- Sreya Sunil

The successful team of Chiranjeevi - Aswini Dutt - Mani Sharma, which gave us a blockbuster in the form of Choodalani Vundi, returns with a bang with Indra to create and recreate records both in terms of audio sales and box-office collections. That Indra is awaited with bated breath by not only the zealous fans of the Megastar but also by all the Telugu movie buffs, is no exaggeration because such is the magnitude of the Megastar's magnanimous magnetic pull. Chiranjeevi is one star whose films call for an unforeseen and unprecedented craze irrespective of the success or failures of his previous movies. No wonder he is called the Megastar - the star who has outshined one and all with his astounding acting skills, flabbergasting dances and a humble personality.

Coming to the point, what's in store for us in the music of Indra? Does it have invigorating mass numbers? Does it satiate the tastes of the 'so-called' classes? Will it satisfy Megastar's fans, who have expressed their displeasure on the music of his recent movies? Read on -

1. Bham Bham Bhole (Listen)
If Choodalani Vundi had a song on Calcutta, Indra has a beautiful number on Varanasi (Kaasi) sung by Hariharan and Shankar Mahadevan and written by Sirivennela. When it comes to writing songs on Lord Siva, Sirivennela excels effortlessly and it shows here. He wonderfully sums up the importance of Kaasi with the presence of Siva, Ganga and Visalakshi in one line - 'Vilaasanga Sivaanandalahari, Mahaganga pravahanga maari, Visalakshi sametanga cheri, Varaalichhe Kaasipuri'. Mani Sharma comes with up an instant winner taking care to lace the song with melody and beats.

2. Ammadu Appachi (Listen)
A complete mass number but is one of the best racy songs in the album. This pulsating song with pounding beats is written by Veturi and sung by SPB and Kalpana. While Kalpana's voice is too nasal, SPB, needless to say, triumphs. No matter who sings for Chiranjeevi, they can never come close to the magic that SPB casts while singing for Chiranjeevi. This one's a chartbuster.

3. Radhe Govinda (Listen)
An enthusiastic number written by Bhuvana Chandra and sung by Udit Narayan and Chitra. While Chitra adds her bit of masala to this song, it is Udit Narayan who messes it up. Wonder, when Mani Sharma will get tired of Udit Narayan's voice, because I am sure all of us are already exhausted listening to the way Udit Narayan literally kills some words with his awful pronunciation. What makes the matters worse here is, if you observe carefully, the words 'Mruduvadana Patinai' are replaced with another singer's voice (My speculation - Mallikharjun). If such is the state of affairs where some of the words sung by Udit Narayan need to be replaced with those sung by another singer then why is a top music director like Mani Sharma still clinging onto him? Sir, just using a singer who doesn't know Telugu cannot create variety in songs. Please make sure the singer doesn't kill a song if not induce life into it.

4. Ghallu Ghallu (Listen)
A spell binding song by Indra (the character played by Chiranjeevi) asking Indra (the rain god) to shower rain in the parched land of Rayalaseema. SPB is at his best here and Mallikharjun shines too in whatever little he has. Mani Sharma lets the exquisite words written marvelously by Sirivennela dominate the simple tune. This may not be a chartbuster unlike some of the songs in this album but it sure is a gem. There is nobody who can beat Sirivennela when it comes to penning lyrics for situation-based songs. Don't miss some beautiful lines like - 'Jadivaana jaadatho ee vela, janajeevithalu chigurinchela, Ralla seema lo ee vela ratanala dhaaraley kurisela' and 'Tolagindi muppu ani chiru mabbu manasaara navvani, Harivillu etthi karimabbu vaana banaale veyani.'

5. Dayi Dayi Damma (Listen)
KK and Mahalakshmi try their best to salvage an average tune, ranging from soaring beats to classical beats to disco beats, by infusing life into it. Mahalakshmi teams up with Mani Sharma again after 'Kala anuko' (Aazad) and KK does full justice with a very good rendition. Sirivennela pens decent lyrics for this song, which doesn't demand too much from his pen. The 'oo…oo' part sung by the chorus at the end of the pallavi reminds us of a bit from Karthik Raja's 'Cholarey Cho Cho Laare' song of Ullasam.

6. Ayyo Ayyo (Listen)
This song has a heavy orchestrization but RP Patnaik makes sure it doesn't sound too loud. It probably comes towards the climax of the movie giving Chiru's fans a last delight in terms of brilliant choreography. Written by Kulasekhar and sung by Karthik and Usha, this is especially for Chiru's die-hard fans. Karthik, who sang 'Rahasyamuga', 'Atagaadostadaha' (Dum Dum Dum) and 'Sundari' (Amrutha), sounds good but its Usha who leaves her mark displaying her versatility. She is here to stay.

Indra has successfully crossed the first hurdle in its way with Mani Sharma's satiating and satisfying musical score providing ample scope for Chiranjeevi to display his unparalleled dancing skills. All the songs, barring 'Ghallu Ghallu', are full of pumping beats and foot-tapping rhythms composed to quench the thirst of Chiru's fans. Of the six songs, some are instant winners, some grow on us as we keep listening to them, some might hang in there as long as the movie is in the news but some are sure to leave an impact on us even after the movie becomes history.

There is always a scope for improvement. There are always phrases like - 'could have been better' which come into the mind while reviewing an album but Mani Sharma comes up with a far better score here, than his earlier works (Mrigaraju, Iddaru Mitrulu) for Chiranjeevi. In a nutshell, his music is satiating and satisfying. But one definitely expected a better score for this movie given the musical richness of the films by Vyjayanti Movies and that Vyjayanti Movies is celebrating its Silver Jubilee year in the industry with the release of Indra. Hmm, finally I did sound like a typical reviewer, didn't I?

Mythologically, Indra is called the King of Kings. He is more powerful than the most powerful and considered a warrior par excellence. He is the ruler of the heavens and the dispenser of rain. Indra is the Man for all seasons. With such a powerful title, a furious faction-based story, fresh pairing of Chiru - Sonali Bendre - Arti Agarwal, a funky musical score by Mani Sharma, the expectations of the audience are natural to soar. Will Indra be a movie for all seasons?

Sreya's Picks: Bham Bham Bhole, Ghallu Ghallu and Ammadu Appachi

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click here for other audio reviews - Jayam, Sreeram, Kanulu Moosina Neevaye, Vasu & Santosham

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