# Jai Bhim (soundtrack)

Jai Bhim is the soundtrack to the 2021 Tamil-language legal drama film of the same name directed by T. J. Gnanavel and starred Suriya whose production company 2D Entertainment also produced the film. The film features musical score composed by Sean Roldan, with lyrics written by Yugabharathi, Raju Murugan and Arivu. Preceded by three singles—"Power", "Thala Kodhum" and "Sendumalli"—the soundtrack was released by Sony Music India on 1 November 2021, with a bonus song "Manniley Eeramundu" unveiled after the film's release. The music received positive response from critics.

## Production and release

The film marks Roldan's maiden collaboration with Gnanavel and Suriya. Gnanavel chose Roldan to score the film as he was one among the few musicians to score for realistic films, citing his work on Joker (2016). The film featured five songs without lip movements to proceed the story, while there is a montage song "Vettakaara Kootam" which is about of the life of Irula people. For the song, Roldan used the Irula language as a musical form and continuously implemented it throughout the first part of the story. The other sequences, that is set in the High court is contrarily different in music. Roldan had recorded the court sequences at the Abbey Road Studios, London which was orchestrated by Matt Dunkley. A snippet from the recording sessions uploaded to social media during mid-October.
The songs were recorded during August–October 2021, with the first track "Power" with vocals and lyrics written by Arivu. The song was released as the first single from the album on 6 October 2021. The second single "Thala Kodhum" sung by Pradeep Kumar was released on 18 October. The third song "Sendumalli" sung by Ananthu and Kalyani Nair was released on 27 October. The original soundtrack album consisting of five tracks was intended to be released on 29 October but was ultimately postponed following the death of Kannada actor-producer Puneeth Rajkumar. The soundtrack was eventually released on 1 November 2021.
After the film's release, Sean Roldan performed few lines from the unreleased hidden track titled "Manniley Eeramundu" which was played during the climax of the film, at a chat session and following multiple requests, the makers released the aforementioned track as a single on 15 November 2021.

## Reception

S. Srivatsan of The Hindu described Roldan's music as "pummelling". Ranjani Krishnakumar of Film Companion South described the introduction song "Power" as "an intense rally cry". Behindwoods called Roldan's music as "brilliant" that "elevates the film several notches higher" IndiaGlitz wrote "Sean Roldan has produced great songs for the film and the composer treats us with an admirable background score as well. He offers silence wherever it is necessary underlining the narration." Litty Simon of Manorama Online said that Roldan's music "is just perfect, tugging right at the core of the movie". Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express, although describing the music on Chandru's introduction as "heroic" but sometimes felt "overstated". Ashameera Aiyyappan of Firstpost called Roldan's "charming album [...] and minimalist score further ably support the film". She further stated "Sendumalli" as "pure saccharine goodness". Umesh Punwani of Koimoi wrote "Sean Roldan’s music is haunting and he manages to elevate the whole film with it".

## Background score

The original background score for the film was released on 20 January 2022.