Listening to the audio of Chukkallo Chandrudu (CC), one wonders why Chakri, who quite often takes a detour to the city of mediocrity, doesn’t tread the right path to give us more of such albums that are full of vigor and zest. It probably takes a prolific producer like K S Rama Rao and a young crew like Siva Kumar (director), Alexander Vallabha (producer) and the new pin up boy of Andhra, Siddhartha, to prep, pamper and extract a thumping score out of Chakri.

1. Everybody
Wow is the word to describe this song. This party number not only has an energetic eclectic combination of Shaan, Siddhartha (he sings the English words/rap penned by him) and Simha singing it but also boasts of a pulsating orchestration and excellent lyrics by Surendra Krishna. Be it the chorus or the way the song is mixed and presented, it has no semblance to anything we heard from Chakri earlier. This is probably where Siddhartha chipped in his inputs to inspire Chakri to compose this rocking number.

2. Edhalo Eppudo
Sidhhartha should probably stick to singing just a couple of lines, as in the above number, than an entire song. Not that he annoys but he doesn’t impress either. But guess who steals the thunder in this song? Kousalya! Yes, she is unbelievable in this song. While she sounds nasal in Navvuthoo, she is fabulous here. Bhaskarbatla’s lyrics gel well with the mood and pace of this fast number.

3. Preme Paravasam
This breezy song where the guy is introducing the concept of love to a girl, who sees no rhyme or reason to educate herself about it, has lyricist Bhaskarbatla scoring brownie points taking the challenge of a beaten to death situation and coming up with words that don’t sound as trite as the situation itself. Sample this line about love - raasE kathalalO modalidE, malupidE. Karthik breathes life to this song aided aptly by Chinmayi.

4. Navvuthoo
Inspite of a racy rendition, especially by Kunal Ganjawala, this one barely passes muster. Kunal does the humming part better than actually singing the song and Kousalya is just about okay. Kandikonda’s disconnected words sound like mere fillers to Chakri’s composition. This one’s the Achilles’ heel of this album.

5. Dholna Dholna
Though the song starts with Dholna Dholna and Sukhwinder Singh is singing it, it’s not a bhangra number. While Sukhwinder ignites the song with his enthusiastic rendition, one tends to flinch at some of his annoying accented utterances of certain words penned by Bhaskarbatla.

6. Kalanaina
A soothing melody dipped in the mesmerizing voices of two incredibly talented singers of today – Harini and Karthik. While Chakri’s infectious tune and smooth orchestration are magical, both these singers serve us a love potion crooning the prema mantras written admirably by a relatively new lyricist, Bhasha Sri. And we are left with no choice but to guzzle it down. At the end of it, however, we are left asking for more.

7. Pichhi prema
Yet another different and impressive song by Chakri. This time he also sings it in the company of Vasu. Pothula Ravi Kiran’s lyrics and Blaazee’s rap complement each other enhancing the song’s outcome.

CC is clearly aimed at the youth and the best part is it more than lives up to it. Not all the songs may be the best we’ve heard in recent times but they are racy enough to make you jig and jive. Go for it.

audio reviews by Sreya Sunil
Balu
Mass
Shankardada MBBS
Gudumba Shankar
Letha Manasulu
Arjun
Naa Autograph
Pallakilo Pellikoothuru
Gharshana
Sri Anjaneyam
Arya
Naani
Nenunnanu
Anji
Varsham
Andhrawala
Kal Ho Naa Ho
LoC Kargil
Shivamani
Okariki Okaru
Boys
Vasantham
Simhadri
Donga Ramudu & Party
Oka Raju Oka Rani
Nijam
Johnny
Raghavendra
Appudappudu
Gangotri
Okkadu
Manmadhudu
Thottigang
Khagam
Eeswar
Nee Sneham
Bobby
Nuvve Nuvve
Gemini
Chenna Kesava Reddy
Okato Number Kurraadu
Sontham
Baba
Holi
Avunu Valliddaru Ista Paddaru
Allari Ramudu
Indra
Jayam
Sreeram
Kanulu Moosina Neevaye
Vasu
Santosham