The moment one sees ‘Just Yellow’ in print or on screen, the immediate thought that flashes one’s mind is creative cinema. After creating popular, witty Font greeting cards that, considering the living standards in early nineties, were pricy but true value for the money; Gangaraju Gunnam has positioned his Just Yellow banner to be synonymous with creative, intelligent and entertaining cinema by producing movies like Little Soldiers, Aithe and Anukokunda Oka Roju [AOR]. Understandably, his new movie, which marks his return to direction after Little Soldiers, is keeping all connoisseurs of good cinema in bated breath as it approaches the release date. And little do they care about the rather dull title – Amma Cheppindi.

Sharvanand, Shriya Reddy, Suhasini are the lead actors but two names that drive you to this movie are Gangaraju Gunnam and MM Keeravani. Their last movie together – AOR – not only featured hit music but also brought in a different sound to Telugu songs. So, is Keeravani as successful in this new album that his wife released on Vel Records label?

1. Vasthava Naatho
When was the last time that you heard a breezy 70’s kind of song in contemporary Telugu cinema? Well, look no further than this wonderfully orchestrated duet where Keeravani, shunning his trademark beats, enthralls us. Shreya Ghoshal and Harish Raghavendra both fit the bill with an impressive rendition. Actually, it’s Shreya who gets a better share of the pie and her sweet voice eclipses minor accented pronunciations, quite well. Keeravani, Gangaraju and Siva Shakti Datta’s efforts, regardless of their individual contributions, in wording the song in a simple and catchy manner pay off.

2. Evaremaina Anani
After listening to this song you realize why Keeravani chose Bombay Jayashree to sing this song that comes across as an anthem of trust and love between a mother and her son. It may not be a great tune but where it lacks, Keeravani more than makes it up by bringing in haunting musical arrangement and Jayashree’s mesmerizing voice. Sivasakthi Datta’s lyrics are exemplary in emphasizing the importance of the bond between a mother and her son. Small piano bit, at the beginning and end of this song sounds like a straight lift from Khoon Chala [Rang De Basanti, Music: AR Rahman].

3. Maataltho Swarale
This one’s an absolute delight. Be it Suddala Ashok Teja’s wonderful lyrics about the way he relates simple things in life with geetham and sangeetham, or Pranavi’s sweet rendition or Keeravani’s craftsmanship, this one’s a winner. Pranavi, after Suddhabrahma [Sri Ramadasu], makes best use of the opportunity given to her.

4. Ammaga Korukuntunna
‘Inspired’ by yesteryear’s Baar baar din yeh aaye (Movie: Farz, Music: Laxmikanth Pyarelal, Singer: Mohammed Rafi), this song is sure to be added to the list of popular birthday songs in Telugu. Although good in its own might, wish Keeravani had composed an original tune since there is a dearth of good birthday songs in Telugu. But again, the situation of the movie perhaps demanded the re-usage of the classic Hindi song. Nonetheless, this number written by Keeravani is sung very well by Pranavi.

Apart from the above songs, this album boasts of the following that are not full-fledged songs but are worthy of your time and attention, nonetheless.

Theme music – A soft on ears musical version of Evaremanukunna Anani that is truly haunting.

Janaganamana – This marriage of our National anthem and this movie’s anthem (Evaremanukunna Anani, as I mentioned above) is quite interesting. With Janaganamana playing in the forefront, the theme music played on a Shehnai slowly takes over for a little while torwards the end. Harish Raghavendra sings this one.

Dot Dash - is a novel experiment of taking a Morse code and transforming it into a song. Keeravani sings it.

The largest circulated - is based on Maatalatho Swarale tune and its lyrics revolve around the popular columns and information from/about Swathi magazine. Harish Raghavendra sings this one.

Entho Dooram – is the pathos version of the last stanza of Evaremanukunna Anani and is sung by Bombay Jayashree. It features an arresting orchestra towards at end of it.

Tirupathi Penchina Meesam – is a bit song sung by Keeravani.

To cut a long story short, Keeravani proves his versatility with this album. On one hand while his mass numbers like Jintata, Jhum Jhum Maya [Vikramarkudu] are occupying air waves, his beautiful compositions from Amma Cheppindi are not far behind either. Indeed, this album proves to be another striking feather, and not just another feather, in Keeravani’s cap.

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audio reviews by Sundeep Reddy
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