`Nee paartha paarvaikkoru nanri', sung by Hariharan & Asha Bhosle and written by Kamal, is a melodious number and has Illayaraja and the singers at their best. `Polladha madana baanam', sung by Mahalakshmi and Anupama Deshpande, begins like a Marathi lavani and then takes on the shape of a symphony. This song is like a teaser for the work the maestro has done on the album.

`Vaaranam aayiram' begins with `Vaishnava Janato', which was the favourite song of the Mahatma. This has been sung by Viba Sharma and has South Indian instruments such as the nadaswaram, the mridangam and the thavil providing the background score. Vedic chants are also fused with the song.

Rani Mukherjee, who is one of the lead players in the movie which takes its name from the last words of the Mahatma, recites a Bengali poem `Aakashe Jyotsna', which was written by Jibananda Das. One of the other treats of the album is `Isayil todanguma', which has been written by Illayaraja and sung by the Hindustani vocalist Ajay Chakravarti. The singer impresses by the ease with which he is able to manouvre the highs and lows of the song. Then there is the `Sanyas mantra' chanted by Kamal and Hema Malini. `Raaman analum' is a politically correct fun song about communal harmony and is sung ably by Kamal and Jolly Mukherjee.

Illayaraja had gone to Budapest, in Hungary, to record the background score for the movie and had used a 90-member orchestra and the effort shows. The album, with its rich acoustic score, is one of his best efforts