2016: New music talent in Sandalwood

The past couple of years have seen the emergence of a lot of newness in Sandalwood. While there has been an ample amount of acting, writing and directing talent that has been noticed in the past couple of years, this year has seen the entry of fresh names in the music industry. Many of these music directors have impressed audiences with soundtracks that aren't run-of-the-mill tunes. Here's taking a look at our pick of the music talent that showed promise in 2016...
Charan Raj
Although Charan has earlier composed for P Seshadri's Harivu, a festival film, his first commercial release was Hemanth P Rao's Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu (

GBSM

). The album is a confluence of different genres that range from jazz to rap and sees the use of varied instruments ranging from the sarangi to the saxophone. He followed it up with an interesting mix in Pushpaka Vimana.
Vasuki VaibhavThe toss-up for 2016's album of the year is between Charan's GBSM and Vasuki's Rama Rama Re. This indie film, which was one of this year's surprise hits, boasted a soundtrack that had a mix of jazz, theatrical singing, tamasha-style magic and more, taking the listener through an interesting musical experience.
Dheerendra DossFestival film Puta Tirugisi Nodi, which won critical acclaim upon its release, had a fun, quirky soundtrack that again brought together an interesting mix of genres. From old-school jazz to EDM, the album has some interesting compositions from this drummer-musician of Live Banned fame.
SD AravindaThe director-composer's tunes for his film Last Bus showed a different facet to the personality of this Narasimharaju grandson. From peppy to haunting, there was a mix of different tunes that stood out in this soundtrack. The haunting Doorie, particularly, won international acclaim too.
Sai KiranThe album of Suni's Simpallag Innondh Love Story had shared music credits. While one was Suni's regular Bharath BJ, the other was Sai Kiran, whose romantic number

Thusu Preethiya

did well on the charts. His other composition, the melancholic Naane Bareda Nanna Kathege, showed a glimpse of his versatility.

Judah Sandhy

While Judah may have made his debut last year, he came into his own this year with a slew of different albums that reached a cresendo with Akash Srivatsa's Badmaash. This album showed that he could add his own little twist to a typical commercial soundtrack. The Hare Rama and Rama Ravivara tracks especially showed that massy songs can be made with a classy touch as well.

Midhun Mukundan

While Midhun's debut vehicle Kahi didn't have songs as such, what was interesting was that the Aravind Sastry-directorial had a unique 62-minute jukebox for the 90-odd minute film that was released. In fact, Midhun's interesting OST pieces, which ranged from classical to death metal, were among the highlights of this critically-acclaimed film.

Ajaneesh, Anoop and Bharath shine too
Although B Ajaneesh Loknath, Anoop J Seelin and Bharath BJ have been around for some time in the industry, this year has ensured their brand equity rises. While Bharath's tunes in Simpallag Innondh Love Story reigned the charts, Ajaneesh's music in Akira and Kirik Party stirred things up. Anoop's tunes from Jessie, Neer Dose and Nataraja Service also topped charts and playlists.