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Mayakkam Enna
Soundtrack album by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Released	23 September 2011
Recorded	2011
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	29:04
Language	Tamil
Label	Gemini Audio
Producer	G. V. Prakash Kumar
G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology
Deiva Thirumagal (2011) Mayakkam Enna (2011) Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal (2011)

Mayakkam Enna is the soundtrack to the 2011 film of the same name directed by Selvaraghavan starring Dhanush and Richa Gangopadhyay. The soundtrack is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar with lyrics written by Dhanush and Selvaraghavan, the former in his songwriting debut. The soundtrack was released by Gemini Audio on 23 September 2011.

Development

Prakash was initially assigned as the composer in his second collaboration with Selvaraghavan following Aayirathil Oruvan (2010). In November 2010, he left the project due to "money and time issues" and was replaced by Selvaraghavan's norm collaborator Yuvan Shankar Raja. However, in April 2011, Prakash replaced Raja following the latter's commitments on other projects. The film featured five songs all of them were written by Selvaraghavan; he felt that "Usually directors are familiar with the storyline of their films", he cited Mani Ratnam who wrote the pallavi of songs in his films. Dhanush assisted Selvaraghavan in two of the songs and wrote one song "Pirai Thedum" as a sole lyricist in his debut. The song "Voda Voda Voda" was composed within 15 minutes and recorded within an hour.

Track listing

Release

The soundtrack was launched at the Chennai station of Radio Mirchi station on 23 September 2011 during the breakfast show Hello Chennai, with Dhanush, Selvaraghavan and Prakash in attendance. Subsequently, tracks from the album played on air upon its launch, and a contest being held with participants winning audio CDs autographed by the film's team. The soundtrack was successful in its sales, streaming and downloads; Selvaraghavan organised an event at Radio Mirchi station on 29 October 2011 to celebrate the success.

Reception

P. G. Devi of Behindwoods described the album as "intoxicating enough" giving three-and-a-half out of five stars. The review further added "Naan Sonnadhum Mazhai" and "Pirai Thedum" are "thoroughly cherishable" while "Voda Voda Voda" and "Kadhal Yen Kadhal" being "pure entertainers". IndiaGlitz.com described the album as "catchy", "youthful" and "vibrant". Vipin Nair of Music Aloud gave 7.5/10 saying "G V Prakash Kumar continues his good form, dishing out another appealing soundtrack for Mayakkam Enna." Calling it as a "mix of classy and mass numbers", Paraman in his review for KollyInsider stated "yet another spectacular stroke from G.V. Prakash in collaboration with Selvaraghavan and Dhanush". Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com wrote "G V Prakash has tried very hard to walk away from his comfort zone and provide the kind of edgy numbers Selvaraghavan demands and has risen to the challenge." Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog wrote "Despite inconsistent lyrics, Mayakkam Enna is a mighty competent soundtrack, at least music-wise".

Accolades

Controversy

The song "Kadhal Yen Kadhal" along with "Why This Kolaveri Di" another popular single from Dhanush's 3 (2012) had been debated on how it popularized the "soup-song" genre. Both numbers had been subjected to criticism, particularly the former as the lyrics in the song "Adidaa avala, othada avala, vidra avala, thevaye illai" (transl. Thrash her, kick her, leave her, she doesn't need you) were misogynistic and allegedly glorified violence against women; primarily the aftermath of Swathi murder case where activists and cinephiles speculated the unrealistic portrayal of women and love in Tamil cinema were the reasons behind. In May 2019, Selvaraghavan apologized for allowing such lyrics in the song, even though he did not write it (the lyrics were co-written by Dhanush) as he felt that a director has to be socially responsible, and he should have considered on how people get influenced through such lyrics.

Notes

1. Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.
2. Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
3. also for Aadukalam (2011)
4. 'Soup' is a colloquial Tamil word which refers to young men experiencing depression after a failed relationship.

References

1. "Yuvan replaces GV in Selva's film". Sify.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
2. "GV Prakash makes his point". Sify. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
3. "GV Prakash replaces Yuvan Shankar Raja". The Times of India. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
4. "Spotlight on Gen Next". The Hindu. 26 September 2011. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
5. ^ "Audio launch of Mayakkam Enna". The Times of India. 21 September 2011. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
6. "Mayakkam Enna vs. 7am Arivu". Moviecrow. 28 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
7. "Selva celebrates Mayakkam Enna's audio success". The Times of India. 29 October 2011. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
8. ^ Devi, P. G. "Mayakkam Enna – Music Review". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
9. "Mayakkam Enna Music Review". IndiaGlitz.com. 25 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
10. Nair, Vipin (19 September 2011). "Mayakkam Enna – Music Review (Tamil Movie Soundtrack)". Music Aloud. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
11. Paraman (21 September 2011). "Mayakkam Enna – Music Review". KollyInsider. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
12. Srinivasan, Pavithra (26 September 2011). "Review: Mayakkam Enna songs are entertaining". Rediff. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
13. Srinivasan, Karthik (23 September 2011). "Mayakkam Enna (Music review), Tamil – G V Prakash Kumar". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
14. "Vikatan Awards 2011". Ananda Vikatan. India Malaysia Online. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
15. "Mirchi Music Awards Background". Radio Mirchi. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
16. "Mirchi Music Awards Winners". Radio Mirchi. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
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.
19. "6th Annual Vijay Awards: Complete list of winners". CNN-IBN. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
20. "Here's how the Kolaveri Di song happened!". Rediff.com. 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
21. Virmani, Priya (6 February 2012). "Kolavari Di: how India's 'Tamglish soup song' went viral". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
22. Karthikeyan, Divya (21 July 2016). "Stalkers of Tamil cinema: If the character is one, then show him for what he is". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
23. Rajendran, Sowmya (3 July 2016). "Glorifying stalking and violence, when will Kollywood end this Kolaveri?". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
24. Srivatsan (12 October 2016). "Sivakarthikeyan's Remo to Dhanush's Kolaveri Di: When will Tamil cinema bid goodbye to misogyny?". India Today. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
25. "Swathi was not the first...and she will not be the last". The New Indian Express. 30 June 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
26. "I would love to make a woman-centric film: Selvaraghavan". The New Indian Express. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
27. "Selvaraghavan apologises for 9-yr-old 'Adida Avala' song: Time to kill the soup song". The News Minute. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

• 2011 soundtrack albums
• Tamil film soundtracks
• G. V. Prakash Kumar soundtracks