'4 students' has magic

Music: Jassie Gift
Singers: Harish Raghavendra, Prasanna, Ganga, Jessie Gift, Unni Menon

Jassie Gift is the most famous man; the most envied, too, for he is the man behind Lajjavathiye, the most popular Malayalam film song ever.

No Malayalam song had ever excited such frenzy as Lajjavathiye did. No Malayalam film had become a super hit merely because of the popularity of its music as 4 the people had. So, when 4 The People's Tamil version, 4 students, hits the screens, there is bound to be tremendous excitement. Already, 4 Student's music is creating waves as it continues to be played round the clock on every radio station.

The album's highlight, of course, is Lajjavathiye, sung in Tamil by Jassie Gift again. There is a raw, husky quality to his voice - never mind what the purists say - that has made Lajjavathiye the phenomenon that it is.  In no other voice, however well-trained, can this song be rendered better. If you have listened to the same song in Malayalam, however, you may find that the lyrics don't rhyme as well in Tamil.

Another great track is Undan Vizhumanai. With the Punjabi influence (obvious from the use of the phrase Balle Balle) and its intrinsically Malayalee refrain, it showcases, once again, Jassie Gift at his very best.

In Kerala, the only other song that came even close to rivaling Lajjavathiye in popularity was - yes, you guessed it right - another song from 4 the people, Annakili. Upon listening to the Tamil version, one gets the feeling that it is unlikely to be any different out here.
It is impossible to single out any of the other tracks for each and every one of them is equally hum-able. There is a lot of English in the lyrics of 4 Students, but thankfully, this influence owes itself not to hip-hop, but to reggae - making it less trite than the songs by every Eminem wannabe in Tamil.

A minor irritant, though. Johny Sagariga Music Company, which released 4 Students' music, has included in the cassette extremely annoying plugs for other albums. So, if one is likely to listen to the album more than just a few times (considering the quality of the music, a situation that is extremely likely), one can quickly find these ads to be a pain in the wrong place.
Also, the cassette's inlay card with the 'lyric' of every song is a bag of laughs - replete with malapropisms. Of particular hilarity are the English lyrics for some of the songs…
To sum up, then, if you haven't purchased 4 Students yet - do it now. This easily qualifies as 2004's best album and clearly outshines any effort of Rahman's this year.