Music Director : Sujatha     

Stars: Sujatha

Chinnanchiru Kiliye- Sujatha

Enniya Mudithal Vendum

Ethanai Kodi

Manathil Uruthi Vendum

Mohathai Kondru Vidu

Nallathor Veenai Seiythaen – UnniKrishnan

Nanthalala Kaakkai – Krishnaraj

Nanthala Music

Ninnaiye Rathiyendru – UnniKrishnan

Saaga Varam Arulvai

Varuvaai Varuvaai

Barathiyaar Songs- 1

Music Director : Oosai        

Stars: Unnikrishnan, Nithya Sree, Priya Sisters, Sowmya

Aasai Mugam – Priya Sisters

Kaakkai Sirakinile – UnniKrishnan

Ketta Pozhuthile – Priya Sisters

Kannan Mananilaiyai – Nithyashree

Kannan Thiruvadi – UnniKrishnan

Maatha Parasakthi – Sowmya

Ninaiyae Rathiyendru – UnniKrishnan

Ninnai Charan Adaithen – Priya Sisters

Suttum Vizhi Sudare – UnniKrishnan

Varuvai Varuvai – UnniKrishnan

Yadhumagi – Sowmya

Athma Soul (Bharathiyar Songs)

Music Director : Bombay Jayashree

Stars: Bombay Jayashree

Agni Kunchu Ondru Kanden – Bombay Jayashree

Ethanai Kodi – Bombay Jayashree

Kaakkai Sirakinile Nanthalala – Bombay Jayashree

Manathil Uruthi Vendum – Bombay Jayashree

Mannin Imaya Malai – Bombay Jayashree

Mazhai Kaalam – Bombay Jayashree

Nallathor Veenai Seiythen – Bombay Jayashree

Ninai Saranaidaithen – Bombay Jayashree

Pozhuthu Pularnthathu – Bombay Jayashree

Sutrum Vizhi Sudarai – Bombay Jayashree

Thikkukal Ettum – Bombay Jayashree

Uyire Uyire – Bombay Jayashree

Varuvaai Kanna – Bombay Jayashree

Idhaya Pookal

Music Director : Mukund     

Stars: Mukund

Yaaro – Mukund

Ethanai Vendum – Unni Menon

Maalai Anthi Maalai – Mukund, Kavitha Nagarajan

Kasu Mela – Dr.Lavanya, Mukund

Ellam Ingu – Unni Menon

Vaarayo Vasanthamae – Dr.Lavanya

Americavil – Mukund, Lakshana

Unn Vizhiyil – Dr.Lavanya, Mukund

Varayo Vasanthame 2 – Mukund, Dr.Lavanya

Theme Music (Instrumental) – Batkadu Sriram

Folk songs are particularly popular amongst tribes. Music is very important in the lives of tribes and they consider it as an ancient culture that must be preserved. Tribes like Pulayar takes inspiration from the sound of birds. This tribe calls melodies as talams. Some of the specific melodies of the tribe is Karaganachi talam, Mangalanada talam, Kundhanada talam etc. the fascinating part about these melodies is they also have elements of classical ragas like saraswathi, andolika, Sudhasaveri, Sankarabharanam and Brindavanasaranga etc. music is often accompanied by dance when the tribal celebrate any festival or occasion.

Kulavai is a very popular form of melody and is often used by women. Popular in area of Thanjavur, this melody is mixed with agricultural occasions. Another popular tribal melody is Nayyandi Melam or Chinna Melam. Tamil folk songs thrive on song and dance combination. The fun integral to these folk songs is hard to miss.

Tamil Music owes a lot to great saint Tyagaraja. He was not only a great saint but also a legendary musician. He gave a new direction to Tamil music. In fact, many new inclusions have been credited to the wisdom to saint Tyagaraja. Tamil Nadu celebrates his contribution by organizing Thyagaraja music festival every year. It is held during January and continues for eight days. Organized at a place names Thiruvaiyaru, the festival is a treat for music lovers. The venue Thiruvaiyaru is the place where great saint spent his whole life. He also attained Samadhi at this particular place.

The festival is organized on an annual basis. Wonderful musical shows are held at the venue. Top notch singers and carnatic musicians from all over the India come together to celebrate the legacy of Saint Thyagaraja in Tamil Nadu. Carnatic singers showcase their talent through classical music. The saint had composed five great compositions also known as Pancharathna Krithis. Some of the renowned groups perform these compositions and that incidentally is also the prime attraction of the festival. The performance is a way to pay homage to the great saint and also to honor his historical works. These five compositions are also known as five gems. His contribution to the Tamil music can be ascertained from the fact that almost all the great carnatic singers consider his as their role model. One can visit this place by rail, road or air. Easy availability of transport options is always available.

: Image courtesy hindu.com

Talking about Tamil pop songs, it is very much influenced from western genres like pop, rock, hip hop, reggae, beats, techno and metal etc. Very few Tamil composers or singers are retaining the traditional classical or folk songs. The main theme of these pop songs is dance beats that needs to be played in discos and clubs where younger ones love to dance. However one distinct change seen because of advent of pop songs is in quality of lyrics. It has definitely no more that melodious. There has been distinct improvement in quality of music because of technological advancements but lyrics have suffered a bit in return. Songs are forgotten easily and their longetivity is very much questionable. When one hears lyrics of older songs, they still remind us of golden era but new songs are lacking that touch.

