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Sarvam Thaala Mayam (English: Omnipresence of Rhythm) is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman for the 2019 Tamil film of the same name, directed by Rajiv Menon that stars G. V. Prakash Kumar and Aparna Balamurali in the lead roles. The film album incorporates six feature songs all together, excluding instrumental tracks. The film's director Menon has also composed a song which Rahman has curated.

Development
Rahman began composing for the film in early 2016 and by May, it was revealed that two songs had already been completed. As the film was "music-based", Menon required all of the songs to be completed before production began and by November 2016, Rahman had finished composing nine songs for the film and composed parts of the background score. The film's songs have lyrics written by Madhan Karky, Arunraja Kamaraj and Na. Muthukumar, who worked in the film before his death in August 2016.

The title track hits the ground running, gives more than a nod to the title (“It’s All Rhythm”). It explores beats in various forms and of various percussion instruments. Beginning with a synth, almost pop sounding beats, the song keeps checking off varied and textured percussion beats. The groovy rhythm adds to the charm. The visuals, the simple groovy beats, and the concept take back to the duo’s first song – ‘Poopookkum Osai’ – which is about how pervasive music is in nature.

Early last year, A R Rahman produced ‘Ala Re Ala’ (Beyond the Clouds) – a highly engaging, pulsating mix of traditional percussive sounds set in the kuthu format. That is the closest and most recent song that pops in mind when ‘Peter Beat-a Yethu’ starts playing. Incidentally, GV Prakash lent his voice recently for another song in this genre for A R Rahman in Mersal. ‘Peter..’ is a far better song – it stays grounded and truthful to the genre. It gets a tad monotonous in the charanam. But, thanks to ebullient interludes and upbeat sounds, the song is the composer’s genre-best in a long time.

‘Maya Maya’ is the standout song of the album in many ways – an immersive melody with a fantastic glide. A silky-smooth rendition by Chinmayi Sripaada brings the melodic exercise to fruition. The arrangement is minimal, and Kamalakar’s flute is terrific. It is yet another addition to the growing list of songs shattering conventional pallavi–anupallavi–charanam structure. The Telugu version rendered by Shashaa Tirupati is equally beautiful.

The album is diverse with songs of genres ranging from folk/gaana and filmy to Carnatic. Two songs fit the Carnatic bill to dot. Director Rajiv Menon dons the composer hat for ‘Varalama’. A R Rahman’s arrangement in the song, especially the use of Kanjira, is pleasantly evocative of ‘Malargal Kaetten’ from O Kadhal Kanmani. The song is right up Sriram Parthasarathy’s sleeves, and he does an incredible job at singing. Madhan Karky’s verses are affecting, communicates the core of the movie more than the teaser-trailers have tried to.

Carnatic exponent and mainstream singer Bombay Jayashri was last heard in an A R Rahman album in Iruvar (1997). In STM, she owns the famous kriti composed by Thyagarajar, ‘MaakElara Vichaaramu’. Again, A R Rahman’s arrangement is deft in the song. How the concert-hall acoustics comes through is particularly fascinating to witness. The song is so non-filmy and, for a major stretch, feels like a well-produced recording of a live Carnatic session. A divine string section is prominent at two points in the song, but shines throughout despite in a faded background.

The album’s best takes the form of folk/gaana in ‘Dingu Dongu’. This is another ode to the title of the movie – fills the soundscape with Nathaswaram and native percussion sounds. The proceedings of the song neatly embeds the titular phrase ‘Dingu Dongu’, that sounded so strange in the trailer. AR Rahman’s current favourite singer Bamba Bakya is fantastic, especially in rendering the opening phrases. The song also features Anthony Daasan, who breezes through a familiar turf. The song is nostalgic (of Sangamam times to be precise) and greatly connects with the listener.

Reception
The first single, taking the name of the film, "Sarvam Thaala Mayam" was released the last day of November 2018. It has a tremendous response from the audience. In few days time, another track called "Maya Maya". Most importantly, the song was released by actress Aishwarya Rai, reviving her friendship, with Menon, that started since Kandukondain Kandukondain. The third single "Peter Beatu Yethu" was launched across many streaming services by Anirudh Ravichander. Shortly afterwards, a fourth and final single titled "Varalaama" was released by singer T. M. Krishna via Twitter. The Telugu version of the singles too were simultaneously released. The complete soundtrack album was released on 03 January 2019, both in Tamil and Telugu. Movie Crow rated the soundtrack 4 out of 5 stars and stated "After almost two decades of gap. Rajiv Menon and A. R. Rahman together rediscovers themselves in this soundtrack. Be it the content driven nature of the album, the mind-blowing renditions or the exuberant approach of rhythms. Sarvam Thaala Mayam is a terrific start for the year!".

Track listing
The official track list of songs was released long before the audio release by A. R. Rahman, in his Twitter page, on 18 November 2018.

Telugu
All tracks were written by lyricist Rakendu Mouli, except "MaakElara Vichaaramu".

Sound Engineers

 * Mixed by - P. A. Deepak, T R Krishna Chetan, Karthik Sekaran, Jerry Vincent
 * Additional Programming - Santhosh Dhayanidhi
 * Mastered by Suresh Perumal
 * MFiT mastered by Suresh Perumal

Musicians

 * Guitar - Sunil Milner, Keba Jeremiah
 * Flute - Kamalaka
 * Kanjira Player - B Shree Sundarkumar
 * Sunshine Orchestra Conducted by VJ Srinivasamurthy
 * Musicians Coordinators - Noell James, TM Faizuddin, Abdul Haiyum
 * Musicians Fixer - R Samidurai

Background score
￼Sarvam Thaala Mayam is acclaimed to have one of the greatest background score. A. R. Rahman explored different instruments, since the move demanded it. In the journey of peter, he meets with Musical Instruments Of North India,  Musical instruments of Rajasthan  &  Musical Instruments of North East. These musical instruments are part of background score, which made movie more amazing. Rahman has given Indian Regionals music & Carnatic music, which is perfectly blend with the script. Also he has used a western African musical instrument called Kora for the film. It is a 21 string lute-bridge-harp extensively used in Africa.