RIP Veturi

RIP Veturi

vaeNuvayi vacchaanu....
The wellspring might have died down, but not before enriching vast tracts of land - arid and arable alike. The spout might have stopped, but not before quenching the thirst of tens of thousands of situations (sahitee pipaasa). The river might have run dry, but not before reflecting itself in numerous other tributaries. That probably is the greatest thing about thoughts and ideas - they do not die down, even if the source goes out; they grow with the audience (listeners/viewers), going through the same age process, meaning different things and expressing differently at different ages. And after one set of audience moves on, the ideas reincarnate themselves dressing up to suit the next set, waiting to be interpreted, understood and enjoyed in a whole different way. It is no cliche that art is ageless and timeless. And if it so happens that one artist had his hand muddied in great works of art that spanned ages and generations, then the artist, like his art, would become immortal, and his creations, eternal.
jayantitae sukRtinO rasa siddhaa kaveeswaraah
nAsti taeshAm yasah kaayae jaraa maraNajam bhayam
Seldom are lyric writers, poets. There might be great thinkers and philosophers, who reflected their ideologies and their -isms in their words, but rare is the breed of writers who operated on the simple and elemental love for the word. Pull up any lyric for any situation, the beauty of the language and the reason why they fell for it in the first place, shines through, with need and situation of the song coming in a distant second. In the 60 year history of telugu cinema, only 2 writers can lay claim to being ardent devotees of the word, fervent worshippers of the language, and in being so, blessed as to become the masters of the craft (pada daasulu - pada 'baasu'lu). One is Devulapalli Krishna Sastry and the other, whose career bridged the age old and the new age, Veturi Sundarama Murthy.
There were lot many accredited writers before Veturi, and lot many since, who have penned exceptional lyrics to great many situations, that could warrant the classification of those lyrics as poetry - the highest accolade, the greatest accreditation that could be awarded to any lyric. Again, sans Devulapalli, there is nary a writer who was hell bent on turning every song into poetry. The situation can be crass, the picturization could be even vulgar, but for better or worse, the lyric that was turned in was poetry, alright ('perugutunna sOku meeda meegaDanta andukO', 'eeDu vacchaaka iTTaa vacchaa, modaTi gicchuLLu ninnae gicchaa'). Veturi burst on to the scene at a very important juncture in telugu movie history, when business started to dominate aesthetics and commercialism was beginning to exert command and control over art, and the old guard started to cool its heels, either unwilling to come to terms with the revamped requirements, or unable to cope up with the mounting pressures. It was a time that everybody could see it coming, (no) thanks to the onset of the star system. The situation that needed the lyrical word became more and more scarce and the requirement for generic situations - duets, sad songs, sibling celebration - started to take root. The worst part of this scenario was that songs became interchangeable - the same song, tune and words, unchanged could be used for an entirely different movie altogether, and it wouldn't have made an iota of difference. How did it matter if the song 'chengaavi rangu cheera kaTTukunna chinnadi', which was meant for 'bangaaru baabu', was used in 'daSaraa bullODu', as long as the heroine was running around in 'chengaavi rangu cheera'? The purpose of song became unhinged from the plot, the characters, their traits, the situation, and even, any meaning - all the pre-requisites that were lifeline to any song. This 'independence' of the song, which was considered as the beginning to the end of the great era of telugu songs, came as a blessing in disguise by the time Veturi rolled up his sleeves and announced his visit. He used the radical nature of the song as an independent platform, where he could play around with the words, bringing out the various hidden, beautiful facets of the language to the fore in hitherto unsung ways and expressions. And if there is one single important contribution of Veturi to telugu movie song, it is his dogged dedication to serve the cause of 'telugu nuDikaaram' (chamatkaaram, sarasata)
yad bhaavam tad bhavati
yad sandarbham tat saahityam
Probably this was the greatest strength, and weakness, of Veturi that he let the context get the better of his word. Noble situations were serenaded with exemplary lyrics, while pedestrian situations were feted with mere playful words. His words matched the situation, never overpowered it, nor, and this is important, looked down upon it. And the latter part is important when having to deal with producers and directors, whose idea of song never went beyond costumes, locations and sets. More on that later. But on those celebratory occasions, when a tasteful producer and an aesthetic director, together with a soulful music director, demanded his best, words like
mAnasa veeNa madhugeetam
mana samsaaram sangeetam
sAgara madhanam amRta madhuram
sangama sarigama swara pArijAtam
alivaeNi aaNimutyamaa
naa paruvaala praaNa mutyamA
aaviri chigurO adi oopiri kaburO
swAti vAna laeta enDalO
jAli gunDe poola danDalO
alalu kalalu egasi egasi
alasi solasi pOyae
pagalu raeyi murisi merisae sandhyA rAgamlO
prANam prAnAm kalisee melisae jeevan rAgamlO
How many such hundreds, if not thousands, of such beautiful lyrics that breathed life from Veturi's pen! Even in his twilight of his rich and ripe career, he let context challenge and dictate his words. In a career that spanned around 35 years, his words at the start of his career
jhummandi nAdam
sayyandi pAdam
tanuvoogindi ee vaeLa
chelaraegindi oka rAsa leela
carried the same vigor and vibrancy as the latter day's
madhura nATya sambharita nartana
koochipooDilO takadhimitOm
viswanAdhula yaekavaeerayae
tamuLa paDuchula valapu kadha
A man is known by the company he keeps. Going that route, just look at the fuitful and productive associations that Veturi was involved in, much the delight and fortune of both ends of the production-supply chain - Veturi-Viswanadh, Veturi-Rajan-Nagendra, Veturi-Vamsi, Veturi-Ilayaraja, Veturi-Chakravarthy, Veturi-Jandhyala, Veturi-K.V.Mahadevan, Veturi-Ramesh Naidu, Veturi-K.Raghavendra Rao, Veturi-Usha Kiron Movies. Every association yielded great bounty, every association churned his mind and mined his ideas, every association reaped the golden harvest. Some, in those relationships, have passed on, some, gave away, but the confluence of that collaboration lives on perennially (jeeva nadi). Though it is quite difficult to summarize a brilliant career, here is a start, with the most successful of all, Veturi - Viswanadh.