Quite a good number of singers have made their mark in Tamil pop songs industry. Famous pop singers include, Ranjhani Iyer, L Shantha, Nallini Narayanan, Malgudi Subha, Swarnlatha, Ramesh Vinayagam, KArthik, Unni Menon etc. one can surf music websites for latest Tamil pop songs.

Tamil music started off with the Classical Carnatic music. It was basically developed by the trinity of 3 saints called Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastrigal. Purandaradasar was another one of the pioneers of Carnatic music.

The initial Tamil movie songs were more classical oriented with devotional songs dominating the scene. Melody was a key element in all the songs. But over the years Tamil film music has kept pace with the changing times and the music has evolved from being melody oriented to being disco beat oriented. The music today has all the elements like hip hop, rap, disco beats, English lyrics infused within the songs which the young audience can identify with.

The Tamil movie songs lyrics are available online for free download. Popular Tamil carnatic singers include MS Subbulakhmi, Balamurali Krishna, TN Seshagopalan, Bombay Jayashree, Bombay sisters, Unnikrishnan, Yesudas to name a few. Popular composers over the years have been The M.S.Viswanathan-Ramamurthy duo who dominated the Tamil music industry in the 50’s and 60’s, V.Kumar and the duo of Shankar- Ganesh. Recently established composers are Mani Sharma, Ashwin Subramanium, D Imman, Bharathwaj, Bheema, Shrikanth Deva, Jayaram Pushparaj, GV Prakash, and others.

Tamil folk music is like the ambrosia for ardent classical music lovers. Not only is the style of singing traditional but also the instruments used are also conventional. Most of these Tamil folk songs are also accompanied by dances like the Bharat Natyam which is indigenous to the state of Tamil Nadu. Thus these folk songs are more of a folk music dance style where the element of dance is as important as the music and the song itself. Some pieces of Tamil folk music can be easily downloaded. Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy are two recent musicians who have tried very hard indeed to revive the traditions of Tamil folk songs and music in the cities and tried to give the medium the exposure and attention that it rightfully deserves.

Though most of the folk songs have died down from the cities they are still sung in the rural areas and many Tamil film music directors are trying to incorporate the Tamil folk music in their songs. They often land up creating a fusion music of folk and modern styles which is unique to hear. This kind of music is widely available online for free.

Even within Tamil Nadu the different tribes of the hilly areas have their own different varied folk music styles.

Tamil folk songs are very appealing to ears. It belongs to the state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil folk songs are often accompanied by classical dance like Bharat Natyam. This form of dance is indigenous to Tamil Nadu. In other words, Tamil folk songs combine best of songs and dance where both forms play equally important part. Modern music like pop, rock, film songs have slowly replaced folk songs from urban area but rural areas are still very fond of folk songs. In tune with retro fashion, many new movies are including folk songs in film music. One of the more popular trends is mixing new music with folk songs and thus creating amazing fusion music. Such music is getting widespread popularity.

Different types of popular Tamil folk music styles are pulayurs and talams. Different areas in the state have their own types of folk msic. In recent times, music celebrities have tried to revive the folk music tradition in big fashion. Musicians like Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy and Vijayalakashmi Navaneethakrishnan have contributed a lot in reemergence of Tamil folk songs.

Amidst this pop culture, the two main singers who have strived to keep up the tradition and the flavor of pop music are Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy. As far as the folk songs are concerned, they are not very popular in the urban areas but they are still sung in the rural areas. Many Tamil film music directors are now trying to incorporate the Tamil folk music in their songs so as to keep the rich tradition of Tamil music alive. 

Famous songs from the movie Kandhasamy featuring Vikram and Shriya are quite popular. The music is given by famous music director Devi Sri Prasad. Songs from the movie Mutthirai featuring Nithin Sathya, Daniel Balaji, Lakshmi Rai whose music is given by Yuvan Shankar Raja are also available for download. Latest movie Thoranai featuring Vishal and Shriya also has a good collection of songs. The music is given by Mani Sharma. Another famous movie whose music is appreciated amongst the youth of the country is Modhi Vilaiyadu. Most Tamil youths across the country seem to like the numbers from this movie. The music here is given by Colonial Cousins. Do download these songs and enjoy them at your leisure.

Music was a vital element of Tamil Saiva compositions including the Thirugnana Sambanthar, the Manikkavasagar and the Appar during the period of Hindu revitalization around CE sixth to tenth centuries. The famous grammatical literature work of Sangam period referred as Tolkappiyam cites the different types of music relating to five different landscapes. The landscapes pertains the different mood of the songs and to offer intensity to the music, it involves musical pann, musical instrument called yaazh and rhythmic or percussion instrument called parai.

The Cilappatikaram traces the music with respect to coherent, orderly and scientific calculations with the organizations of dancers over to the stage to denote the panns and the notes. The most popular musical chapter of Cilappatikaram noted in the history of Tamil songs is a duet song kanal vari.

The basic musical scales evolved from the common musical terminology practiced with Cilappatikaram were termed as the azhaku and mathirai. This terminology refers to the musical pitch and the tiniest element of the audible sound. An initial popular pentatonic scale used by traditional Tamil singers were the mullaippann that incorporates the five main notes termed sa, ri, ga, pa, da. These harmonized scales and notes forms the popular Mohana ragam in Carnatic music.

After Mullaippann, emerged the Sempaalai scale with seven notes that even resulted in the emergence of new panns. From four basic panns, the Tamil artists created around 103 panns that are now widely used in Carnatic music as well as the Tamil filmi songs. The devotional era was also periodically marked with various types of Tamil music. History of Tamil music is really vast and rich for a common person to explain.