Sri Anjaneyam (Telugu)
Audio Review by Raju Alluri

First of all, I should admit that I am a Keeravani fan. Not of the person, but of the style. I should also admit that Manisharma comes very close at times, despite being more commercial oriented.

Now, to the album. How many times do you see a frontline Telugu commercial movie featuring just one (yes, you got it right!) duet? And just one more female solo for the romantic touch?

Well, the duet (Avvayi Tuvvayi) is the least notable of the songs. The female solo (Poola Ghuma Ghuma) should have stood very next to it, but the great lyrics and the voice of Sreya Ghoshal and more notably, the lyrics of Sirivennela gave it a shot in the arm. Hence this song ends up to be a mesmarizer sort of.

At this time, you might be wondering if you really need to read further. My take is you should. Because I saved my best comments till now.

In addition to the duet and the female solo, the album has 4 devotional and/or semi devotional songs. There is a well rendered sloka too. These are the best of the lot, in my opinion.

I always felt that S.P. Balu is the contemporary best when singing emotional and devotional songs. Well, he has some compiteition, at least with one song (Rama Rama Raghu Rama) in the name of Mallikharjuna Rao. But Balu still steals the show with songs Tikamaka Makatika and Ae Yogamanukonu.

Now lets get to the key ingrediant of all the songs. Sirivennela penned five of the six songs. Except for the duet, all of them should get him A+ grade from critics. After a long time, I am listening to some greatly penned lyrics (including the sixth song penned by Veturi) in a Telugu movie. The use of rhyming words is put to the best in these songs.

Music by Manisharma is very simple, mesmarizing and soft. The music goes hand in glove with the lyrics and the voice, rendering feelings like romance/passion (Poola Ghuma Ghuma),  confusion (Tikamaka Makatika), devotion (Rama Rama Raghurama) and pain/resignation (Ae Yogamanukonu.) Manisharma gets closer to Keeravani in not overshadowing the lyrics and singer, yet providing great tunes.

So, the Krishnavamsi/Manisharma/Sirivennela combo did it again. They made a great album for listners.

Overall, I rate this Album as A+. IMHO, this album is like Annamayya meets Murari.