Petta (soundtrack)

Petta is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander, for the 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film film of the same name, starring Rajinikanth.

Development
Anirudh Ravichander composed the soundtrack album and background score for Petta in which he collaborates with Rajinikanth for the first time. He joined as the film's composer in 2018. The album consists of all eleven songs, which 5 of them are theme songs and composed by Anirudh Ravichander and The lyrics were penned by Vivek, Ku. Karthik, Dhanush and Karthik Subbaraj.The first single track, "Marana Mass" was released on 3 December 2018, followed by "Ullallaa" which released on 7 December 2018. The full album was made available for digital download on 9 December 2018, under the Sony Music record label, which had acquired the audio rights of the film. In February 2019, the album crossed 250 million streams on all platforms. In January 2022, "Marana Mass" hit 200+ million views in YouTube.

Marketing and release
The first single track, "Marana Mass" was released on 3 December 2018, followed by "Ullallaa" which released on 7 December 2018. The full album was made available for digital download on 9 December 2018, under the Sony Music record label, which had acquired the audio rights of the film. In February 2019, the album crossed 250 million streams on all platforms. In January 2022, "Marana Mass" hit 200+ million views in YouTube.

Reception
The album received mostly positive reviews from critics. Behindwoods rated the album 3.25/5 stating that "Anirudh has crafted a pakka 'marana mass' album filled with Rajini-ism!". OnlyKollywood rated the album 3.5 out of 5, with a verdict "Petta sounds very different and powerful on the first hearing itself, and takes various routes thereon. Being such a large assembly of songs and themes, it's fair to have variable favorites, but the common point here is the Thalaivar factor that is maintained throughout. This is a brave and fresh stride for Anirudh who reduces his EDM influences and concentrates on a meter which collaborates retro sounds with top-notch arrangements. While the songs are freewheeling and enjoyable, the themes form an album of their own and help us visualize the characters and backgrounds. For most parts, this is a soundtrack that will rule our playlists in the days to come." Cinemakaramkapi called it "a power packed album with a running time of 28 mins. Addictive and will remain in memory for long, am quite sure." Moviecrow rated the album 3 out of 5 and stated "Petta is what you call a feast of an album! Anirudh and Karthik Subbaraj gloriously let their inner Superstar fans serve a soundtrack that's a delight to hear!" Studioflicks rated the album 3 out of 5, and stated "On the whole, Petta is completely a tribute from Anirudh and his entire team for Thalaivar Rajnikanth. Apart from all the other factors of analysis, Petta does an impeccable justice to the Rajinikanth fans league." Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog expressed some discontent and stated that "Karthik Subbaraj's shift from Santhosh Narayanan, for his biggest film, seems like a blunder."

Track listing
The soundtrack of the film was released in the form of a jukebox on 9 December 2018, through the official YouTube channel of Sony Music India. The audio launch was held in a grand manner on 9 December 2018 in a private college where the audio was launched with much fanfare.

Background score
The film score by Anirudh Ravichander, featured 15 tracks. It was released by Sony Music on 3 February 2019.

Producer(s)

 * Anirudh Ravichander

Songwriter(s)

 * Anirudh Ravichander (composer, arranger)
 * Vivek, Ku. Karthik, Karthik Subbaraj, Dhanush, Gangai Amaran (lyrics)

Performer(s)

 * Anirudh Ravichander, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Anthony Daasan, Nakash Aziz, Inno Genga, Sarwar Khan, Sartaz Khan Barna

Musicians

 * Guitars – Keba Jeremiah, Godfray Immanuel
 * Tavil – Sundhar
 * Tabla – M.T Aditya
 * Mandolin and banjo – Seenu
 * Ganjeera – S. Swaminathan
 * Flute – Kareem Kamalakar, Naveen Kumar
 * Shehnai – Balesh
 * Nadaswaram – D. Balasubramani
 * Udukkai – Krishna Kishore
 * Beatbox done by Hardee Bee (Malaysia)
 * Additional beatbox sampled from YouTube Chorus – Santhosh Hariharan, Nivas, Deepak Blue, Sai Charan, Shakthisree Gopalan, Nadisha Thomas, Kavitha Thomas, Sanjana Rajnarayan, Shenbagaraj, Maalavika, Veena Murali
 * Piano synth, rhythm and electronic programming – Anirudh Ravichander
 * Additional rhythm – Shashank Vijay

Personnel

 * Music advisor – Ananthakrishnan
 * Musician coordinators – Samidurai, Velavan
 * Modular synths recorded at – Park Street Studios, Downtown, New York

Sound engineers

 * Albuquerque Records, Chennai – Srinivasan, Ananthakrishnan, Vinay Sridhar
 * AM Studios, Chennai – S. Sivakumar, Pradeep Menon, Kannan Ganpat, Krishnan Subramaniyan, Manoj Raman, Aravind MS

Production

 * Music Supervisor – Harish Raam L. H.
 * Mixed by Vinay Sridhar
 * Mastered by Shadab Rayeen at New Edge Studios, Mumbai
 * Mastered for iTunes by Vinay Sridhar
 * Music label – Sony Music India. Pvt. Ltd.