Whenever Venky was down with a string of flops, he always looked on to Tamil Cinema to pull him out of the doldrums by remaking hits and super hits from there. Of course Gemeni was an exception to this successful remake strategy, shocking everybody with its poor performance at the box-office. So, now Victory Venkatesh has decided to give Vikraman (a successful director in Tamil with a very high success ratio) a chance to direct him in Vasantham, which is not a remake, rather a simultaneous make of Priyamana Thozhi [Madhavan, Jyothika, Sreedevi] being directed by Vikraman himself in Tamil for the prestigious AVM Productions banner. Vikraman who started his Tamil innings with Pudu Vasantham [dubbed into Telugu as Nava Vasantham] enters the Telugu Cinema with his vasantham sentiment by naming this film as Vasantham.

Arti Agarwal and the latest homely heroine sensation Kalyani are paired with Venky in this movie that is produced by NV Prasad and Sanam Naga Ashok Kumar. SA Raj Kumar, a loyal music director for all of Vikraman's films, is the music director for this film too. SA Raj Kumar, in the past, gave mellifluous tunes for Venkatesh's movies like Surya Vamsham, Raja, Kalisundam Raa. For Vasantham too, SA Raj Kumar composes many melodies but almost all of them sound as if he has recycled his old compositions. If lack of novel tunes is something conspicuous in this album, presence of 'heard-before' tunes is one thing that is very obvious here.

1. Jaampanduve
This one's an okay number that has nothing new in terms of tune and orchestration. It is melodious but that doesn't quite make up for the familiarity in other vital departments. The slow base beat in the song actually reminds us of Rahman's Nellori Nerajana song from Oke Okkadu. Lyrics by Veturi, when compared to his recent work, are decent but as such are nothing to rave about. Udit Narayan (who, I must say, sounds quite bearable here) and Sujatha sound good.

2. Ninnu Choodaka Mundara
A good melodious number with some good lyrics by Kula Sekhar talking about the beauty of a girl. Hariharan sings this one very well in his inimitable style. Though the song sounds familiar at times, Hariharan makes up for it with his pleasant rendition. This one's a winner in the first hearing itself.

3. Ammo Ammayena
SA Raj Kumar reminds us of many of his own earlier compositions in this song. If not for its 'heard-before' orchestration and chorus, this number would have ended up being really infectious. Neither Kula Sekhar's lyrics nor Hariharan and Sujatha's rendition salvage this one.

4. Gaali Chirugaali
This one's a situational number possibly picturized on Kalyani and Venkatesh. Sirivennela's wonderful lyrics serve as an inspiration tonic for this 'pep talk' kind of song. It's only with problems and hurdles that we grow stronger in life, is what is talked about beautifully in this song. It's sad that SA Raj Kumar composes this number with familiar orchestration, chorus and tune. The beauty that is infused into this song by Sirivennela and Chitra (who comes up with a beautiful rendition not making it too melodramatic) is grossly missing in action by composer SA Raj Kumar.

5. Godaaralleponge
Though this one starts with the opening music of 'Makhna' song of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, it is thankfully not a copy of that song. This melody number with a faster pace has lyrics by Kula Sekhar talking about joy de vivre. SPB is immaculate here with an energetic rendition. It is mainly because of him that you end up liking this song.

6. O Lollipop
With sudden crests and troughs in the form of fast beats and very slow beats, this number reminds me of a popular saying in Hindi - 'dhobhi ka kutta na ghar ka na ghat ka!' - neither serving the purpose of a racy number nor a slow number. It's a hero introduction/solo number with Chandrabose, in his typical lyrical style for such songs, writing lyrics revolving around some new philosophy. Shankar Mahadevan, who regularly and religiously sings such solo songs for most of our heroes, lives up to that 'tradition' with this song. All the songs in this album have equivalent counterparts in the Tamil album except this one, which explains the fetish for such songs by our heroes.

Overall, this album has many melodies but they are all imbued with a déjà vu feeling reminding us of SA Raj Kumar's earlier compositions. SA Raj Kumar, who is known for his melodious numbers has not exactly delivered what is expected of him. Commonplace orchestration, heard-before tunes stick out like a sore thumb in this album. If its just melodies you are looking for, then this one might be for you. But if you are also looking for something extra then you might be disappointed with this album. The audio might be a hit but not many songs have in them that spatiality to boast of a longer life in the minds of the listeners.

Sreya's Picks: Ninnu Choodaka Mundara, Godaaralleponge

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