2018 – Top 20 Tamil Songs >> Song of the Year

Song: The life of Ram
Movie: 96
Composer: Govind Vasantha
Singer: Pradeep Kumar
Lyricist: Karthik Netha

This song has monopolized my thoughts ever since its release. There have been many travel movies and songs over the years and every time they are done right, they just make us feel that it’s just the right way to go in life. As I always think that no matter how much you convince yourself that leaving everything behind and taking a long, wild trek in solitude is a pointless farce in practicality, you cannot help but feel a tinge of humility creeping inside of you when watching someone go in their own terms and actually do that. “The Life of Ram” creates that impact in a matter of 6 minutes with its stunning visuals and literary confessions in the eye of a traveler, telling a few powerful short stories along its own wanderlust. With an understated opening tune, I did not expect much on first hear. But when Pradeep’s voice soars at “Vaazha En Vaazhvai Vaazhave”, the song becomes something else, brimming me with an overloaded sack of ecstasy, which I had felt when I heard Harris’s “Moongil Kadugale” for the first time in the divine voice of Hariharan.

Who deserves the credit for this masterful creation? Is it the profound literary sense of Karthik Netha whose words of wisdom on contentment though detachment flow like the buoyant mind of an incurable romantic? Is it the director’s visual metaphors on life and love through the gorgeous shots of waters, winds, sands and hills? Is it the composer’s blatant love for dignified music and powerful notations of highs and lows matching the intensity of confessions. Is it Vijay Sethupathi’s standout performance through expressions of silence, joy, ecstasy and humility? I like to think that it is the free-spirited life force buried inside every human being. It acts as a mirror to these wonderful artistes making them produce such uplifting creative work!

Pradeep Kumar is the male voice of the year! He is in fact the lifeblood of this song. Every little shivering note he captures adds a classical beauty to the song, not to mention Govind Vasantha’s brilliance dissolved in it like an invisible musical monster. During those towering lines, “Edho Aegam Ezhudhe, Aaha Aazham Tharudhe”, his voice cuts through the soul to the core and watching Vijay Sethupathi express complete surrender to nature’s imperial wonder by looking up the gushing falls is one sublime moment that would linger in my mind forever.

“Karai Vandha Pirage” is not just another song to me. It nurtures my thoughts, pets me when I am fussy, calms me when I am restless, strokes me to sleep when I am tired and feeds me when I wish to travel. It’s a great companion. I will hold its hands and walk ecstatically like a toddler for a long time to come.