Prabhas, after the debacle called Yogi; Illeana, waiting for another elusive super hit ala Pokiri; Harris Jayaraj, who has never had a direct success in Telugu; are brought together by the man with Midas touch Dil Raju under the direction of a newbie Vamsi Paidipally for Munna. After the super success of Bommarillu, anything that is even remotely associated with Dil Raju has become red hot in trade circles and Munna is no exception.

The quality of music, a director extracts from a top music director like Harris, tells us what the director may have in store for us in the movie. If you agree with that then you may not really look forward to Munna with bated breath, for the album sounds like a typical Harris album. No great songs but at the same time nothing outrageously bad either. But again, most directors, who have extracted good music from Harris in Telugu, have disappointed with their content ending up with flops. Hope Vamsi is an exception to that.

So anyway, all that this album has is a bunch of average songs whose orchestration we’ve heard in a ton of Harris’ previous songs or tunes that remind us of his earlier songs and in some cases both. Most songs are commonplace, going by the expectations one has from Harris, but are catchy nonetheless. The audio of Munna, like most recent albums in Telugu, would occupy air waves for a long time only if the movie is successful; otherwise it may end up as just another Harris album where he recycled his own stuff.

1. Kadhulu kadhulu
This song starts with a bang literally and maintains a fast pace throughout with an energetic rendition by Kay Kay. Viswa’s gusto filled thoughts are set to a fiery tune by Harris.

2. Manasa
Though the opening beats carry a faint resemblance to Hrudayam Ekkadunnadi [Ghajini], this one’s a nice melody with an infectious rhythm. Despite some jarring mispronunciations especially the way Sadhana pronounces cheppamma, cheppalandamma, all the singers - Sadhana Sargam, Naresh Iyer, Krish, Haricharan, render this one well. Kandikonda’s mushy words are okay.

3. Vasthaava Vastaava
This racy duet has an impressive yet familiar orchestration and is packaged quite well but when you are done playing the song the first time, you are not totally satisfied with the outcome. So, if picturized properly, this may soar up the music charts. Kay Kay and Shalini croon this one while Ananta Sriram pens it.

4. Bhaga Bhaga
This ‘He-is-god’ number penned with inflated words by Kandikonda is staid. Neither Shankar Mahadevan’s rendition impresses (surprise!) nor the overall song itself. Next, please.

5. Chammakkuro
A sensuous number with some very good orchestration thrown into it. Anushka and Karthik, with their sultry and zingy vocals respectively, make this one an appealing number despite some mediocre lyrics by Viswa. Blaaze handles the rap part.

6. Koncham Koncham
Every popular singer in Hindi from Udit Narayan to Kunal Ganjawala made their entry in Telugu then why should Kailesh Kher be left behind? Fortunately, if Harris made Jassi Gift sing this song, it would have sounded like a rehash of Randakka Randakka [Aparichitudu] considering that Sujatha sings that one too. So, Harris brings in Kailesh and to be fair to Kailesh, he sounds quite good. Don’t be surprised if you start listening to him more often in the coming days. Sujatha is as dependable as she has been. Bhaskarbhatla pens this one. This one’s an enjoyable folk number with earthy beats.

On a different note:
A reader/friend responded to my previous rant in Sainikudu audio review, about the quality of Telugu music, by pointing me to Notebook album. If you haven’t heard songs from this little known movie then be prepared to go gaga over Mickey J Meyer. This young composer is somebody to watch out for and here’s hoping that he’d usher in some ‘Happy Days’ for Telugu music. Oh, that reminds me, he’s has been signed by Shekar Kammula to compose music for Happy Days.

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audio reviews by Sundeep Reddy
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