Audio preview: Santhosh Narayanan talks about 9 songs in Rajinikanth's Kaala

With the audio of Rajinikanth's upcoming film Kaala all set to be released on 9 May, the team has put out a preview of the film's audio.

In the preview, which has got over 3.45 lakh views on Youtube, music director Santhosh Narayanan and director Pa Ranjith disclose that the film will have nine songs.

Both the director and music director disclosed that when Ranjith called Santhosh one day after Kabali (2016) was released, he wanted to know what they were going to do in Kaala that would have an even better reach than the songs of Kabali. The two seem to have concurred that the story must decide the songs of the film. The film's story is set in Dharavi in Mumbai, which is believed to be the second largest slum in Asia.

"Kaala has several idealogies, lifestyles in it. I have split this album into two halves. One will be a melodic half, the other will be based on lifestyle.  When I say lifestyle, I mean the music that comes from life. The music that comes from the struggle of people. The melodic half has been sung by all renowned singers. It is only in this album that I have worked with several renowned singers. Shankar Mahadevan has sung a song as has Vijay Prakash. Then, one of my regular singers and also one of my favourite singers, Ananthu has sung a song. Pradeep, too, has sung a number. For the lifestyle based songs, we searched for people who live that life and who represent that lifestyle. We have selected people who have had no formal training in music, but whose life revolves around music. We have balanced both, I think," says Santhosh.

"Kaala's Tamil version alone will have nine songs. It will have eight songs and an acapella version. The other languages will all have eight songs each," he adds.

Disclosing that Kaala will have political idealogy in it, Santosh says that the first song 'Poraduvom' (We shall struggle) was written almost a year ago. Ranjith adds that this number changed into a complete song only becuase of the efforts of the music director. "This piece would come as being played by a local band called Dopodelics in the slum," the director informs.

The second number, called 'Nikkal Nikkal', is a jolly, funny number. The third number is called 'Kannama', an emotional number that speaks about the depth of love. This number comes in the first half of the film. Moreover, this is the number that has an acapella version. The fourth song is called 'Theruvilaku', which is one of the most important songs in the film. It is a peppy number by the Dopodelics band which has some inspiring lines.

'Urimaiya Meetpom', which was a live song, is the fifth song. It talks about land and who needs it most. The lyrics are very meaningful as they talk about who owns land now and who requires it the most.

'Thanga Sela' is the most light-hearted song in this film and it is a song of celebration. 'Katravai Patravai' happens to be Santhosh's favourite song of the album and is easily the most catchy number of the album. 'Semma Weightu' is the final song in album, but it is the introductory song in the film. The song tells how we can view the lives of those living in the slums.

Watch the album preview video below: