Who would have thought that a story as simple as an infuriated don going to medical school to become a doctor would click big time with movie lovers? Who would have guessed that such a movie directed by a new comer would go on to winning the National Award for the best movie providing wholesome entertainment? Who would have imagined that the same movie would be remade in almost all the popular South Indian languages with best of the heroes? That's Munnabhai MBBS for you. Bole to, sahi hain baap!

Gemini Film Circuit, after producing the Tamil version of Munnabhai - Vasoolraja MBBS [Kamal Hassan, Sneha, Prabhu], now bring us the Telugu version titled Shankardada MBBS starring Megastar Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Srikanth, Paresh Rawal and others under the direction of Jayanth C Paranji. Though Shankardada is a remake, I am looking forward to it because it's been a while we saw Chiranjeevi entertain us in a comedy film. Though the minuscule success rate of a Telugu film remade from a hit Hindi film bothers me a little, heck, who cares? Bole to, fillum jhakaas to apun bindaas!

DsriP, who has now positioned himself firmly as one of the top music directors in Telugu with three hit albums Varsham, Venki and Arya this year, scores music for the first time for a Chiranjeevi starrer. Munnabhai barely had any hit tunes and when DsriP was roped in to score music for Shankardada, I wondered how much of a difference [musically] he would bring in to this movie that has little scope for music. Speculations aside, DsriP composes pucca mass tunes in this album that are probably in tune with the way the movie is presented. But does he succeed? Poochta kaiko?Aage padh na!

1. Chaila Chaila
This is one number in this album that you start humming in the very first try. Inspite of its typical DsriP like orchestration and beats [especially the o maaya o maaya part] this one is a chartbuster. While KK sings it both with vigor and poise we also get to hear Chiru mouthing some dialogues that are sprinkled all over the song. Lyrics by DsriP sound like a faithful translation of the Hindi equivalent [Apun jaise tapori] of this song that is sung to cheer up a guy who falls and fails in love.

2. Naa pere kanchanamala
If you liked Malathi in Silakemo [Venki], Aa ante amalapuram [Arya] and the recent Gootlo Undi [Sye], then you might like this one too. Though this number lacks the tempo of Aa ante Amalapuram and has old beats, it is nonetheless catchy. While Malathi infuses the much needed oomph to this number with a fervent rendition; Karthik, surprisingly, barely makes his presence felt and is totally overshadowed by Malathi. Veturi pens this one.

3. Pattu pattu
Manikya Vinayagam, who sang Maro Maro [Venki], is the male singer here singing the number in an enthused flow and I doubt if the female voice is that of Sumangali 'coz it sounds more like that of Mathangi's. Nonetheless, both the singers do justice to what was expected from them. However, the beats in this song remind you so much of Kannepilla song [Thottigang] and DsriP's other songs. Though this song lacks freshness, this one scores and might catch up after the movie releases. Sahithi pens this one.

4. Shankardada MBBS
So this is a solo number ala M Bole to in Munnabhai. But nothing much to write about it except that a couple of beats here and there are tugged in to excite Chiru's fans. Just for the record, this is a re-hashed version of DsriP's Tamil song Guntalakidi from a Tamil film Ice, which is a remake of Kalusukovalani. The only saving grace of this song is a good rendition by Mano. Chandrabose's lyrics are decent.

5. Ye Jilla
If it was not for Adnan Sami crying ahem crooning this song, this one might have been better than what it actually turned out to be. On the contrary, Kalpana sounds good. Racy yes, pulsating orchestration yes, but lacks the zing to make us cling to it. Chandrabose's lyrics come with his inimitable stamp comprising of newly coined words like himsachalam, siggapur, pakkalapalli amongst others.

Overall, this is a complete mass album with no melodies. Though the songs are catchy, that is only after you listen to them repeatedly, the beats in the songs have a prominent 'heard before' feel to them. Also, they sound like they might have a better impact when seen on screen. Bole to, fillum dekhne ka aur pata lagaane ka! Kya?

Mass songs become popular instantly especially when they come from a top music director and when composed for a top hero. But for them to transition from being popular to perennial they have to take pride in offering something that strikes the right chord with us. Sadly, the songs in this album, though catchy, don't actually offer that. DsriP might not have disappointed Chiru's fans with this album but much more was expected out of his first musical score for a Megastar movie. Bole to, bakwaas nahi par kuch khaas bhi nahi.

Sreya Picks: Chaila chaila, Pattu pattu, Naa pere kanchanamala

Zingers:

• Naa area lo eppuDu leni lovaria naaku anTukundi (writes DsriP in Chaila Chaila)
• Nee navvu lo chichhu undi na manasulo vichhukundi (writes Veturi in Naa pere kanchanamala)
  

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