Ayan (soundtrack)

The film marked Harris' fourth collaboration with Suriya after Kaakha Kaakha (2003), Ghajini (2005) and Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) and his first with Anand, who worked with Vidyasagar in his previous film Kana Kandaen (2005). Anand narrated the script to Jayaraj, who at that time completed scoring Dhaam Dhoom (2008) and Vaaranam Aayiram.^[1][2] Jayaraj who usually preferred directors to provide one-liners and the essence of the film, listened to Anand's narration for two-and-a-half hours, where he "never felt bored even at one place".^[3] He described the script "thrilling and fun" and that reminded him of Saamy (2003), which was "a fast-paced film where you can sip your cool drink, eat popcorn and let the time whiz past."^[3] Soon after his involvement, Harris composed the songs in Mauritius.^[1][2]

The soundtrack album consisted of six songs with a multitude of genres, ranging from fast-paced dance to melody numbers. Vairamuthu wrote the lyrics for "Nenje Nenje" and Pa. Vijay wrote lyrics for two songs, while Na. Muthukumar wrote three numbers. "Oh Super Nova" is featured in the film's opening credits and the song "Pala Pala", sung by Hariharan is a dance number picturized for Suriya's character in the introduction. Three of the songs, were picturized on Suriya and Tamannaah's characters. "Vizhi Moodi" is a "montage" number and "Nenje Nenje" is a "soothing melody with a melancholy base";^[2] the song was shot on the sand dunes of the Namib-Naukluft National Park, Dune 7 and Deadvlei in Namibia.^[1]

The film's audio was launched at the office of Sun TV Network in Chennai on 10 January 2009, with the presence of the film's cast and crew.^[4][5] The event had a live telecast on Sun Music.^[5] The soundtrack for the film's Telugu-dubbed version Veedokkade was released on 22 February 2009.^[6]

The soundtrack album received mostly positive reviews from music critics as well as listeners. Malathy Sundaram of Behindwoods gave the album 3 out of 5 stating, "Harris Jayaraj's crafting is elegant as ever. But what disappoints us here slightly is that the songs have influences of his earlier albums here and there, which could have been avoided."^[7] Indiaglitz gave the album 2.75 out of 5 and stated, "'Ayan' has a whole lot of mix in spellbinding melodies and mind-boggling peppy numbers."^[8] Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stating, "Barring one or two numbers, this effort doesn't seem to sustain itself after the first few lines, but perhaps, with repeated listening, its appeal might increase."^[9] Karthik Srinivasan in his review for Bangalore Mirror wrote "Been there, done that sound, but Ayan's soundtrack works."^[10][11] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote "More than sound, Harris Jeyaraj's silence in the re-recording impact the viewer. The lyric (Vairamuthu) and tune of 'Nenjae ...' impress."^[12] A reviewer from Sify wrote "Harris Jayaraj's music is peppy and the background score is awesome."^[13]