Andha Naal Gnyabagam-Music in my college days (Part 2)

A couple of days ago, I kicked off a 4-part series on music from my college years. The posts are timed to coincide with an upcoming mega alumni event in the Bay Area featuring some of the very best alumni PSG Tech TekMusic artists. As part of this series, today's post features some of the most popular songs from my second year in college, 1997-98.We got back to campus by late summer and the songs of V.I.P were doing the rounds. It was not a massive hit but something for the summer. Mayilu Mayilu was the standout piece from an interesting album by Ranjit Barot. For the Raaja aficionados there was not much to cheer with ARR ruling the roost. Raman Abdullah by erstwhile star director Balu Mahendra offered some good Raaja melodies. The popular piece here was En Veetu Jannal. Then came Nerukku Ner.Nerukku Ner had a lot of things going for it - young and upcoming stars, a respected director in Vasanth and a big producer in the form of Manirathnam. The songs were very popular with Deva delivering some of his best tunes, none more so than Manam Virumbudhe.Music has this interesting quality that often times, the simplest tunes work better than most. Porkalam, the Cheran movie with music by Deva stormed our campus with its simple tunes, two of which were very popular- Cingucha and Thanjavur mannu. On the opposite end of the spectrum, ARR's next album, much touted and publicized by K.T.Kunjumon for its music and star pairing of Nagarjuna and Sushmita Sen was a damp squib. Songs like Soniya Soniya had a brief run but didnt make a big mark.And then came Kadhalukku Mariyadhai. This December release featuring Vijay and Shalini was a massive hit both as a movie and as a music album. Ilayaraja made his way back to popular consciousness in a big way. This was one album that was heard in every floor of every building in the hostel. The romantic theme of the movie coupled with some melodious pieces made a huge impact. Ennai Thalatta varuvaalo was the pick of the lot. O baby  sent a swath of boys and girls to Landmark scouting for the elusive "Love and love only" book.The latter half of my sophomore year at college didnt produce the wonders that the first half did. The first song that comes to my mind from this period is Ilasa Ilasa, an average number from a forgettable movie, Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar. The only reason I remember it is that my classmates danced for it on stage.Kadhal Mannan made some minor waves because of Ajith and SPB's hit song, Unnai Partha Pinbu. Kamal's first release of 1997 Kadhala Kadhala featured some peppy music by Karthik Raja which garnered some play time in college. Of special note was the big hit piece Kasumela Kasuvandhu.The second year thankfully did not end with a whimper but a bang with ARR's hit music for Shankar's magnum opus, Jeans. The movie did average business but the songs were popular all over. Classical singer Nithyashree hit all the right notes for the visual extravaganza Kannodu Kanbadhellam and with it the academic year came to an end.In the next post, I will try to capture what was in and what rocked the corridors in my third year. Until then, enjoy the trip down memory lane. The Youtube playlist with all the songs from the first and second posts in this series is here.Posts in this Series:Andha Naal Gnyabagam-Music in my college days (Part 1)Andha Naal Gnyabagam- Music in my college days (Part 3)Andha Naal Gnyabagam- Music in my college days (Part 4)