Reviews : Audio Reviews : Yamadonga

Vishwamitra Creations
Yamadonga (2007)

Producers: Cherry, Urmila Gangaraju
Director: S.S. Rajamouli
Music Director: M.M. Keeravani
Audio Rights: Vel Records
Lyrics: Anantha Sriram (1, 2, 3, 5, 9); Jonnavitthula (4, 6, 7, 8)
Playback: Daler Mehndi & Pranavi (1); M.M. Keeravani & Suneetha (2); Deepu (Pradeep) & Ganga (3); Jr. N.T.R. & Mamatha Mohandass (4); K.J. Ranjith & Pranavi (5); Mano (6); M.M. Keeravani & Sangeetha (7); Mano & Pranavi (8); Mano, M.M. Keeravani, Shankar Mahadevan & Pranavi (9)

Rating: 3.75/5

Summary:
Keeravani shifts from his style to suit the socio-fantasy theme. Anantha Sriram comes up with totally mass-oriented lyrics for a big movie, nearly first time in his career, while Jonnavitthula complements with the classy part most of the time. Some of the songs catch up on repeated hearing, even before you listen to each one too many times, and some are instantly impressive too. Keeravani keeps his work simple yet impressive on the whole.

Rubber-u gaajulu, rubber-u gaajulu, rubber-u gaajulu tecchaanE ! ( Duration: 5:12 minutes) (Rating: 4.25/5)
Playback: Popular singer Daler makes his Telugu. He's okay on the whole, save some mispronunciations, as may be expected. Pranavi is her usual, bringing in a melodious balance to generally loud voice of the male playback singer. Mispronunciations: tecchaa NE (sometimes), p aaDi (for p aDi), p illaaDEddaamE (for p eLLaaDEddaamE)	Lyric: Anantha Sriram uses several monosyllabic words of all kinds, fitting into the tune efficiently. The rhyme in the song is appreciable too.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The BGM captures the audience's minds. The orchestration is minimal yet impressive. The tune is catchy, and goes in the lines of Daler Mehndi's songs in general. The orchestration too is essentially percussion-based, to suit his generally popular style. The interlude is haunting.

noonoogu meesaalODu, nee eeDu jODainODu ... ( Duration: 4:58 minutes) (Rating: 4.0/5)
Playback: Suneetha and Keeravani suit their modulations to the theme of the song.	Lyric: The mass-oriented number has a liberal sprinkle of expressions of love and romance all over the place. The pun in " inta bangaaramE mundE unTE ...dOchEstaaDu!" and " inta bangaaramE sontam aitE ...daachEstaaDu!" is notable. The ending of the lyric seems to blend the song into the movie scene. The song proceeds prosaically in its style, interestingly.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The tune catches up quickly, within a few times of hearing. The orchestration is simple again, and is typical of Keeravani, and slowly gets richer. Strings are impressive.
naachO rE naachO rE, evaDE gajadonga!... ( Duration: 4:50 minutes) (Rating: 3.75/5)
Playback: Ganga renders the only "modern-style" number in the album along with Deepu, with a modulation that sets itself to the style.	Lyric: With a blend of Hindi and Telugu wordings, and creative rhyming such as " ninu aaTaaDistaa... mohamaaTODistaa!" and " porapaaTautunnaa... paripaaTautunnaa... chilip( i) aaTalu aagEnaa!", phrases such as " rasika-guNaraamaa, sarasa-kulasOmaa, valapu raNadheemaa!" the lyric of this fast-paced catches the ear of the listener. (Note the accha Telugu word " valapu" in line with Sanskrit-derived rasika and sarasa, which leads to the completely Telugu expression " modalu peDadadaamaa" in the same length as the other phrases that precede it.)
Tune/Interlude/BGM: This BGM is adequate. The interludes are long and rich with beat. Orchestration, BGM, and interludes set the floor right for this fast-paced, foot-tapping dance number.

