The composer leads a mesmeric, genre-blending Tamil set

It takes a deft hand to do justice to the sheer scale of director Mani Ratnam’s epic actioner. But on the Ponniyin Selvan Part-1 soundtrack, composer A. R. Rahman paints with confidence. He sings on emphatic opening track “Ponni Nadhi” with a refreshing cadence, then gathers Sathya Prakash, V.M. Mahalingam and Nakul Abhyankar for a rousing reminder of historic glories on “Chola Chola”. Pounding percussion fuels “Ratchasa Maamaney”, a tumultuous track that brings the best out of Shreya Ghoshal, Palakad Sreeram and Mahesh Vinayakram. Dreamy strings carry “Alaikadal”, while bird and rain sounds enliven “Sol”.