anagala raagamayi toluta veenulalarinchi
analaeni raagamayi maralaa vinpinchee marulae kuripinchi

Probably no other couplet comes close to self-describing his own prowess as the above that Veturi penned for 'Saptapadi'. Simplicity and profundity took turns alternating their appearances. While being as plain and approachable as a crystal clear lake on a bright sunny afternoon, the depth of his lyrics would become apparent as one starts to wade in. This duality of his penmanship is a case of wonderment and frustration for the purists, on and off, when he donned different hats to suit the purpose. But in the hands of the stern taskmaster K.Viswanadh, Veturi showed what his pen was capable of in intent and content, given the right context.

palakamanna palakadee panchadaara chilakaa
kulukae singaaramaina kona siggula molaka
eda kannaa lOtugaa padimlamgaa daachukO
nidurinchae pedavilO padamundee pADukO ||andaaniki andam ee puttaDi bomma||

For all the potential that Viswanadh provided in his situations - social, moral, ethical, mythological - a vitual goldmine that could be exploited to the fullest by any poet of reasonable repute to showcase his skill, mastery and command over the language, stuffing the lyric with complex expressions, deep thoughts and abstract ideas, Veturi merely chose simplicity, following the paradoxical adage, complex is simple, simple take twice the effort. It is this simplicity in his lyrics, even to the most complex of contexts - untouchability, nature of life, purpose of music and many such - that endeared him to purists and common folk alike. To sample

ae kulamoo needanTae gOkulamoo navvindee
maadhavuDu yaadavuDoo maa kulamae lemmandi

evarikevaru ee lOkamlO evariki eruka
ae daareTu pOtundO evarinee aDagaka

adwaita siddhiki amartwa labdiki gAnamae sOpAnamu
satwa sAdhanaku satya sOdhanuku sangeetamae prANamu

Aside from the situations that naturally lend themselves to philosophizing, Viswanadh never missed even a tender moment from being expressed lyrically, bringing out another facet in Veturi's word wizardry (pada kouSalam) - beauty - the staple diet in a poet's consumption.

rAsa leela sAginAka rAdha neevaenamma
rAtiraeLa kanta nidara rAdammaa

himamae kurisae chandamaama kougiTa
sumamae virisae vennalamma vAkiTa

mannu tinna chinna vADae minnu kanna vanne kADae
rAsa leela lADinADae rAyabAramaeginADae

madhura lAlasala madhupa lAlanala
pedavilOni madhuvulAlu vratamubooni dariki chaeragA

