Bhare Naina

Song: Bhare Naina
Movie Name : Ra.One
Singers :  Nandini Shrikar, Vishal and Shekhar
Music Director : Vishal and Shekhar

 After the dust settled down on "Chammak Challo" and "Criminal" from Ra.One, this is the song that made me sit up and take notice. Vishal and Shekhar have had a good run in the recent years and they made use of a good opportunity with Ra.One. "Bhare Naina" is exactly the kind of innovative music that you can get excited about. A delicate balance of classical singing against a rock background, this fusion works due to Nandini's voice and Vishal-Shekhar's excellent instrumentation. 

Muddugare Yashoda

Song: Muddugare Yashoda
Movie Name : Padamati Sandhya Raagam
Singers : S Janaki
Music Director : S P Balasubramaniam

Happy Krishnashtami! Since the day we found out we were going to have a boy, we were waiting to dress him up as Krishna for Krishnashtami. The day arrived, and we dressed him up with a lot of effort. As we put on the dhoti and the ornaments, and stood him up, he started walking and the first thing in my mind was the prelude of this song...I like "Muddugare Yashoda" a lot and it is one of the songs I kept singing frequently to Arjun when he was less than 3 months old. At some point, I had written about the version of this song in "Villagelo Vinayakudu" too. However, yesterday belonged to the prelude of this song. I could keep listening to it in an infinite loop all day long, looking at my sweet krishnudu!

Andala Lokam

Song: Andala Lokam
Movie Name : Gaayam - 2
Singers :  Sriram Parthasarathy, Saraswathi
Music Director : Illayaraja

 An instantly likeable number from Gaayam - 2, this song is dear for me another personal reason. It is very unlikely that I will get tired of this song for a long time. The string ensemble used by Illayaraja for giving the song Celtic undertones goes beautifully in setting up the mood of the song. Couple that with some brilliant flute interludes before the second stanza, and your mind will barely be able to wrap itself around this rich melody!

Ninnu Choodani

Song: Ninnu Choodani
Movie Name : Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu
Singers :  Anuj Gurwara, Chaitra
Music Director : M M Keeravani

  Keeravani strikes back and how! Ninnu Choodani is the winner from AOD in my opinion. With a fantastic tune that suits the mood of this movie, this song instantly appealed to me. What stunk HORRIBLY is the picturization of this song. At some point, I would like to write my concept for how this song should have been picturized instead. The pallavi is as attractive as the charanam, but this song made me recollect another old favorite song of mine " Hai re hai" from Sindhuram.

Chinnado vaipu

Song: Chinnado
Movie Name : Brindavanam
Singers : Savitri, B.Vasantha, Sukhwindra Singh, Muralidhar, Geeta Madhuri and Baba Sehgal
Music Director : S S Thaman

  The song starts off with a tribute to the old song from "Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu" and switches gears to the mass masala number that I have come to absolutely love last year. When I first heard this song, I loved the old song and could not stand the loud noises that followed. Now, I cant wait to skip past the old song and rush to the crazy energy that this song is all about. Thaman has quickly turned out to be a MD to watch for. Dont be surprised to see more recommendations.