Starting Tamil New Year Thursday film aficionados are liable for a very busy time; a likely problem of plenty with Rajnikant, Kamal Haasan and Vijay all having releases slated for the day.

And with every movie comes a music album, and stiff competition in tow. Only quality can mark the difference between successes and failures for filmmakers.

The music of Rajnikant's "Chandramukhi" was released last month, but "Sanjay", starring Vijay, and "Mumbai Xpress", starring Kamal Haasan, have been released simultaneously.

"Mumbai Xpress", a bi-lingual film, brings together Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao and Kamal after a long time. Its music is composed by the timeless Ilaiyaraja, whose tunes rocked the 1980s.

But today, he is no longer at his zenith and faces quite a bit of competition from his son Yuvan among others.

The cassette of "Mumbai Xpress" gives a reviewer a pleasant surprise as it opens to reveal Rs.500 note. After the few minutes of blessing Kamal Haasan for his munificence, one realises that the Mahatma's visage has been replaced by Kamal's in the note.

The album opens to a peppy track, "Yelae ni yetipoo", which is strongly reminiscent of some of Ilaiyaraja's melodies for Kamal in the 1980s. But will this work in the 21st century?

The second track, "Vande Mataram", starts with several schoolchildren murdering the timeless song with their discordant voices.

This leaves one in splits and as the track continues, it sounds more and more cartoon-like -- almost like the music you would expect playing out of a Tom and Jerry video.

The third track, "Monkey Chatter", features a live orchestra - something one doesn't often get to listen to.

But if you are not a lover of classical Beethoven and Bach music, you're unlikely to go gaga over this song.

The first track on Side B starts with a conversation between a precocious loud voiced youngster and his sobbing mother - a conversation that begins to grate on one's nerves as it winds on and on. It is followed by a song that almost puts one to sleep.

The other track does not make too much of an impression either, especially since one has come to expect more from a maestro of Ilaiyaraja's calibre.

The "Mumbai Xpress" album is not exactly worth a trip to the neighbourhood superstore. But if you watch the movie and fall in love with it ... well, maybe, you could probably reconsider your decision.