event in Hyderabad.

Reception

A critic from The Times of India gave the album 3 out of 5, stating that Harris and Anand made a fantabulous comeback with songs encompassing different genres. Siddharth K of Sify also rated it 3 out of 5, writing that Anegan is another regular Harris Jayaraj fare where tunes give a déjà vu to listeners, and while songs like "Roja Kadale", "Thodu Vaanam", and "Danga Maari" impress, the remaining songs fall flat, making it an album not on the same lines as Ko and Maatraan.

Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog considered it a mild improvement over the composer's previous three outings. Vipin Nair of Music Aloud gave 7.5 out of 10, stating that despite reuse or inspiration, Anegan is the best soundtrack Harris Jayaraj has produced for KV Anand from among their four outings together. Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle wrote that Harris Jayaraj's "Danga Maari" number is already a rage and all other songs are okay.

Impact

The song "Danga Maari" emerged as a chartbuster after release. Director S. Shankar praised the song and its lyrics on his Twitter account, calling it an instant hit. "Danga Maari" became a breakthrough for singer Marana Gana Viji and lyricist Rokesh. Viji stated in an interview to The Times of India that Jayaraj believed someone as simple as him could sing that song and make it a hit, and that the song took him to London and Toronto. Rokesh later wrote lyrics for popular songs including "Dandanakka" from Romeo Juliet, "Maari Thara Local" from Maari, and "Aaluma Doluma" from Vedalam, among others.