- Sreya Sunil

It's not just the Tamil audiences who look forward to Rajnikanth's movies with heightened curiosity. Equally eager Telugu movie buffs also await the superstar's movies with enthusiasm. Rajnikanth, who was last seen as the invincible Narasimha who snubs his archrival Neelambari (played to perfection by Ramya Krishna) now returns as a saintly 'Baba' with a sole ambition of cleaning the corruption and evil of the society by carrying out a catharsis.

Suresh Krishna, who earlier directed Rajni's Baasha, wields the megaphone again while AR Rahman composes music for the third time for a Rajni movie after Muthu and Narasimha. Manisha Koirala is paired up with Rajni while Ramya Krishna and Sanghavi, supposedly have important cameos in the movie. Lyrics for the Tamil version are penned by renowned lyricist Vairamuthu and Vaali while the lyrics for the Telugu version are all handled singly by Siva Ganesh who does an excellent job of translating the essence with the same punch and finesse. The lyrics in this album are way too good compared to the lyrics in some of the recent dubbed movies.

AR Rahman, India's most popular music director, may not have delivered an extra ordinary score for Baba but his choice of singers and his orchestration is a par above excellence. As is the case with most of Rahman's songs, some of the songs of this movie grow on you on repeated hearing. Some might become popular after the movie releases and some of them will even stand out as the evergreen hits of Rahman. The common point in all (not just almost, but all) the songs is a pertinent dosage of sermons wherever and whenever possible. Baba boasts of a very powerful punch line among the recent times for a movie made on this side of the Vindhyas, which goes - 'Known is a drop. Unknown is an ocean!' After listening to the songs, one starts wondering - 'Songs are a drop, movie might be an ocean (of sermons)'

1. Baba Theme Music (Listen)
A truly haunting musical masterpiece by Rahman, which sets a perfect mood for the powerful thoughts and ideologies discussed in the other songs of this album. Srinivas sings this one beautifully imparting the charm of a divine chanting to it. This theme song talks primarily about 'ekam' (one and only one), like there's just one God (irrespective of the faith you follow), just one language (of love towards fellow human beings), just one aim/ambition (of maintaining harmony) and finally it's just the chittamaananda poornam (total bliss in which the soul shines) that helps us attain salvation.

2. Tippu Tippu (Listen)
This song draws an interesting analogy between life and cinema. Just like the way movies typically last for three hours; life has three important stages - sisuvu praayam (childhood), paduchu praayam (adulthood) and musali praayam (old age). Though it's an average song (tune wise) with a Punjabi folk song flavor to it, it is Shankar Mahadevan's singing and beautiful lyrics by Siva Ganesh, where he talks about the things-done and things-to-be-done in these three stages of life very well that make this one worth listening to.

3. Baba … Neeku Mokkuta (Listen)
This song is about a 'bhama' enticing the 'baba' by calling him 'bava'. Manisha repeats her act of seducing the hero after Magadheera song of Oke Okkadu. SPB and Sadhana Sargam add proper spice to this typical 'girl-acts-guy-reacts' song where the girl pleads with the guy for his love and at the same time also suggests some 'appropriate' changes he ought to undergo to be a better person (a typical girl-act!) and the guy is no less in reacting -'crib or cringe, me no change!' (this is a typical guy-act too!!)

4. Maya Maya (Listen)
Another sermonizing song, which talks about being unattached to anything and everything in life. This beat-based song describes all the things in life as 'maaya' (deceit) and 'chaaya' (a shadow - which remains with us always but is of no use to us). Udit Narayan, who began singing songs in languages alien to him with Rahman's 'Andamaina prema raani' of Premikudu, sings this one in his usual ishtyle (ahem! No comments about his 'ishtyle'). Sujatha who joins him for the last charanam impresses us with a beautiful rendition. If the guy sings 'patti pattanattu ga, undi lenattu ga undu' the girl says 'patti rasapattuga nuvvu nato jataga undu'. This one's bound to climb the charts slowly due to the presence of some obvious mass-attracting elements. May be Udit Narayan's voice is one of that.

5. Rajyama (Listen)
Most likely this is a background song talking about the trials, tribulations and the teachings of Baba and how he has transformed from a non-believer to a staunch believer in God. Though it starts off with an uninteresting high pitch, the charanams in the song are set to a good tune. Jaya Chandran, who sang the popular 'Anaganaga Akasam Vundi' song in Nuvve Kavali, sings this one perfectly.

6. Sakti Nivvu (Listen)
Mesmerizing, moving and motivating! A high-energy song about seeking energy from God to face any obstacle with courage. Again, Sai Ganesh's words thrust a force on us and Karthik renders the song with a punch. While you get to hear some invigorating words like 'tallivi neeve tandrivi neeve! pranavamu neeve praanamu neeve!' (You are the mother, you are the father. You are the creator of life and you are reason for life), you also get to hear some of Rajni's contradicting thoughts about his entry (?) into politics like 'Ne bratikedi mee korakey vidichi ne ponu! Gaddelanu, middelanu ne korukonu!' (I desire neither thrones nor palaces. I live only for you [people] and I shall never desert you). Rahman sets such powerful lyrics to a riveting tune that shall reverberate in our hearts for a long time to come.

Sreya's Picks: Sakti Nivvu, Baba Theme Music

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click here for other audio reviews - Holi, Avunu Valliddaru Ista Paddaru, Allari Ramudu, Indra, Jayam, Sreeram, Kanulu Moosina Neevaye, Vasu & Santosham

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