In giving the nod for DSP, Mahesh Babu has shown courage because it is not easy to say yes to a music director after their last combination (“1-Nenokkadine”) failed at the box office. For a long phase of Mahesh’s career, Mani Sharma ruled the air waves of his songs, right from his debut film except for occasional breaks the Superstar took with the likes of AR Rahman and Harris Jayaraj. Then back to Mani Sharma until SS Thaman came with “Dookudu”. Two more films with Thaman later, Mahesh Babu is giving another chance to DSP. How good is the music?
There are six songs in the album with a total running time of 24 minutes – that’s a great achievement in modern times because the length of each song is dramatically cut to four minutes or less. This is a trend that will continue and maybe reach a stage of just four or five songs in future because of the falling levels in patience of the audience to long songs.
The six songs are all written by Rama Jogayya Sastry who has had some great hits in the past with DSP in films like “King”.
1.“Rama Rama” is the first song which is set in the backdrop of celebrations of God Ram’s greatness and achievements. This is a welcome break for MB fans as he returns to praise Godly achievements in a song format, after a long gap after “Murari” (in which he praises Lord Krishna in a song; in another film “Pokiri” there is just one line about Lord Ganesha). Lyrical values are high in this song sung by Sooraj Santosh and Ramana Reddy. The beats are village beats with a folksy with a sonorous beginning that makes it sound like something vibrant is going to follow.
2.“Jatha Kalise” is a song sung by Sagar and Suchitra that is melodious and suggests a background nature of visual narration where the hero and heroine set foot in a campus with distinctly varied mindsets but in different bodies but broadly similar in values and thinking; like opposites attract. Background songs have always stood out in Mahesh Babu’s films whether in “Okkadu”, “Sainikudu” or “Athadu” and the return of this song which moves the romance of the lead pair should attract the classes. It is slow but grows on you after few hearings. Both the singers Sagar and Suchitra give a mellowed touch to the song with their renditions. The lyrics use the analogy of books and the many pages one turns to suggest both the hero and the heroine are reading each other.
3.“Charuseela” is a song in the usual DSP style sung by the talented singer Yazin Nizar. This song will slowly catch fire in the soundtracks played on FM radio – it has the rap-style percussions and the spontaneity of DSP in composition. Adnan Sani used to sing such songs in the past for DSP and this time Yazin Nizar rocks the number with his inimitable touch.
4.“Srimanthudaa” sung by MLR Karthikeyan is the title track with excellent lyrical values; it talks about the role of wealth and how the wealthy can change the world and how the hero’s affluence is making a difference. Perhaps, this is the track which will appeal across the generations and elevates Mahesh’s title role in the second half once the character is established. Since the trailer shows a slight friction between father Jagapathi Babu and son Mahesh Babu in the approach to life, and there is another character – actor Rajendra Prasad who plays Shruti Hassan’s father, this song lyrically connects with all the characters and raises awareness of what is true wealth and altruism. The lyrics by Ram Jogayya Sastry in this song remind you of the Sirivennela magic.
5. “Jaago” is the song hummed by Raghu Dixit (Male) and Rita (Female) played with impressive guitar by Steeve Vaaz. Mahesh Babu already told the fans that this song will become one of the biggest hits in his career. It appears so given the song has the crazy jazz rhythms and sounds used by DSP. It starts with a wake-up call like song but gets into the groove with the words “Jaago…Jaago” repeatedly until it gets inside your head. There are kinky turns in the way the words are used making it sound like a complicated melody that requires repeated listening. The guitar sounds extend the moods. Energetic number.
6. “Dimma Thirige” is a song which uses Mahesh Babu’s most famous punchline from “Pokiri” (“Evaddu Kodithe..”). It has the mass beat and probably comes in the climax. Sung by Simha and Geeta Madhuri, Typical mass number, it has the words that will make the front rows go gaga over the lead pair’s dancing steps. The energy reminds you of the mass number of Mahes Babu in “Pokiri” which comes at the climax (“Choodaddantunnaa..”).
On the whole, the audio track of “Srimanthudu” has a good variety, mixture of mass beats, modern rhythms and peppy numbers. It has the most meaningful lyrics in a Mahesh Babu film not seen in a long time. The difference between this audio and the previous audios of Thaman is that a good balance is attempted between the search for good melody and mass beats. Thats a difficult feat to achieve and DSP and Ramajogayya Sastry deserve applause for rising to the occasion.
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