at A. R. Rahman's studio was aired through Suryan FM 93.5 across Tamil Nadu on 31 October 2014. The highlight of the event was an audio – visual presentation of the experiences of five theater artistes. All five namely PC Kalaimani, Nellai Sriram, Anandan, Prasad Rajendran and Tamilarasan were felicitated by A.R. Rahman. Critical reception The album received extremely positive reviews upon release. K. Siddharth of Sify stated that Rahman was "at his creative best!" in the album and gave it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Behindwoods chose "Vaanga Makka Vaanga", "Aye Mr. Minor!" and "Yaarumilla" as the picks of the album and rated the album 3.75 out of 5 stars, concluding, "Rahman brings back live instrumentation to its full glory !" Vipin of Music Aloud concluded, "One of the year's most awaited soundtracks, and A R Rahman delivers in style. Big props to the singers (not just Haricharan) for a top class effort! Kaaviya Thalaivan. Go listen!", and gave a rating of 9 out of 10 for the album. S. Saraswati of Rediff.com wrote "Music by AR Rahman anchors the film well. Every song takes you back to an era that glorified music and understood its nuances. They form an integral part of the film and give greater depth to the narrative. There are a multitude of songs, but every song is handled differently, ensuring a thoroughly enjoyable experience." R. S. Prakash of Bangalore Mirror called Rahman's work "soothing and adds value" though he felt that it was not the best. Avinash Gopalan of Oneindia Entertainment called the soundtrack and background score as the film's backbone. Haricharan Pudipeddi felt that Rahman's work is one of the places where Kaaviya Thalaivan works. However, Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu wrote "The film opens with a dedication to legends like S. G. Kittappa and K. B. Sundarambal, but a soundtrack filled with those kinds of voices would be booed off the screen today. The singers sound lighter, more contemporary, even while rendering bits like Kaayadha Kaanagathe, which was immortalised on screen by T. R. Mahalingam – again, a voice that would most likely make the audience collapse into giggles." Chart performance The album topped the iTunes charts across India within a few hours after its digital release. Release history Track listing The official track listing was released by Sony Music India on 29 October 2014. The soundtrack album for