And the plot thickens. What about situations that indeed needed and demanded words that carry weight, gravitas, and dignity, thereby deserving and commanding respect? Here a little something needs to be said about toolset of any writer - prose or poetry. A good writer needs to be a prolific and voracious reader and in being so would rightly equip himself with the words that match the situations and prepare simultaneously for ideas that wed the words. Since the inception of language and its ornate verbalization, a great many poets have expressed similar situation in their own inimitable ways, each one not reinventing the wheel all over again, but merely improvising on the path laid out before (of course, they are exceptions and exceptional people). And exposing oneself to literature of all kinds - archaic and nouveau - irrespective of the language would provide enough fuel to fire on all cylinders, come the right situation. In the song 'dorakunA iTuvanTi saeva', try figuring out where the original Tyagaraja kruthi ends and where Veturi's improvisation begins, in the ballad 'akhilADaeswari chAmunDaeswari pAlayamAm gouri paripAlayamAma gourI', try ignoring the unmistakable stamp of AdiSankara's 'soundarya lahari' or Annamayya's 'vaedAnata chinatana' in 'naruDi bratuku naTana eeSwaruDi talapu ghaTana, aa renTi naTTa naDuma neekendukinta tapana'.

If every song that Veturi turned in for Viswanadh turned out to be a real gem, Viswanadh's scenarios were only catalysts that spurred Veturi's processes into producing words that could easily rival, if not exceed, the great literature that preceded him. And with any luck (and the will to honor and preserve), Veturi's words could proudly be passed down to the progeny alongside the other great works that stood the test of the time

As incomprehensible as it was, this is where, it is claimed, that the true talent of Veturi really came to fore - penning pure commercial songs that have, arguably, no redemptive values whatsoever. Funny - yes, witty - yes, at times, cheap - unfortunately, but Veturi's words were never judgmental about the situation, just making best of whatever worse situation was handed down to him. As sad as it turned out as time went on, it didn't start off this way. Back in the age of late 70s, when commercial cinema was trying find its feet, the one department that held on its high ground despite the pervasion (and perversion) of escapist elements was music. What, for current standards, might sound high brow, even classical, was pretty middle of the road poetry, back then. The words that were turned in for 'aDavi rAmuDu' were good enough (his best, apart from Viswanadh's, he reserved for those low budget ventures of late 70s and early 80s), enough for the enthusiasts to sit up and notice Veturi's balancing act of being attentive to the business, while serving the purpose of art (with 'sirisiri muvva' in the same year).

poolagaali to raegina puppoDi paaraaNi gaa
chilaka paaTaa nemali aaTaa kalisi maejuvaaNigaa
andamaina peLLiki andaru paeranTaalae
aDavi lOni vaagulanni aanandapu keraTaalai ||kOkilamma peLLiki||

And helming the shift of priorities of telugu cinema from purposeful to mindless, from artful to pure commercial is a name that spawned a new wave of film-making - K.Raghavendra Rao.

When asked why a totally needless dance song was inserted in the movie that disrupted its natural flow in 'gunDamma katha', the producer Chakrapani coolly replied 'chooDDaaniki'. Raghavendra Rao's movies operate on that simple precept/tenet, that movies are mere eye candy, aimed at pleasing not more than a couple of senses at any given time, and if rich words sometimes got in the way, so be it. And the one way he chose, and mastered, to get at it was by concentrating, glorifying, enhancing, edifying and exploiting, beauty - rich, grand, stylish, at times, even simple, but beauty, nonetheless. Though sticking steadfast to that path led and left telugu cinema nowhere, something it has been struggling to find a way out of ever since, it has to be accepted that Raghavendra Rao was a trendsetter, changing the face and direction of telugu cinema, for better or worse. And locked in step along the way, was Veturi, who had a chance to touch the zeniths and explore the nadirs of ultra commercial lyric writing, trailing a new path in his wake, that like Rao's, set the standards to what constitutes a commercial movie song. Veturi's songs for Raghavendra Rao straddled both the beautiful and the inane at the same time, within the same movie, with equal ease. That Rao had a great ear for the words, not to mention a great eye for beauty, went without saying.

