- Sreya Sunil

Krishna Vamsi is one of the very few directors in Telugu film industry today, who has the magnetic power to pull people to the theaters without the aid of the so called stars. Irrespective of the box-office fate of his movies, he has always made the audience sit up and notice his work with ever growing enthusiasm. Be it a violent love story (Gulabi), mushy family stories (Ninne Pelladatha, Chandralekha), a naxalite saga (Sindhuram), a common man's agony and fight for justice (Samudram), faction feud from a woman's point of view (Antahpuram) or a love story imbued with superstitions and a divine angle (Murari), he has always attempted something different setting a trade mark of his own. Coming from Varma school, he undoubtedly tops the list of the most successful proteges of Ram Gopal Varma, with loads of talent, oodles of passion and an insatiable appetite for novelty being his forte.

Sreekanth, Prakash Raj, Ravi Teja, Sonali Bendre [who incidentally is the only heroine Krishna Vamsi has repeated so far in his movies] and Mohabbatein girl Kim Sharma [who makes a debut into Telugu movies] are the lead stars of Khadgam which is produced by Madhu Murali Sunkara.

Devi Sri Prasad [DsriP], one of the best music directors in the field today, sets tunes to Shakti's, Suddala Ashok Teja's and Sirivennela's lyrics in this album. His music for Anandam, Kalusukovalani and Sontham, which were all love stories, had a mix of melodies and high energy songs. But in a movie like Khadgam, which primarly deals with the brutal and inhuman acts of terrorism by the ISI elements and where songs, probably, pop up as a relief to the viewer from the high voltage drama, DsriP's music does not strike the same chords with the audience, which most of his earlier melodies struck. The musical success of this album heavily depends on the box office success of the movie. Nevertheless, there are a few catchy numbers and one very beautiful melodious number in this album. DsriP's orchestration, as always, is one of the plus points of this album

1. Meme Indians (Listen)
A near perfect song talking about us all - Indians, which is most likely a stage song picturized on Prakash Raj, who enacts the role of a muslim auto driver. Lyrics by Shakti, who earlier penned lyrics for Bobby, are very good. (For a moment, I thought it was Sirivennela who penned the lyrics). Though the song reminds us of the title song of Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani [Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla], Shakti did a good job. DsriP's orchestration and tune are impressive. Honey, whose voice is very similar to that of Sukhwinder Singh's voice, sounds okay.

2. Aha Allari (Listen)
This song has a very good usage of flute and dholak. Its Chitra's song all the way and needless to say she shines throughout, taking this song to a higher rating. Whenever DsriP prefers Chitra [over Sumangali] for a song, he has a reason and it shows in this song. Raquib's 'tana deena' humming and the chorus add to the mood of the song. The Qawwali beats in this song remind us of the popular 'Kannanule' song from Mani Ratnam's Bombay. More than the opening tune, the tune in the stanzas is catchy. Lyrics by Suddala Ashok Teja are okay.

3. Govinda Govinda (Listen)
Though this is a straight lift from Adnan Sami's 'Lift karade' song, lyrics by Vijaya Kumar are the sole reason why one might want to listen to this one. Picturized on Ravi Teja, who enacts the role of a hero wannabe, you can also listen to his voice at the end of the song. The policy followed in this song, where the hero is trying to impress Lord Venkateswara is, 'butter first, boon next'. The extent to which he tries to butter the God by promising to make the seven hills air conditioned ('cool'ing attempt, ha!!) and also making the temple the eight wonder of the world ('wonder'ful attempt, ha!!??) is funny. Sri, who sings this song, tries his best to sound like Adnan Sami. Even otherwise he sounded apt and okay.

4. Khadgam (Listen)
Sirivennela's highbrow words in this thematic title song, seem to justify the title of the movie by giving a new meaning to the word 'khadgam' stating that it is not just a deadly weapon but an amazingly astonishing epitome of harmony, havoc, hope and life. SPB sings this song with fervor. While DsriP fails to come up with a catchy tune, his orchestration is quite impressive depicting various moods of the movie with a consummate effect.

5. Nuvvu Nuvvu (Listen)
A sweet song about 'someone special' sung soulfully by Sumangali and crafted caressingly by Sirivennela. Sumangali's voice hypnotizes you, making you drown in the ocean of melody created by DsriP, whenever she is crooning the word nuvvu. And, almost each and every line in the song ends with nuvvu. So you might want to grab a life jacket before you take the plunge. But again, big deal! Such heavenly numbers are a rarity these days and music lovers like you and I sometimes do wish to get drowned, don't we? Definitely, the best song in this album. The echo effect throughout the song adds to the beauty of the song reverberating the 'maimarapu' of the girl whose thoughts revolve around [and only around] her guy.
Friendly suggestion: For all the girls in love, here's a trump card, to play it on your guys.
Friendly warning: For all the guys in love, arm yourselves to triumph this trump card ;-)

6. Musugu Teeyoddu (Listen)
A fast paced song about high spirits of the youth. Most likely picturized on Kim Sharma. Sirivennela's words talking about the desires and dreams of the youth are good. How I wish DsriP set this song to an equally tantalizing tune. Kalpana, who is a better alternative to Radhika, is her usual self, sometimes nasal and sometimes okay, that is.

Sreya's Picks: Nuvvu Nuvvu

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Other audio reviews by Sreya Sunil
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

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