Kaadhalan (soundtrack)

Kaadhalan (transl. Loverboy; pronounced [kaːdalan]) is the soundtrack to the 1994 Tamil film of the same name, directed by Shankar. The soundtrack, features 9 songs composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Vaali, Vairamuthu, Shankar and Thirikudarasappa Kavirayar. The Choreographers were Sundaram – Mugur Sundar and Raju Sundaram.^[2][3] The Hindi version, Humse Hai Muqabala, sold 2.5 million soundtrack album units in India.

Kaadhalan
CD Front
Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman
Released	June 1994
Recorded	1994
Studio	Panchathan Record Inn Chennai, India
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	34:50
Label	T-Series Pyramid
Producer	A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
May Madham (1994) Kaadhalan (1994) Pavithra (1994)
Singles from Kaadhalan
"Urvasi Urvasi" Released: 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Planet Bollywood	[1]

Background

For the film's soundtrack and score, Shankar renewed his association with A. R. Rahman, after previously collaborating with him in Gentleman (1993). Rahman experimented new styles for the film's music, with "Petta Rap" written by Shankar (in his only stint as a lyricist) featured lyrics in Madras Bashai and written in a rap-like style, interspersing Tamil and English words.^[4] Although composed in a folk style, Rahman further used keyboards and synthesizers.^[4] P. Unnikrishnan made his playback singing debut with the song "Ennavale Ennavale" which is set in Kedaram raga.^[5] The song emerged as the breakthrough for the singer.^[6] During the recording of the song "Mukkabla", Rahman wanted Mano's voice to sound like R. D. Burman's as a means to distance him from S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, to whom he was frequently compared.^[7]

Though not a part of the cast in the film, actress Urvashi recalled in a 2025 interview on how Vaali had wrote the song based on her name;^[8] this was due to her own disagreement with the lyricist on recording a song for Magalir Mattum (1994).^[8] She added: "When I heard it and saw Prabhu Deva’s dance, it was quite different from the ones typical of that era. When I asked him if they had written the song mocking me, he said no and assured me that it was penned in good faith."^[8]

Music videos

Prabhu Deva's father Mugur Sundar and his brother Raju Sundaram choreographed the songs.^[4] "Urvasi Urvasi" was filmed at various landmarks across Madras (now Chennai), with art director Thota Tharani specially created a glass bus for the song.^[9][10] The song "Ennavale" was filmed at Kulu Manali.^[9] "Muqabla" was shot at Rajahmundry.^[9] Prior to the shoot of the two songs, Prabhu Deva torn a ligament on the left leg while filming an action sequence. While he walked for a short sequence in "Ennavale", the song "Muqabla" required heavy movements and could not move his left leg due to pain. This led him in dancing the entire song in right leg. He wore a crepe bandage in his left leg and shoes of different sizes—9 on the left and 10 on the right—and choreographed the song that way.^[11]

Reception

The soundtrack earned national acclaim for Rahman, with "Urvasi Urvasi", "Mukkabla" and "Ennavale" becoming chartbusters.^[12] Numerous versions of the song were created unofficially, which resulted in the song achieving a distinction of most plagiarised versions of an original song by Limca Book of Records for Rahman.^[4] Owing to the success and immense national popularity of the song "Mukkabla", the soundtrack was subsequently dubbed in Hindi as Humse Hai Muqabala and in Telugu as Premikudu.^[13][14] Lyrics for this versions were written by P. K. Mishra and Rajasri respectively. The Hindi version of the soundtrack, Humse Hai Muqabala, sold 2.5 million units in India.^[15]

Track listing

Original Tamil version (Kaadhalan)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Ennavale Adi Ennavale"	Vaali	Unni Krishnan, Sujatha Mohan	5:11
2.	"Mukkala Mukkabla"	Vaali	Mano, Swarnalatha	5:23
3.	"Erani Kuradhani"	Vairamuthu	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	5:05
4.	"Kadhalikkum Pennin"	Vaali	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Udit Narayan, S.P.B. Pallavi	4:48
5.	"Urvashi"	Vairamuthu	A. R. Rahman, Suresh Peters, Shahul Hameed	5:39
6.	"Pettai Rap"	Vairamuthu, S. Shankar	Suresh Peters, Theni Kunjarammal, Shahul Hameed	4:23
7.	"Kollayile Thennai"	Vaali	P. Jayachandran	1:45
8.	"Kaatru Kuthirayile"	Vairamuthu	Sujatha Mohan	1:31
9.	"Indiraiyo Ival Sundariyo"	Thirikudarasappa Kavirayar	Sunanda, Minmini	1:02

Hindi version (Humse Hai Muqabala)

All lyrics are written by P. K. Mishra.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Muqaala Muqabla"	Mano, Swarnalatha	5:23
2.	"Sun Ri Sakhi"	Hariharan, Sujatha Mohan	5:11
3.	"Sagar Se Milne"	Sunandha, Minmini	1:02
4.	"Patti Rap"	Suresh Peters, Noel James, Shankar Mahadevan	4:23
5.	"Gopala Gopala"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	5:05
6.	"Premika Ne Pyar Se"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Udit Narayan, S. P. Pallavi	4:48
7.	"Maine Bheja Hai Sandesh"	Sujatha Mohan	1:31
8.	"Urvashi Urvashi"	A. R. Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Noel James	5:39
9.	"Phoolon Jaisi Pyari"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	1:45

Telugu version (Premikudu)

All lyrics are written by Rajasri^[16]

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Urvasi"	A. R. Rahman, Suresh Peters, Shahul Hameed	5:39
2.	"Peta Rap"	Suresh Peters, Shahul Hameed, Theni Kunjaramma	4:23
3.	"Errani Kurrathani"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	5:05
4.	"Andhamaina Premarani"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Udit Narayan, S. P. Pallavi	4:48
5.	"Oh Cheliya"	P. Unnikrishnan, Sujatha Mohan	5:11
6.	"Mukkala Mukabula"	Mano, Swarnalatha	5:23
7.	"Gaali Taragalapai"	Sujatha Mohan	1:31
8.	"Alala Vale Vaana Varada Vale"	Sunandha, Minmini	1:02
9.	"Muttukunte Kandipoye"	P Jayachandran	1:43

Accolades

Ceremony	Award	Awardee	Ref.
42nd National Film Awards	Best Male Playback Singer	P. Unnikrishnan	[17]
42nd Filmfare Awards South	Best Director – Tamil	S. Shankar	[18]

Popular culture

In 2014, the song "Urvasi Urvasi" inspired the song "It's My Birthday" by American rapper will.i.am.^[19][20] In 2016, the song was featured in the film Lion.^[21] It was later recreated by Yo Yo Honey Singh.^[22] In 2019, the song "Mukkabla" was subsequently remade by Tanishk Bagchi in Hindi for the film Street Dancer 3D (2020) and an unofficial version of "Mukkabla" is featured on the Pakistani film Love 95 (1996) starting Babar Ali, Jan Rambo, Reema and Sahiba.^[23][24]