tAra tArakee naDuma aakASam endukO
pATa pATakee naDuma aavaeSam endukO
manishi manishikee madhya manasanaedi endukO
manasae guDigA, mamatae muDigA, mamata endukO ||oka udayamlO naa hRdayamlO||

nee toli choopulOnae
praemaku peLLi vantena vaesina
Subhalaekanae choosukOnA
vAkiTa panDina valapula kumkuma
tilakAlugA didukOnA

bhAva kavitala baruvulO
aa kRshNa SastrilA kavinaitae
hAyi remmala kOkilammaku
virula Rutuvu vikasinchadA ||andamA nee paeraemiTi andamA||

iddari manasula indhnam
enta kurinA kAdanam
aemi taDisinA vaddanam ee dinam ||vAna vAna vandanam||

and many many more

And on the other side of the road, equally popular, making no sense whatsoever

abbabbabba andam debba O yabba
tabbibbayyae ibbandabba chooDabaa
paDuchu yavvanam pagaTi Sobhanam
aDugutunnam aaganannadi

bantilAnTi battaayi vaarevaa
bannulAnTi ammaayi vaarevaa
doragundi boppaayi vareeva
donga muddulimmandi vaareva

ippaTikappuDu guppeDu muddula tappuDu buggallO
hattukunae mattulalO mettani vaTTiDilO
ippaTikippuDu chicchula kumpaTi peTTaku gunDellO
taakiDikO dookuDukO takkina chekkilikO

aggi pulla bhaggumanTadi
aaDa pilla siggulanTadi
aggi pulla cheekaTinTikee
aaDa pilla kougilintakee
cheekaTinTlO kougilintalO
naa chenta nae unDipO

and even many many more

What Veturi developed to meet the never ending demand to come up with commercial lyrics - devoid of any depth - was a new technique that could be termed as 'free association verse', similar to 'free association' tests that psychologists administer to guage the turbulence of the mind. In Veturi's improvisation of the same, the lyrics of the entire song do not answer to some higher calling. Instead, each word is cast only to serve the need of its predecessor and each line built only to make sense of its former - like a poor man's 'datta padi' (one of the skills in 'avadhaanam') That could be the only reason explanation why Veturi would reduce himself to

DhinakkutA kasakkurO
jhaNakkutA chamakkurO
taLukku tAra
minukku stArA
kadhakku aaTa pATa choostaarO

while soaring with a

telugu padAniki janma dinam
idi jAnapadhAniki gnAna padham
aeDu swarAlae aeDu konDalai
velasina kaliyuga vishNu padam

all for the same maker...

After all, new moon is as much a phase of the same moon as the full moon is.

The biggest boon that can be bestowed, the greatest gift that could be handed down to a poet is a carte blanche on his creativity, a license to be himself without any rules imposed upon his ideas and restrictions set up as parameters on his expressions In film speak, on a lyric writer, that translates to bland situations that cannot (do not deserve to) be rendered poetically, and jaded contexts that call for a song if only for a head count. There is a common misconception that a great writer is one, who can choose great words for any given situation; but that could make any great writer be only good at best, as he tries to sidestep the potential landmines (no poetry, not enough punch, not racy enough - the list is endless) laid down in his path to best service the situation. But all this, in a hostile situation that isn't conducive for the blossoming of the poetic expression. On those rare instances, when a tasteful producer gives the writer the free reign, the aesthetic director creates the right situation where poetry pours on (or at least, has enough common sense to not come in the way of rich ideas) and the music director composes a tune, where the notes give way to the words in deference

himamulA rAli sumamulai poosi
Rutuvulai navvi maduvulai pongu
nee praema nA praema
SiSiramaina Sidhilamaina
viDichipObOkumA virahamaipOkumA ||chinukulA rAli||

The late 70s laid a fertile ground for low budget family fares which couldn't afford established music directors, a vacuum that was quickly filled in by a brothers-duo from the Kannada land, who had already made a name for themselves back home - Rajan-Nagendra. Though the majority of the tunes that they have scored for telugu were originally composed for Kannada films, that didn't take away the great melody and superb orchestration from those compositions - original or re-used. And the greatest asset that the tunes had to add to their fame - Veturi. Usually the situations that warranted songs even in the low budget ones were no different from the ones dubbed as star vehicles. But the biggest advantage for the poet was that, he didn't have to prop his lyric by the way of 'elevations' and 'exaggerations' (mukha shuti - atiSayOkti) to cater to any perceived image of the star and hence could fall back upon his strongest suite - 'bhaava kavitwam' - and this is where Veturi comes close to Devulapalli.

