Director: Suryah SJ
Music: AR Rehman
Lyrics: Veturi, Sirivennela & Chandra Bose
Singers: Blazee, Balasubrahmanyam S P, Hariharan, Harini, Karthik, Kunal, Nithyasri, Poornima, Sujatha, Shankar Mahadevan, Sunitha, Sadhana Sargam, Tanvi, Unnikrishnan
 
After winning rave reviews for his heart touching performance as Seetharam in Nijam, Mahesh Babu returns as Nani announcing 'Nene Number one! Naadi Simhaasanam!!', under the direction of S J Suryah [of Kushi fame]. Mahesh's sister, or better known as National Award winner [for Show movie] Manjula produces Nani under Indira Productions Pvt. Ltd. banner [named after their mother]. Amisha Patel, who was first seen in Telugu with Pawan Kalyan in Badri, is paired with Mahesh in Nani. And boy, I must say they make a hot pair.

Nani is one movie I was looking forward to because it has A R Rahman scoring music for a direct Telugu movie after a long time [of course this is being simultaneously made in Tamil as New with the same musical score]. Last time, we heard Rahman compose original songs in Telugu was for Super Police [Venkatesh, Nagma] and Gang Master [Rajsekhar, Nagma]. Palnati Pourusham [Krishnam Raju, Radhika, Surabhi], a remake of Kizhakkuch Cheemayilae, had the same songs as its Tamil version so it was more a re-use than a refreshing score. Now, Nani is a simultaneous make and not a remake and when was the last time you could actually listen to the lyrics in Rahman's Telugu album without squirming? So, let's leave out Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu [Tarun, Trisha, Shriya] for obvious reasons.

With high expectations and the hype and hoopla surrounding this movie, is the audio of Nani worth the wait?

1. Nani Vayase
A racy techno beat cum rap song where Veturi includes some popular Superstar Krishna's and Mahesh's movies into the lyrics skillfully. Blaaze, who has become indispensable in Rahman's recent albums, writes the English rap lyrics. Sung by Karthik, Sunitha, Blaaze and Tanvi, this serves as an introduction number. Totally beat based; this one's catchy but nothing great. Of late, Rahman has been churning out many such songs and this is one among them. Nonetheless, you could still give this a try.

2. Pedave Palikina
The best song of this album. Soaked in mesmerizing melody and Unni Krishnan's captivating vocals, this is one song [and probably the only song] that grabs your attention in the very first hearing. But sadly, Sadhana Sargam's high-pitched rendition coupled with [minor] improper utterances of certain words stick out like a sore thumb in this otherwise enchanting melody written likeably by Chandrabose. Rahman's soft and lilting piano interludes add a soothing effect to this song.

3. Vasta Nee Venuka
Inspite of a same beat running throughout the song with bouts of electronic sci-fi like sounds thrown in the interludes, this song grabs your attention thanks to Hariharan's magical vocals. Though Harini sounds good, Rahman could have used a Telugu singer like Usha atleast for the Telugu version. Just for the record, this one's, reportedly, a remix of an old popular MGR song. Sirivennela pens the song in a catchy manner.

4. Chekkara
Sirivennela's subtle lyrics convey the sensuality of the song in a beautiful manner proving yet again why he is the best when it comes to penning situational songs. SPB and Sujatha sing this one very well. Rahman makes a liberal usage of traditional marriage instruments [naadaswaram, mridangam etc.] with western beats to a good effect in this song. Inspite of seasoned vocals, different orchestration, good lyrics, there is still something missing in this number. Though the pallavi is catchy, the song loses tempo in the charanams [stanzas]. But again go for it for Sirivennela's lyrics.

5. Naaku Nuvvu
With most of the lyrics in English, this song actually sounds better in Tamil than in Telugu. While it's sung by Chinmayi, Anupama, Aparna in Tamil, it is presented as a duet in Telugu with Hariharan and Poornima singing it. Sirivennela writes the Telugu lyrics while Blaaze [again!] writes the short rap portion of the number. Poornima's sweet voice is impressive. With good beats in the second interlude, I think, this song would gain popularity if picturized well. But until then, this is no great shakes.

6. Spiderman
This slow seductive number written by Sirivennela has both Kunal Ganjawala and Poornima singing it appreciably. Kunal, barring certain pronunciations, leaves a mark singing it with ease. The guitar bit that is played when the word Spiderman is sung is quite good. However a universal acceptance for this number is doubtful. I did not like it the first time I heard it. But I started humming it after third hearing. [Kunal Ganjawala is a talented upcoming singer in Bollywood. Listen to some of his very good numbers like Tu [Mumbai Matinee], Chodo Na Mujhe [Rules], Nachley [Lakeer], Bheegey Hont [Murder] (this one's an excellent composition by Anu Malik)]

7. Markandeya
This song comes as a real shocker with its utterly disappointing tune, poor lyrics and bad vocals [especially by Nithyasri]. Shankar Mahadevan tries hard to save this one but all his effort goes down the drain. What's funny is, at certain places this seemingly mass song comes across as a devotional number due to Nithyasri's vocals and orchestration. In fact one wonders what category this song would fit into - devotional? folk? or a mass item song? as it doesn't find a place in any of those categories. Whatever it may (or may not) fit into, this one's a bad one especially coming from Rahman.

Overall, the audio of Nani is a mixed bag of fast paced numbers, melodies and a mass song. Saving Pedave Palikina, the other songs grow on you only when you listen to them a couple of times. After repeated listening, I liked Vasta Nee Venuka and Spiderman song. Chakkera Ekkada Nakkina is good too but its length and just about okay tune dismiss a long life. The music of Nani is nothing to rave about but again it is not totally bad either. Rahman's songs take time to grow but I doubt how many of Nani's songs will be cherished by music lovers after the movie loses its steam.