Krishnan Vande Jagadgurum - partly refreshing, largely humdrum

Film: 'Krishnan Vande Jagadgurum'; Music Director: Mani Sharma; Lyricists: Sirivennela Sitaramasastri, E.S Murthy and Sai Madhav Burra; Singers: Narendra, Shravan Bhargavi, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahul Sipligunj, Deepu, S.P Balasubramanyam, Hemachandra, Chaitra, Raghu Babu, Sai Madhav Burra and Joanna; Rating: **1/2

Mani Sharma might be passing through the worst days of his career, as he composes tunes to yet another soundtrack that lacks melody and sounds distorted. The album also has traces of Bollywood hit number "Emotional atyachaar" in one of the songs.

The soundtrack has seven songs including one instrumental version. Hemachandra, Shravan Bhargavi and Sai Madhav Burra have sung two songs, while Narendra Shreya Ghoshal, Rahul, Deepu, S.P Balasubramanyam, Chaitra, Raghu Babu and Joanna have sung one song each.

The first song in the album, "Ararey pasi manasaa" is a heroine-worship song by Narendra and Shravan Bhargavi. Although this number has a good mix of instruments ranging from dhol to strings to synthesizer, the song doesn't have a catchy tune to attract attention. Lyrics by Sirivennela are apt to the context of the song.

"Sye andre nannu" is energetically crooned by Shreya Ghoshal, Rahul and Deepu. The opening of the song is very catchy, but what follows sounds like a typical item number with mass-appealing lyrics by E.S Murthy.

The title track "Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum" has traces of Hans Zimmer's original score from "The Dark Knight". With powerful lyrics by Sirivennela and featuring voice of S.P Balasubramanyam, this number undoubtedly qualifies as the best song of the album. Together, they elevate this number to an all new level.

The orchestrated recurring background score is brilliantly carried forward by some inspiring Sanskrit lines. Mani intermittently uses a few instruments such as trumpet, strings, drums and pads.

"Spicy spicy girl", crooned by Hemachandra, Chaitra and Shravana Bhargavi, is a passable duet number with irritating English lyrics, occasionally played throughout. Mani has mixed music from many of his past albums and reproduced this song with a dash of western touch.

The fifth number in the soundtrack "Ranga marthanda" is a bad rip off of "Emotional atyachaar" from "Dev D". The song may appeal visually because it features the voice of comedian Raghu Babu, but it definitely doesn't impress when listened to.

"Chal chal chal", crooned by Sai Madhav Burra, has traces of the famous number "Eye of the tiger" from "Rocky". The opening few lines of the song sound so very close to the original number from the Hollywood hit film. This is another number from the soundtrack that barely impresses even for a second.

The last song "Parinamam" is a seven-minute-long instrumental version of the title track that may serve as the film's background theme.

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Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum