In September 2012, Anirudh signed to score music for the film which he described as a "fun" and "youthful album" appealing to the urban audiences.[1][2] When he first approached Kiruthiga, she claimed that his soundtrack for 3 has been one of her favorites and Anirudh has been impressed with her narration. Anirudh described that composing the tunes for the film were "breezy" as he did not have to struggle and Kiruthiga selected him the best tunes for the album.[3]
In May 2013, he recorded a "party" number with Hiphop Tamizha Adhi, which was later deciphered to be "Chennai City Gangsta" with rapper Hard Kaur (in her Tamil playback debut) also singing.[4][5] On the end of the month, a 40-second teaser of the song "Oh Penne" featured English lyrics written and performed by London-based singer Arjun Coomaraswamy was released.[6] The full song was performed by Vishal Dadlani, in his Tamil debut, recorded the song in June 2013.[7] Coomaraswamy would perform the English version of that song as a part of the album,[6] with singer-producer Charles Bosco.[8]
The soundtrack was initially set to be released during May and June 2013, but was delayed due to unknown reasons.[12][5] The song teasers of "Engadi Porantha", "Oh Penne" and "Ailasa Ailasa" released during late-May and early-June 2013, to promote the album.[6][13] The incomplete track list of the film unveiled on 17 June 2013 through social networking sites, only revealing the track titles whereas the details of the singers and lyricists were kept undisclosed.[10] The official track list released on 24 July with all the details.[14]Sony Music India which acquired the film's audio rights,[15] released the album as a soft launch on 27 July 2013 at the Suryan FM 93.5 radio station while the audio was made available in digital download and CDs.[16]
A promotional video for the song "Chennai City Gangsta" featuring Anirudh, Adhi and Kaur was shot in August 2013, and was released on 20 September 2013 through social media platforms. It was also featured in the end credits of the film.[17]
Reception
Critic based at Moviecrow gave 6.5 out of 10 stating "Anirudh's care for details and layered orchestration despite the budget of the movie is commendable."[18]Behindwoods rated 3.5 out of 5, saying "Anirudh explodes onto the Tamil music scene with a hat-trick".[19] Vipin Nair of Music Aloud summarised "It is indeed a hat-trick of winners in Tamil for Anirudh Ravichander, with Vanakkam Chennai. Must-hear soundtrack!" giving 8.5 out of 10.[20] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog wrote "Vanakkam Chennai is an interesting soundtrack, but has Anirudh’s past catching up too early in his career".[21]
Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Times of India, assigned 3.5 out of 5 and chose "Hey", "Osaka Osaka", "Oh Penne", "Ailasa Ailasa" and "Chennai City Gangsta" as the pick of the album.[22] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu called "Ailasa Ailasa" as the "best pick from the album".[3] Critic Baradwaj Rangan, writing for the same publication said Anirudh's score is enhanced with "energy and local colour".[23] S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com wrote "Anirudh of Kolaveri fame seems to have hit the jackpot once again; almost all the tracks in the film have become chartbusters overnight. There are some beautiful melodies as well as some lively and energetic numbers to suit the mood of the film."[24]
The songs "Oh Penne" and "Chennai City Gangsta" enjoyed more commercial response amongst the audiences.[25]
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