Olammii, tikka rEgindaa! oLLantaa timmirekkindaa! ( Duration: 4:07 minutes) (Rating: 4.0/5)

Playback: NTR debuts as a singer with this song, while singer-actress Mamatha Mohandass joins him. This song thus marks the rendition by both screen artistes singing their own playback, probably 50 years after such a trend ended. NTR is quite impressive, and Mamatha has already proven her worth as a singer. The original track seems to be obvious sometimes though, in case of NTR.	Lyric: The lyric is changed considerably for this remixed number. The phrase " chimachima chimachima cheekaTaitE..." rhymes very well with " dhagadhaga dhagadhaga deepamunTE...". Notice the line " prabhU... light, light ...abbaa, deepaSikh( a) anDii baabU!" for the lyricist's situational fun.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: This remix song is studded with a neatly blending BGM/beat. The interludes are racy.
nuv muTTukunTE nE taTTukunTaanu... ( Duration: 3:48 minutes) (Rating: 3.75/5)

Playback: Ranjith and Pranavi are adequate.	Lyric: The rhyme dominates this mass-oriented number. The last syllables in words such as " kadupu", " kudupu", " vaNuku" "pressed" more for the tune.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The beat goes well with the mass-oriented tune and lyric. The orchestration is effectively used for the mood of the song.
SreekaraakaarunDa, bheekaraakaarunDa! ( padyam) ( Duration: 1:20 minutes) (Rating: 3.5/5)
Playback: Mano sings the verse with a modulation that suits Mohan Babu very well. However, the voice is not as soft as it could get. It was probably a deliberate attempt to suit not just Mohan Babu but also the role of Yama.	Lyric: The seesa padyam goes in the lines of the popular verse from Mayabazar ( ashTadikkul...), with good rhyme at the end of the lines ( antyapraasa), which is not really a prosodic requirement. The following tETageeti ( ettugeeti) rhymes with the seesa padyam still, but switches itself to Telugu completely. Jonnavitthula should be commended for the successful experiment. Note the highlighting that Yama is also a God.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The tune takes off in the lines of the Mayabazar verse too, and is set simply in mOhana raagam. There's not much orchestra for the verse.

chalachallagaa gaali melamellagaa tEli ... ( Duration: 1:50 minutes) (Rating: 3.75/5)
Playback: Keeravani's soothing rendition is quite impressive. Sangeetha is sweet too. Mispronunciations: sara li	Lyric: The rhyme, the long short-syllable ( laghuvulu) lines enrich this melodious duet.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The beat is smooth, the orchestra is melodious, and the tune is catchy, particularly in the first line.

bambharaala chumbanaala rambhaa! ( Duration: 0:54 minutes) (Rating: 3.0/5)
Playback: Mano goes again for Mohan Babu's modulation. Pranavi is adequate too.	Lyric: The bit song seems to mark one of the important scenes in the movie.
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The tune is simple, and so is the orchestration.

raavE naa rambhaa! ( Young Yama, young Yama, iragEsukO!) ( Duration: 4:48 minutes) (Rating: 3.75/5)
Playback: Mano emulates NTR's voice very impressively, even more so than Balu did in the past, if I should compare. Shankar Mahadevan takes the major role in the song. Keeravani joins too, starting with the lead.	Lyric: The celestial damsels Rambha, Urvasi, and Menaka are referred with song headers of the legendary NTR. (The lyric in the last stanza suggests that he appears in the song too.) The mass-oriented number goes with very suitable words and expressions. The phrases ' Young Yama', ' vote-tO seat-kE era', etc. seem situational. The song has thoughtful yet comedic expressions such as " kannepaapanu dunnapOtupai tipparaadu, andukE Yamaha ekkistaa!...venDi sOkutO vaitaraNi oDDupai unDaraadu...andukE yamunanu pongistaa!" that suit the theme and meet the rhyme. Also noticeable are rhyming words such as " apsara baalaa-steps-enakaala" that reminds of Veturi's expression of the past " ispETu raaNi kiss-peTTukunTE" ( Kodama Simham), " vikramincharaa-upakramincharaa-atikramincharaa", and " taarakamantram-teerika mantram".
Tune/Interlude/BGM: The tune for the Young Yama... line is clearly inspired from Keeravani's popular "jintaata" bit ( Vikramarkudu), thus making this song as catchy too. The orchestra is beat-based as is needed for the song.

By NaChaKi

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