Tholi Prema music review: Thaman S, Armaan Malik, Shreya Ghosal's creation will leave you with mixed feelings

Tholi Prema, starring Varun Tej and Raashi Khanna, is probably the most awaited Telugu romantic film this year, considering the intense first glimpses and the title, a major throwback to one of Pawan Kalyan’s blockbusters. So, undoubtedly this album was something to watch out for. With compositions by Thaman S and renditions by Armaan Malik and Shreya Ghosal, the Tholi Prema jukebox is now out and, we must say, leaves us with mixed feelings. Though not SS Thaman’s best, Tholi Prema happens to be one of those albums that you wouldn’t write off simply because the title track sort of makes up for all the other tunes that are nothing but an average listen. Here is what got us grooving and not from this Thaman album: ’Tholiprema’ ‘Tholiprema’ is undoubtedly the winner from this latest Thaman album. The track leaves behind every other song from the playlist and doesn’t fail to echo on our minds. If you have watched the Tholi Prema trailer and got all the first love vibes, then seems like this title track with addictive classical chords is the perfect score to drive the plot. Kaala Bhairava’s voice inflects love, pain and the much needed intensity into Thaman’s apt composition. ‘Ninnila’ Armaan Malik’s husky vocals kick start the album. A romantic song in parts, the best parts on ‘Ninnila’ happen to be the high notes, which stand out not only because of Armaan but Shree Mani’s oh so lovely lyrics. ’Break The Rules’ ‘Break The Rules’ is those one of those cliché  tracks solely composed for a specific instance in the film. The song is sort of an anthem for Varun Tej and his boys from their college days and is the preachy track of the lot. However, do not miss out on the few seconds of bliss in the midst of this rather fast paced song. Thaman gives Raghu Dixit a break and blends some Carnatic vibes into ‘Break The Rules’ and this part is definitely worth your time. [caption id=“attachment_4346121” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The poster for Tholi Prema/Image from Twitter.[/caption] ’Sunona Sunaina’ The only good part of ‘Sunona Sunaina’ is Rahul Nambiar’s rendition. Having said that, Thaman’s composition doesn’t quite work for the singer who has previously impressed both the Telugu and Tamil audience with songs like ‘Adada Mazhaida’ and ‘Arere Vaanaa’. The peppy love track consists of Shree Mani’s lyrics which is all about the pursuit of love, but doesn’t quite become the tune you would hymn later. ’Allasani Vaari’ What is a love story without Shreya Ghosal’s vocals? ‘Allasani Vaari’ is Shreya’s sole rendition from the album and transcends into different genres throughout. The singer croons not just a melodious one but also a groovy track all in this one happy heart song. ‘Allasani Vari’ is a delight to listen to as Shreya works her magic with some beautiful flute score in the background. We couldn’t stress enough how much we adore compositions which have Shreya blending into every language like her own. ’Vinnane Vinnane’ ‘Vinnane’ is another Armaan Malik track from the playlist, which retains the Tholli Prema theme. The song sounds tailor made for Varun Tej’s never ending love for Raashi Khanna. It would definitely not be fair to compare the millennial Tholi Prema album to the cult 90’s Tholi Prema, but Thaman leaves us with a one of a kind title track to reminisce for a while and also moves away from his mass value jukeboxes from the past like Baadshah. Over to Varun Tej and Raashi Khanna to bring these colorful songs to life with their already showcased chemistry! Listen to the full album here.