How Telugu film music is changing: A space where mass, class and niche coexist

From viral songs to background scores, Telugu film music is changing rapidly. Yet it remains one of the few industries where every style of music thrives. Take this week’s film The Paradise for instance. While Anirudh Ravichander’s compositions for ‘Aaya Sher’ and ‘Yesha Nagula’ were chartbusters, the more soulful numbers emerged closer to the release date.

A few years ago, composer S. Thaman compared a music album to a marriage invitation card that entices listeners to hit theatres. Music can sell a film, enrich its world, stir nostalgia, tap into pop culture, or simply exist as music.

From a musical like Sing Geethamto Lenin’s peppy album for a mass rural drama, from the operatic soundtrack of Rao Bahadur to the near songless actioner DC, mass, class and niche coexist here. The pace at which Telugu films release — an average of four a week — and music is consumed as singles do not allow enough room for every song to be appreciated.

However, it makes the ecosystem interesting. This awareness of changing audience tastes prompted director Nandini Reddy to rethink her approach for Maa Inti Bangaaram(by composer Santosh Narayanan). Unlike her earlier films where songs were written into the screenplay, the tight narrative offered little space for song sequences.

‘Muthyamanta Pasupu’, from the yesteryear film Muthyala Muggu, was the only track she had in mind; another dramatic song planned for the second half was eventually edited out. But Nandini knew the film needed a chartbuster to draw the audience in.

‘Thassadiya’, as she puts it, was “retrofitted into the narrative”. “I had to create room for the song. From the choreography to the hook phrase to the tune, everything was designed to elicit attention.” This indicates the balancing act filmmakers often perform — making music work within a film while recognising that, in an age of reels and singles, one song can carry the promotional burden of the album.

Irumudi’s ‘Mallepula Pallaki’ is another example. The suggestion to use the song, played during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, came from Ayyappa devotees, while director Shiva Nirvana was looking for a high-energy devotional number.

Its popularity helped in the Ravi Teja-starrer’s theatrical reception. Nostalgia remains a potent currency. Ramana Gogula’s return for ‘Godari Gattu Meeda’ in Sankrantiki Vastunnam and Udit Narayan’s ‘Meesala Pilla’ in Mana Shankara Varaprasad Garu show how a familiar voice can become part of a film’s marketing as much as its musical identity.

Lenin, meanwhile, is consciously tailored like a 90s album — a hero introduction, folk dance number, soft duet and soulful melody. Elsewhere, A.R. Rahman’s return to Telugu cinema with Peddi brought a global texture to an otherwise loud, hero-worshipping sports drama, fusing hyper-local folk instruments with Western classical and electronic influences.

In Dacoit, composer Gyaani’s EDM treatment of Chiranjeevi’s ‘Kannepettaro Kannukottaro’ became a talking point. The styles may be different, but the music helped create an identity for a film. The change in Telugu film music can be attributed to composers testing new waters.

Devi Sri Prasad found greater room to breathe in Sing Geetham and Kuberaa. In the former, where songs function almost as a conversational element for over two hours, DSP preserves the story’s humanitarian core without turning the experiment into an indulgent showcase.

Kuberaa brought the urgency of a thriller alongside the groundedness one expects from a Sekhar Kammula film. It also raises the question of whether a composer of his ability could be choosier, when compared with his routine commercial outings such as Junior and Ustaad Bhagat Singh.

Mickey J. Meyer has similarly widened his repertoire beyond the ‘melody specialist’ tag, with Hit 3, Champion and Anaganaga Oka Raju following the shift already visible in Gandeevadhari Arjuna and Mr Bachchan. Hesham Abdul Wahab, meanwhile, is occupying the middle-road space once associated with names such as Gopi Sundar and Mickey — alternative films with noted names, where breezy melodies can take centre-stage.

His work in Hi Nanna and 8 Vasantalu has aged well, while his score for The Girlfriend amplified its psychological intensity. Another striking development is the rise of G.V. Prakash Kumar among big and mid-budget Telugu films, an arena long dominated by DSP, Thaman and Anirudh Ravichander.

He followed up Sir and Lucky Baskhar with Irumudi, while Vishwanath and Sons travelled across the Tamil and Telugu markets. ALSO WATCH Watch: Yuvan Shankar Raja interview: On his first symphonic concert, Ilaiyaraaja and taking scores global