Readers Write In #692: Celebrating Chandrabose

By Aman Basha

As his most awaited work for Pushpa The Rule releases, a look back at my Chandrabose favorites.

It is not much of a debate to call Chandrabose the most acclaimed Telugu lyricist of his age, and this was even before his Namaste at the Oscars. Great Telugu lyricists before Chandrabose had come from all walks of life, like Veturi who was a journalist or Sri Sri the communist. But Chandrabose was one of the few star lyricists who came from the Telangana region, a region that despite having half the Telugu population saw its culture and tradition being heavily underrepresented in Telugu cinema till date. 

Yet today, the definitive Telugu film song which made the world jump on their feet is a song that, in its lyrics, is a celebration of the Telangana village life, describing the eating habits and music style of Telangana. Naatu, itself meaning local, went global. 

The irony of this song doesn’t just end here. It may seem quite amusing and surprising to audiences that a composer like MM Keeravani seems quite befuddled at times that his moment of glory  would come with this song and seems even to downplay his role here. But his native audience would be just as surprised. Keeravani was a composer whose heart and best work was often in the realm of melody, he’s churned out hit dance numbers in the past but his signature was more the minimalist Jaamu Rathri from Kshana Kshanam. 

When it comes to the state of lyricists, as Keeravani put it, today’s songs or dance numbers in general don’t get much attention for the lyrics. They are mostly filler for the tune and at best, only the hookline matters. 

But even in these stifling circumstances, Chandrabose has managed to adorn the pulsating beats with words of depth, creating greater context. These are some of the songs where he did this before Naatu Naatu:

1. Chinnaga Chinnaga:

From Chiranjeevi’s 2003 mega blockbuster Tagore, the most popular song was Chandrabose’s Kodite Kottalira. Kodite Kotallira was a smashing hero entry song, with motivational lines mouthed by the star for his fans. But Chandrabose saves his best for the romantic duet Chinnaga Chinnaga in the same film. This is a fascinating song, right from its gentle melody to its pillow talk lyrics and particularly the fluid dance moves of the Megastar at his best. But the standout of this song on a revisit is how it compares foreplay to a parliamentary debate, foreshadowing it’s lead hero’s future political career. 

2. Chai Chattukane:

Before Naatu Naatu expounded on the taste of Jowar Roti with chilli, Chandrabose wrote on the history of desi tea and its popularity in this hit song, where Chiranjeevi himself does the singing. The lyricist even takes the opportunity to name drop the radical poet Sri Sri in a song affirming chai as cutting barriers of caste, class, age and profession. 

3. Love Me Again:

Heartbreak numbers are hardly as whistle worthy as this DSP tune is, with NTR Jr mixing his ease for emotion and grace in dance. Even in this funky song with an English hookline, Chandrabose stirs your heart with lyrics asking love to return like the moon, come back like the waves, to forgive the hero once and love him again. 

4. Next Enti

A youth anthem where the local boy next door played by Nani rails against those who pester his generation with ‘what next?’ and not let them live in the moment. Next Enti is simple, catchy and witty where Chandrabose the engineering topper weaves in Newton and Einstein in a song celebrating slackers. 

5. Oo Anatava Mama

If 2022 flew Chandrabose to the top of the world with MM Kreem, 2021 pushed him into the national spotlight with the chartbuster Oo Antava Mama from Sukumar’s Pushpa. The Sukumar, Chandrabose and DSP trio have a history of doling out hit songs, but here Chandrabose takes the opportunity to call out the hypocrisy of the male gaze and how it objectifies women in an item song featuring Samantha at her hottest. Feminism in an item song and subversion at its finest. 

Chandrabose’s lyrics straddle the complex poetry of his predecessors and the catchy simplicity of some of his peers, producing verses that were simple, catchy and deep all at once. As the list testifies, his best has always been with Sukumar and Devi Sri Prasad, ranging in Pushpa alone from Srivalli to Ey Bidda. As the songs of Pushpa The Rule drop and become the rage, it will not only be Allu Arjun’s steps, DSP’s beats but Chandrabose’s words too that will win the spotlight.

Posted in: Cinema: Telugu, Music: Indian Cinema, Readers Write In