Minnal Murali is the soundtrack album to the 2021 film of the same name directed by Basil Joseph and starring Tovino Thomas and Guru Somasundaram. The soundtrack featured eight songs composed by Shaan Rahman and Sushin Shyam, with lyrics written by Manu Manjith. The soundtrack was released under the Muzik 247 label on 17 December 2021.
Contents
Development
Originally Shaan Rahman was announced as the primary composer. Later, Sushin Shyam joined the film to compose the background score and contributed four tracks to the film's music, with Shaan also composing four songs each. Manu Manjith served as the primary lyricist for the film songs. Speaking on the lyric-writing process, Manjith added that the songs in Minnal Murali aid the film's narration. He wrote the lyrics for "Thee Minnal" in a cartoonish and slangy way to remind the millennials about the vernacular comics in childhood, while "Kugramame" helps in establishing Jaison's character.
Release
The soundtrack was preceded with its first song "Thee Minnal" released with an accompanying lyrical video and as a digital single on 8 November 2021. The song was composed and performed by Sushin with rap portions by Marthayan. The second song "Uyire", a melodic number composed by Shaan with vocals by Mithun Jayaraj and Narayani Gopan was released on 24 November. "Kugramame" composed by Sushin and performed by Vipin Raveendran, was released as the third single on 3 December. The fourth song "Edukka Kaashayi" was released on 9 December, and followed by the fifth song on "Aaromal" 15 December. The soundtrack album was released by Muzik 247 on 17 December 2021.
Reception
Critical
In the review for The Times of India, Deepa Soman stated that "the songs are also both groovy and melodious and placed well in the storyline". Devarsi Ghosh of Hindustan Times reviewed the songs as "fabulous", with the titular track in particular. Sajin Srijith of The New Indian Express stated the soundtrack as "instantly addictive" and "carries the goodness of western retro hits". S Kiran Kumar of Film Companion South, the film's music and background score "manage to elevate the film even higher." While complimenting the inclusion of its songs in the narrative, Kiran also mentioned that the score had influences of Ennio Morricone and R. D. Burman. Janani K. of India Today wrote "Background score by Sushin Shyam and the songs by him and Shaan Rahman are soothing to hear." Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost complimented Shyam's background score as one of the year's best.
Commercial
Devarsi Ghosh, in his Scroll.in year-ender of Indian film music in 2021 listed Minnal Murali as one of the best soundtracks. He noted, "Minnal Murali’s eclectic soundtrack by Sushin Shyam and Shaan Rahman fit well with the kaleidoscopic tone of the Malayalam superhero movie." A spokesperson from the music streaming service JioSaavn mentioned Minnal Murali as one of the popular film albums in the service; it is also one of the popular music albums at Gaana.