OVERALL COMMENTS:

D. Imann is back. I enjoyed his debut album, "Kaadhalae Swaasam" a good deal. I enjoyed "Tamizhan" far less. Then along came "Manthira Vaasal" which had a few good songs and would have ranked around a 2.5 or a 3 / 5, had I reviewed it (I love the "Munpani Iravil" song from that, though).

And now comes "Whistle," though some are choosing -- for reasons beyond me -- to spell that as "Visil," starring new-find Aditya (who looks like Shaam in his publicity photos) and "Thulluvatho Ilamai" Sherin.

How is this? Well, this seems to be another "Tamizhan" in musical quality.

This is an album that could never be great. I'll tell you why. The singers. D. Imann proves himself to be horribly bad at choosing singers on this album; many of the songs are ruined because the singers he has chosen (including Aishwarya Rajinikanth) can't handle the tune. Only Harish Ragavendra, Srinivas, and Chinmayi are exceptions on the album.

It's an album that could've been good but is ruined by the bad selection of singers.

SONG-BY-SONG REVIEW:

1. Alagiya Asuraa -- Anitha Chandrasekhar.
We have a pretty good song here; unfortunately, new-find Anitha Chandrasekhar doesn't seem to be up to even this simple song. Her inadequate singing (which sounds more like speaking than singing) ruins a good song. The music -- okay. The lyrics -- okay. The singing -- no. Nice.

2. Don't Worry Be Happy -- D. Imann, Srilekha.
And -- as you can probably tell from the title of the song -- we have a less serious love song. It's not as bad as the title implies, and this is a song that should be well-served by a good picturization on the screen. Unfortunately, I'm not getting into it that much just by listening to it. It's not a bad song, and but it's not going down in my list of favorites. Okay music, okay lyrics, and okay (though not great) singing by both principals. It's a very short song, though. Nice.

3. Ethnic Texture -- Kuppuswamy, Maadhangi.
Ugh. What a tactful title ("Ethnic Texture") to really say song- sung-by-an-unpleasant-voice. Kuppuswamy and Maadhangi, as singers, are inadequate. The lyrics are okay. The music is inadequate as well. Mediocre.

4. Kirukkaa Kaadhal -- Srinivas, Chinmayi.
Up to now, the album has been filled with mediocre singers who have brought down the quality of the songs they are singing. Next up, we have a song sung capably by two good singers -- but which is brought down by the lyrics. Chinmayi, after the success of her introduction with A.R. Rahman, seems to be making her entry head-on into Tamil cinema. Unfortunately, this song is not going to gain her any more popularity. The main chorus is hilariously bad lyrically "Kirukkaa? Kirukkaa? Kirukkaa? Kaadhal kirukkaa? Kaadhal kirukkaa? Illa neethaan kirukkaa?" Good music, good singing, bad lyrics. Nice.

5. Natpae Natpae -- T.R. Silambarasan, Aishwarya Rajinikanth, D. Imann, Uma.
This song has two claims to fame; it's sung by two star brats, T. Rajendar's son Simbu (who's sung before), and Rajinikanth's daughter, Aishwarya, who's making her introduction. Imann and Uma provide back-up. My opinion of Simbu remains unchanged from "Sight Adippoam" from "April Maathathil." I don't know how his acting is, but his singing, while not bad, isn't good, either. Aishwarya Rajini's singing is little better (though she doesn't do enough in this song to fully judge). Here's another good song wrecked by inadequate singers who wouldn't have even been in Tamil cinema had it not been for their lineage. Nice.

6. Thala Thalavetthala -- Manicka Vinayagam, Swarnalatha.
And here returns Manicka Vinayagam with "Thala Thalavethalai" to give me a "thalai thalaivali." Bad folk lyrics, bad singing, and bad music. This one's just a: Poor.

7. Whistle Adikkum -- Harish Ragavendra, Anuradha Sriram, Lavanya.
And here we have the always-good Harish Ragavendra. This song is a pretty good one, and Imann shows off his full mixing abilities here, but the song is not consistently good. There's a "sootta palam" interlude that's just annoying. It's a song that's sometimes-good, sometimes-not. Still, so far, because of adequate music, adequate lyrics, and good singing, it might be the best song on the album. Between a Nice and a Very Nice.

VIJAY VANNIARAJAN