180 (soundtrack)

180 is the soundtrack to the 2011 film of the same name starring Siddharth, Nithya Menen, Priya Anand and directed by Jayendra Panchapakesan in his feature directorial debut. The film featured music composed by Sharreth, and had seven songs written by Madhan Karky and Viveka in Tamil, and Vanamali in Telugu. The soundtrack, which was distributed by Think Music, a subsidiary of the Indian multiplex chain Sathyam Cinemas (which was one of the film's producers), released on 14 April 2011 at a launch event in Chennai, while the Telugu version was unveiled a week later. The soundtrack met with positive response from critics and audience, particularly the song "Nee Korinaal", receiving nominations for Best Lyricist for Karky, and Best Female Playback Singer for Shweta Mohan at the 59th Filmfare Awards South.

Development
The film marked Sharreth's third Tamil film after Magic Magic 3D (2003) and June R (2006), and his second in Telugu after Kalavaramaye Madilo (2009). Due to his consecutive collaborations with Jayendra in advertisements, where he would share a great rapport with the latter, he had agreed to be part of the project. Sharreth recalled that he had almost composed over 180 songs for the film as he could give several ideas and options for the music. Jayendra claimed that the songs on the film were based on the concepts, which created the lyrics and transformed the visuals calling the music being a "treat to watch". Each songs were conceived for specific situations.

The song "Rules Kidayadhu" performed by Tippu was shot over 1500 frames, which cinematographer Balasubramaniem called it as an "uphill task" and also difficult to choreograph. However, Dinesh Kumar who roped in for the song's choreography felt enthusiastic as the song was "fresh and challenging".

The film also featured a Portuguese number entitled "Continua" which was initially planned to be included in the soundtrack but was later omitted. Sharreth and Jayendra decided to record the track in Portugal for the authenticity, but due to time constraints, they brought in Brazilian singer Eliabe D Freitas to perform the track. Karky used an online translating tool to write the lyrics in Portuguese as he was unfamiliar with the language. He then cross-checked the lyrics with a Portuguese person, who claimed that the lyrics were "wonderful" and that Jayendra had to modify only 15 per cent of the film, for grammatical errors. Jayendra also said that the song plays an integral part in the film's events as "the film has a Portuguese connection and the song fits the film’s context quite well".

Release
The soundtrack for the Tamil version of the film was intended to be launched on 31 March 2011, but instead the album was released on the occasion of Tamil New Year (14 April 2011) at Sathyam Cinemas, with director Mani Ratnam, cinematographer P. C. Sreeram, actors Arya, Jayam Ravi and Shiva and the film crew felicitating the event. The soundtrack for the Telugu version was launched on 21 April 2011 at Prasad Labs in Hyderabad, with the presence of Ram, Shruti Hassan, Sunil, producer Allu Aravind, Shyam Prasad Reddy, Daggubati Suresh Babu, director B. V. Nandini Reddy.

As a part of the promotions, Swaroop Reddy, the CEO of Think Music launched an e-store for the label, where the tracks could be purchased for the price that customers quote, a new concept for the Indian music industry. The songs were made available on the store upon its release.

Critical reception
The soundtrack received positive reviews. Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave the album a score of three stars out of five and quoted "Sharreth seems to be a music composer who doesn't play by the rules; he veers this way and that in his songs, which actually provides spice and makes for an interesting listening experience." Behindwoods.com gave a rating of three and a half stars out of five and said that the album was "Novel and worth listening to", further citing: "Sharreth and Jayendra have gone full throttle in experimenting with music in 180's album. Such initiatives should be welcomed with both hands."

Critic based at Indiaglitz gave 2.75 out of 5 claiming the songs being "new, refreshing and nice to listen to". Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog reviewed the film being "unconventional in every way, right from the title to all its songs" and called the music as "enchanting". Vipin Nair of Music Aloud rated the album 8.5/10, calling it as "one of Sharreth’s best works in recent times that sees him in fabulous touch." 123Telugu reviewed the album for the Telugu version, saying "all the songs of 180 may be aimed for the ears of those who don’t mind experiments with music. The album doesn’t have the sound of a conventional Telugu film album, but somehow manages to make you listen to the songs."