tolakari kOrikalae tondara chaesinavae
ee viri Sayyakae aaviri teeragA
sogasari kAnukalae soda peDutunnavilae
ae tera chATunO aa chera veeDagA
andina pondulOne andalaeni vinduleeyavae ||mallelu poosae||

edalO andam eduTa eduTae nilichina vanita
nee rAkatO nA tOTalO velisae vana daevata
kadilae andam kavita adi kougilikocchae yuvata
nA pATalO nee pallavae navatA navya mamatA ||veeNa vaeNuvayina||

chiru gAli darakhAstu laekunTae karimabbu
merupanta navvunA chinukaina rAlunA
jaDivAna darakhAstu laekunTae selayaeru
varadalle pongunA kaDalinTa chaerunA ||kAstandukO darakhAstandukO||

janTanae eDabAsina OnTari nA bratukuna
mallela sirivennela manTalae raepagA
vayasula nulivecchani valapula manasicchina
nA chelI chali vaeNuvayi vaedanaloodagA ||rAgam teesae kOyila||

The amazing thing about these lyrics (and many more like them) is that almost everyone has been written to a set tune. And none of them had Veturi resorting to his usual tricks of the trade, involving twisting and skewing the language and inventing expressions that were really reaching. These are as chaste, pure, imaginative and perfect as they can get - 'daSa diSantAla Sata vasantAla suma sugandhAla bhramara nAdAla kusuminchu nee andamae virisindi aravindamayi kurisindi makarandamayi ||mAnasa veeNa madhugeetam||', 'viraha veeNa nidura rAka vaegae vaeLalO, SRtini minchi rAgamaedO palikae vaeLalO' (what a fantastic expression - viraham palikae veeNa mrOgae rAgam SRti hecchu).

Compartmentalization comes natural to any seasoned lyricist. The initial exuberance of penning nothing but the best settles down on experience, channeling their best only when the conditions are perfect, and in other situations, choosing to play within themselves. A great lyric isn't reflective of not just the lyricist's prowess, but tells upon the tastes of the powers that be (producer, director and music director), who let the lyric soar. And the converse is equally true. Following up on the golden period of telugu cinema, the 50s and 60s, there was a fabled era that lasted about 6-7 years in the late 70s and early 80s (which could be considered as golden age for 'lalita geetalu'), that saw an incredible run of delectable tunes and lilting lyrics. And standing tall and proud with their heads held high are Veturi and Rajan-Nagendra, among a few others.

The bygone era is certainly fabled (fictitious) as words and situations that warranted a

meghamA daehamA meravakae ee kshaNam
merisinA kurisinA karugunae jeevanam

is impossible to come by again.

(On a side note, try comparing the above with a similar 'O pApA lAli' in 'geetAnjali' (particularly the lines - O maeghamA uramakae ee pooTakee, gAlilO taelipO, veLLipO) written for a similar situation for a dying character, and see how much Veturi's poetry let go of itself in the former and how much it contained itself in the latter, indicating the changing times)

in the next part - the slide that started it all - Veturi - Chakravarthi,

aamani cheeralu chuTTukuni kougili illuga kaTTukuni
Sarada rAtrula jAbili mallelu pagalae sigalO peTTukuni
chiru chiru navvula puvvula meeda seetAkOka chilakallaaga
uyyaaloogae vayyaaramlO sayyaaTaaDae SrungAramlO ||ae vasantamidi evari sontamidi||

valapu kOyilalu pADae vasantam nee sontam
mallelu manTalu raegina greeshmam naa sontam
punnami puvvai navvina vennela nee aanandam
aa vennalatO chiti ragilinchina kannulu naa sangeetam ||evariki telusu chitikina manasu||

Many will scarce believe, to quasi-quote Einstein, that such soulful songs and meaningful melodies were borne out of the same mind that weilded the baton with such gay abandon in the later years, that the name became synonymous with everything that stood repetitive, and even degenrative, about telugu film music - Chakravarthi. Along side Veturi, Chakravarthi was probably the most used and abused artist during the 80s, forced to tread the path of mediocrity, much against their creative wills, and on those rare occasions, when left to their natural bests, produced such gems as

telusA neeku telusA
praemanTae oka manishi nivasinchae bhuvanamani
okae muraLi palikae gOkulamani
okae keraTamuppongae yamanu ani

panTa chaelO pAla kanki navvindi
pallakeelO pilla yenki navvindi
poota rellu chaelu daaTae yennelA
laeta paccha kOna seema yenDallaa

