The film was praised for its technical and production values, as well as the performances of the cast, while there was criticism towards the lack of narrative focus in the first half, leading to the film's excessive length and uneven pace. It also left some Rajinikanth fans polarized, with many speculating that the film could be a political campaign of sorts for himself, while others confused about the message this film was intending to convey. The film was received with comments such as "the bloom was off the rose" and that "the gold does not glitter any more". Pattali Makkal Katchi leader S. Ramadoss condemned him for smoking and posing with beedis in the film. He was criticised for spoiling Tamil youth by glorifying smoking and drinking. PMK volunteers attacked theatres which screened the film Baba and usurped film rolls and burnt it. Amidst controversies and negative criticism, Rajinikanth kept himself away from acting. Despite this, a few novice directors approached him with scripts, all of which he rejected. The soundtrack consists of 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman. The songs were recorded in 2002 June. Rahman had to record them online as he was in London with the works of "Bombay Dreams". The soundtrack album was released on July 2002 in Chennai. According to Rahman, he has tried innovations with "Baba", giving more than the jingoistic music that is a characteristic part of a Rajini film. Some of the songs were filmed from Europe. A controversy regarding the soundtrack originated when lyricist Vairamuthu expressed dissatisfaction over the online recording. Rahman defended this saying, "Busy as I was with Bombay Dreams, it was simply impossible for me to be in Chennai. Sometimes it is inevitable, in a situation like this, where the reputation and money of somebody else is at stake." Rahman also faced criticisms from the film fraternity for not recording the songs in time. Another controversy was that Dravida Kazhagam objected to the lyrics of a song that had to be partially deleted from the film later. They have taken objection to what they have called unfair commentary on Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and Ramaswami's ideology. Rahman introduced Reena Bhardwaj through the song "Kichchu Tha". This song was reused with different instrumentation and vocals in "Swades" (2004).