After two successful back-to-back 'soft' hit movies [Santosham and Manmadhudu], Nagarujuna has decided to try something, which he hasn't in a long time - to give the masses their share of joy with an out and out mass entertainer in Shivamani. Puri Jagan, who made Ravi Teja a [loud] star with Idiot and ANOTA, is one of the most happening directors in Telugu today having carved a niche for himself that he can deliver successful movies with all the spices for all the sections. So Nagarjuna joins hands with Puri to cast 'mass' magic as Shivamani co-starring Asin (of ANOTA) and Rakshita, who are paired with Nag for the first time.

Chakri teams up with Jagan to give music for the fifth time after Baachi, Itlu Sravani Subramanyam, Idiot and ANOTA. [And this is the first time I am reviewing their work.] Given their previous work, I should say Chakri knows what Jagan wants and Jagan is aware of what Chakri can deliver. Atleast one soft melodius song, a couple of teen mar songs, one tragic song (with a good tempo) are inevitable in their albums. Anything that doesn't fit this bill is a bonus or demanded by the story. And the songs of Shivamani are also a part of this framework. After listening to these songs one might brand this album as a routine Puri Jagan-Chakri album.

1. Rama Rama/Mona Mona
Rama Rama is a short devotional number sung by Kousalya and written by Kandikonda, where Nagarjuna looking and listening to Asin sing this song in a temple, falls head over heels in love with her. Mona Mona is a duet version of Rama Rama retaining the classical touch and is sung by Hariharan and Kousalya, who strangely sound just about okay here. Chakri's orchestration adds to the melody of the song and lyrics by Shakti are passable (couldn't help mentioning the funny 'needha digital tone' line in the pallavi)

2. Yenaatiki
This one's a situational number talking about the hardships and separation in love faced by Nag and Asin. Lyrics are penned neatly by Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar. Raghu Kunche and Kousalya lend their voices to this song. While Raghu Kunche's voice sounds so much like that of Rajesh's, Kousalya's rendition is too sweet (especially in the high pitches she takes)

3. Sun Sun
This 'ri' song is sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Kousalya. Shankar Mahadevan pitches in a zesty rendition that the song demands and Kousalya tags along making her presence felt. Kandikonda words this song that is picturized on Nag and Asin.

4. Goldurangu
RP's missing in action but his kind of teen mar songs are still in vogue and this one's something like that. Chakri copies the opening music for this song from Vaishali Samant's popular debut song Aika Dajiba. Though the other orchestration is heard before and Revathy's high-pitched rendition isn't likeable, Ravi Varma comes across as the savior of this song, which is worded by Kandikonda. This might catch up with the listeners either after the movie releases or after being subjected to a repeated screening of Nag and Rakshita in the trailers.

5. Yelo Yelo
The problem with pop singers singing film songs is that they just cannot get over their pop songs hangover. While Smitha tries her best to give this song a lively rendition, she sounds as if going overboard both in her singing style and pronunciation, which might not be the case if she were singing the same song for a pop album. This one's a solo picturized on Rakshita with lyrics by Viswa.

Overall, this album might become popular depending on the success of the movie but it has nothing in it that speaks of longevity. With the presence of all sorts of songs that Puri Jagan's movies have, Chakri could not make any of these songs musically rich. Mona Mona and Rama Rama are melodious and instantly likeable. Some of the other songs like Sun Sun, Goldurangu might enjoy some popularity but their graph would head for a descent once the film's frenzy dies down. This being a mass movie, the lyrics of the songs carry the same stamp. Kousalya's voice is sweet but listening to sing her most of the songs in an album is like savoring too many sweets and looking for an antidote for sweetness. It would be good to see Chakri trying other singers like Usha, Sumangali, Ganga in his coming albums apart from Kousalya.

Nag has tried mass entertainers in recent times but nothing quite worked the way Allari Alludu and Hello Brother worked. Hope Shivamani, that has Jagan's midas touch and Nag's inimitable charisma, satisfies Nag and his fans.

Sreya's Picks: Rama Rama, Mona Mona

Tailpiece: I had to pass Ela Cheppanu, Toli Choopulone, Veede (and a coupla more albums whose names I can't recollect) to be back here with another audio review mainly for the reason that my audio system would just not listen to me and would make me listen to only Okariki Okaru audio. That was some brilliant work from Keeravani, wasn't it? Let me share a trivia that comes from director Rasool himself, with you. Did you know that one of the lines in Nuvve na swasa song which goes - Brathukaina neethone chitikaina neethone - was penned by Keeravani himself?

Click here to read the other articles by Sreya Sunil

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