As Thalapathy Vijay’s action-thriller film ‘Leo’ is doing rounds in theatres, the film’s composer Anirudh Ravichander has now released a special version of the movie’s track ‘Villain Yaaru’.
A dark-ambient mix, this version is menacing and ‘bloody sweet’.
Unlike the film’s other tracks, which have elements of heavy metal, gangsta rap, and industrial music, ‘Villain Yaaru’ despite having next to zero rock elements is in fact perhaps the darkest and most thrilling track of the film, only next to ‘Bada**’.
Incorporating elements of some folk and Tamil film music, this song is extremely atmospheric as it incorporates dark ambient music and then mixes it with synth-pop, and some electronic music. Much of the music is bass driven which is both its biggest strength and simultaneously its weakness.
As it is heavily rhythm and groove driven, if the bass wasn’t audible or subdued in the mix then ‘Villain Yaaru’ would not be as brilliant as it is. But as the production ensures it, the bass is in fact booming and more so than any other instrument in the mix.
Extremely loud and pounding, in an ironic fashion it is the bass which almost over rides the other instrumentation.
The ambient sound that comes in following that with electronic drums in the back, the track becomes increasingly dark and morose.
What makes ‘Villain Yaaru’ the most menacing song of the film is that instead of being full of swag and attitude, it is very subtle and yet very overt.
The song is absolutely sinister and the hushed vocals only make it more dangerous, which in turn makes it even more exciting.
Anirudh Ravichander was already basking in the success of ‘Jawan’ and the praise it garnered for its soundtrack, and while in the Atlee-directorial he used maximum filmy music and masala, in ‘Leo’ he does the opposite.
A creatively brilliant contrast, ‘Villain Yaaru’ invokes sheer goosebumps and creates a captivatingly menacing, yet thrillingly engaging song that is deliciously sinister.