7 Aum Arivu (soundtrack)

7aum Arivu is the soundtrack to the 2011 film of the same name directed by A. R. Murugadoss and starred Suriya, Johnny Trí Nguyễn and Shruti Haasan. The music and original score is composed by Harris Jayaraj in his second collaboration with Murugadoss after Ghajini (2005). The film consisted of six tracks written by Pa. Vijay, Na. Muthukumar, Kabilan and Madhan Karky, the latter wrote a song in Chinese language. The soundtrack was released at the launch event held in Chennai Trade Centre on 22 September 2011, with Sony Music India distributing the album in digital and physical formats. The soundtrack to the Telugu-dubbed version 7th Sense was also released on the same date.

Development
Murugadoss and Jayaraj went to Singapore during June 2010 to compose the songs for the film. Each tracks consisted of varied genres with some of the songs which were shot in Chennai, as well as in Thailand and Hong Kong.

As Murugadoss wanted to hire Chinese lyricists to write a song in Mandarin Chinese, Karky mentioned to Jayaraj that he could write a Chinese song, as he had cleared basic levels of Chinese language when he pursued master's degree at the University of Queensland in 2003. Karky recalled that the situation Harris narrated to him—which is about a "wonder-struck Chinese girl describing a hero from India"— was interesting, and immediately penned few lines of the lyrics, which got checked by a Chinese teacher. The song was recorded by Chinese singer Hao Wang in May 2011, while Jayaraj used authentic Chinese instruments to evoke an "oriental flavour". The final mix of the score was completed by August 2011.

Release
In mid-2011, Sony Music India secured the film's audio rights for an undisclosed price. The audio launch was initially set to be held on 10 September 2011 in Malaysia. However, the event was held at the Chennai Trade Centre on 22 September 2011. Jai and Anjali, lead pair of Murugadoss' production Engeyum Eppodhum, hosted the event, which saw the attendance of the film crew along with Dhanush, Karthi, Jiiva, Jayam Ravi, Vishal and Ram Charan, and a live performance of the songs by Isha Sharvani, Lakshmi Rai and several international artists. Though initial reports said that Shah Rukh Khan would appear in the launch, this did not happen.

Critical response
P. G. Devi from Behindwoods gave 3.5/5 to the album and opined that the album "promises a couple of big chart-busting hits" while also saying, "Though there is a déjà vu feel all around the album, its a sure shot commercial success". Indiaglitz stated that "the unique stamp of Harris can be felt throughout the disc, and that makes songs [...] a treat to senses", recommending it for "those who love and appreciate good music". Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff provided 2.5/5, mentioning that "it looks like Harris Jeyaraj has run out of steam. While Yemma Yemma and The Rise of Damo are appealing, the rest sound like he remixed some of his own older numbers, or chose to be inspired by other classics [...] 7aum Arivu's music does have its moments, but these are few and far between." Prakash Upadhyaya from Oneindia said that the album had "variety of songs" and "will have larger appeal when it is watched". In a mixed review, Vipin Nair from Music Aloud called it as a "disappointing soundtrack" and gave 6.75/10 to the album. Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog described it as "shockingly trite".