For an entire generation that had its early awakenings to telugu film music, the phrase 'sangeetam - Chakravarthi, saahityam - Veturi' was imprinted on the same lines as a 'M.S.Subbulakshmi suprabhaatam' or a 'Ghantasaala Bhavadgeeta'. During the heyday of commercial telugu cinema, which churned out an average of 100 films in any given year, the combination of Veturi-Chakravarthi shouldered the majority of responsibility (Veturi more than Chakravarthi), with the result that the output proved true of an age old Vemana padyam 'gangi gOvu pAlu gariteDainanu chAlu, kaDiveDaina naemi kharamu pAlu' (in short, quality is in indirect proportion to quantity). What made Chakravarthi wildly popular, despite the monotonous orchestration (heavy on percussion and light on strings), was his ability to churn ut foot-tapping folksy tunes at as great a pace as Veturi padded catchy pallavi's and passable charaNams to them, and the combination marked the onset of 'jet-age' aesthetics. And the result was pure junk food for the hungry appetities - quite filling, for the moment, but found largely wanting, after the taste washes over. The songs are nothing to write home about, except for a brilliant flourish here and an occasional flash there.

vaedam nAdam mOdam mOksham annee neelO choosaanu
Silpam nATyam geetam lAsyam choosae neelO mecchaanae
andalO janma gandhAlO rAga bandhAlO
Sakuntamai vasanta geeta mAlapinchagA

Sree lakshmi peLLiki chirunavvu kaTnam
mAlakshmi peLLiki mamatae paeranTam
chigurulaesae siggu cheenAmbarAlu
taDisae kurisae kaLLu nee talambrAlu

The flipside, however, is too painful to broach, as two artists at the height of their individual prowesses were made to trade their wares on the sub-standard side of creative artistry. If all this could traced back to one single event that changed the face of telugu film/music forever, it is the introduction of dance moves for the songs; and the laughable aspect of this unnecessary exercise was that at the time of rise of this calisthenic action, none of the players were 'dancers', in any liberal sense of the word, and one competed with the other in lowering the bar on this sheer buffoonery. But that didn't change the fact that Chakravarthi had to come up with the staple of 5/6 'Dappu' songs that had to accommodate the clumsy exercise on the screen. And along was dragged Veturi into the muddle, and this era was what that downgraded his status as the next 'scholar poet' (panDita kavi) since Devulapalli to a mere 'vikaTa kavi', whose words suited both sides of the cause with equal ease.

kooDaballukkuni kannaaraemO mee yamma mA yamma
naa amma nee attO naa amma nee atta

bangAru bAtu guDDu
bandAru tokkuDu laDDu
chakkera chilaka kikkuru manaka
vaddaku vastae teerustaa nee mOju - gADida guDDu

attamaDugu vAgulOna attakooturO
nee andamanta taDisi attakooturO
aDigindi icchikO icchindi pucchukO

Veturi's job became tougher with each inane song, as he started to lean more and more on the flashy aspects of language with delightful play on grammar, 'chandassu', syntax and semantics, as there was neither scope nor patronage to focus on anything that would constitute as a 'noble idea' (udaattamaina bhaavam) in these aerobics songs. A bird's eye view of Veturi' commercial lyric oeuvre might not reveal the true rot of telugu music that started during the 80s. The devil is in the details. Here is a partial listing of the album of the movie 'donga' - a fair representation of telugu cinema back then

gOlimAr..kashmOra kougilistae aem chaestAvO
naepALee mantramaestae aemavutAvO

donga donga muddula donga
dOchADae bugga kOSADae mogga
vattiLLannee dOpiLLaayae ee urrootalO ee sayyATalO

tappanaka oppanaka tAkAlani undi bugga tAkAlani undi
palagalanka raeyanaka peTTAlani undi muddu peTTAlani undi

Observe how each of these song had a scarcity of context and a paucity for pretext, which is the worse thing that could be presented for a poet to pen a song, causing a disinterested mind to scribble something about an uninteresting topic. And this was just one movie. How about song after song, movie after movie, year after year of uninspiring contexts. It is said that Kalidasa, when blessed by the Goddess with unmatched poetic prowess, pleaded Her to not put him in a situation, where the audience is tone-deaf and unappreciative of any poetic beauty. Unfortunately, there was no such luck for Veturi. His greatest strength, his amazing pace, was turned against him, as he stood among the ruins of fallen standards alone, beaten, jaded and tired, like a modern day Samson (of the old testament fame). And before the benefit of hindsight prepares to cast the first stone from its high pedestal, please spare a thought for these two fallen angels (Veturi and Chakravarthi), as their artistic deterioration is a direct reflection of the changing times and falling standards and their only sin was lacking the discipline to put their step down from succumbing to mediocrity and monetary gains.