Bharat Ane Nenu music review: After Rangasthalam, Devi Prasad offers yet another cocktail of an album

Bharat Ane Nenu marks Devi Sri Prasad’s (DSP) second major release of the year, post the blockbuster Rangasthalam . And the music director is back on a commercial space for this one after what was an out and out folk fest for the Ram Charan-starrer. Bharat Ane Nenu’s playlist for starters is a tailor-made Mahesh Babu album. Right from the title track to the peppy tunes, it is quite what we expected of Mahesh, who plays a chief minister in this upcoming political drama. [caption id=“attachment_4422689” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Kiara Adavi and Mahesh Babu in a still from Bharat Ane Nenu. Twitter[/caption] The most interesting part of this album, however, are the varied artists. Prasad brings together a rare combination of singers —  Farhan Akhtar to Kailash Kher to Andreiah among others — and gives a cocktail of an album. Here are the hits and misses from this latest Telugu jukebox, released amidst crazy fan fare. Bharat Ane Nenu The title track is as usual the compulsory preachy track of the album. But this one happens to be an oath of a sort, converted into a slow track. This title track, unlike other songs, is not the baand baaja one but introduces us to the simple and classy chief minister that Mahesh is in the film. David Simon’s voice is apt for ‘The Song Of Bharat’, as this one is called. I Don’t Know First things first. ‘I Don’t Know’ is actually sung by Farhan Akhtar and this one definitely surprised us. We could not stop smiling at the fact that the Bollywood actor-director actually pulled off a Tollywood song and a fun one at that. For these reasons, ‘I Don’t Know’ is definitely the surprise element of this album. Farhan’s command over Telugu is impressive as he delivers a peppy and groovy track. This will also probably be remembered as the most mainstream track Farhan has delivered yet. The song has quite a lot of tongue twisters and though not a catchy composition, you’ would want to give it a second hear for Farhan’s sake. Vachaadayyo Saami A trademark Kailash Kher track, ‘Vachaadayoo Sami’ is traditional in texture and peppered with praises for the CM. What sounds like an ode to the CM by the rural citizens, ‘Vachaadayyo…’ is a celebratory song for the masses, with noteworthy lyrics by Ramajogayya Sastry. The minute the song breaks into ‘Matigodala Cheputhayi’, it is a weird throwback to many such preachy songs from the early ’90s. More like, Rajinkanth’s ‘Thalapathy’-style-feels. While it’s just the chorus that makes us nostalgic, the rest of the song is bucket loads of drums and beats, and high octane Kailash Kher vocals which we always enjoy. Ide Kalala Vunnaadhe Frankly, this Andrea Jeremiah song could have been a much better composition. For the sort of melodious and peppy tracks that the singer can render, ‘Ide Kalala Vunnaadhe’ does not quite make it. It is just another song, composed for Kiara Advani who romances the CM in this one. Strictly a one-time-listen, the chorus occasionally stands out thanks to Andrea’s vocals. Otherwise, there is nothing more to this easily miss-able track. O Vasumathi Yasin Nazir and Rita put together quite a feel-good track with ‘O Vasumathi’. While Yasin’s vocals stand out in this song composed for Mahesh and Kiara’s goofy romance and Rita adds the husky element. With a rap break in between, ‘O Vasumathi‘’s best part is its catchy hummable chorus. It would be interesting to watch this song come to life with Mahesh and Kiara being paired for the first time. As many glimpses of the movie portray Mahesh as the people’s leader, there were natural comparisons to Rana Dagubatti’s Leader. And that Prasad’s album would fall in the line with Mickey J’s extremely patriotic and subtly preachy compositions in Leader. But it sounds like Prasad and Koratala Siva seem to strongly adhere to typical Tollywood commercial masala affair with this album. After giving a brilliant album like Rangasthalam already this year and of course being Tollywood’s rockstar, it is only natural to expect yet another impressive album from Prasad. Bharat Ane Nenu is not our best pick of Prasad but the jukebox presumably gets the feel of the movie right, with tracks like ‘The Song of Bharat’ and ‘Vacchadayyo Sami’.