Anandame was a track that was made so long ago that its origins have been lost in the annals of time. It's a cute song that I sang along with Smita - a very dear friend. She, of course, sounds fantastic - and I am on it only because I didn't have time to record anyone else!

Credits:
-----------
Vocals: Smita, Mahesh
Lyrics: Rehman

Anandame

Hagu

Dinamani Vamsa is a short remixed version of a carnatic song by Thyagaraja, sung by Mrinalini. 
This was recorded at "The Place" in Chennai a few years ago.

Dinamani Vamsa - The Short Remix Edit

An early instrumental version of Yemo Yemo. The melody came first, and Ananth Sriram wrote the lyrics for the melody. And Yemo was born.

An early instrumental "scratch" version of Yemo Yemo from Bangaaru Kodi Petta.

This was a crazy track from Prayanam (directed by the super talented Chandrasekhar Yeleti). We went full on crazy with this one, which also resulted in the track being named thus. All the tracks in this movie were offered as free downloads in both MP3 and Wav/AIFF formats. It may have been the first Telugu Movie to do so.

By the time this song was done, it had close to 125 tracks (the maddest song I have done, so far). It had more vocalists on one song than some albums have in their entirety (and that is not necessarily a good thing - something I realized when we tried to mix it), 2 additional programmers (one of them was a duo - so technically 3), a brilliant Saxophonist from the US, a mad Guitarist, and a mix engineer who nearly went mad when he saw the track count. 

This tracks also features the vocals of Vishal Dadlani. Recording Vishal was a lot of fun - and he's a super nice guy too! This track ended up being as much fun as the number of tracks in it.

Yeh Ya Woh, Yedaina Avvochchu. 

Credits
----------
Lyrics: Ananth Sreeram
Vocals: Vishal Dadlani, Sriramachandra (yeah, the Indian Idol dude), Shalini Singh, Smita, Ranjit, Mahesh
Guitars: Videep
Saxophone: Prasanth Radhakrishnan
Percussion: Laxminarayana and Raju
Additional Programming: Aravind-Shankar, Jim Satya
Mixed by: Muralidhar

YYW - A song from Prayanam

Nee Rendello from Prasthanam was one of my favorite tracks from the movie. Especially because it was the one fun folk track in the album. 

We recorded Sowmya's vocals in a guest house I was staying at and when Karthik recorded his vocals, there was hardly any arrangement. I also remember Jai Shankar and Sanjeev playing guitars on this track - watch out for some cool transient chords in the last verse. 

This was also the only song in the movie that Deva did not write the lyrics for!

Credits
Vocals: Karthik, Sowmya
Additional Vocals: Narayanan Raju
Mandolin/Oud: Seenu
Violin: Sameer
Guitars: Sanjeev, Jai Shankar Iyer
Lyrics: Vanamali

Nee Rendallo

Waqt Ke Sitam

This was a short piece that we recorded at the office with Ramesh Srivats playing the Harmonica and me playing the guitar. 

Ever since Ramesh mentioned that he played the Harmonica (sparingly), we have always talked about recording him playing it. This was a spur-of-the-moment thing where I figured that the slower I make the piece, the more lung power he will need. So I decided to (torture) test his lungs, and NikA it!

Credits:
Harmonica: Ramesh Srivats

NikA

We did Tik Tik for the title sequence of Manamantha/Vismayam/Namadhu where we establish all the 4 characters. 

Chandu and I were clear that we needed a song that would mirror the innocence of Mahita, while ensuring that it had the essence of all the other characters. Wasistha's lyrics helped set the mood and tone and Sriya's vocals were spot on. Finally, Shadab worked his magic on the mix and this is what we ended up with.

Credits:
-----------
Vocals: Sriya Madhuri
Guitars: Arun Chiluveru
Additional Programming: Aruldev
Backing Vocals: Sahithi Komanduri, Yamini, Harini, Mounima, Sahithi Chaganti
Recorded at: S A Media Labs
Recording Engineer: Anil Mani
Mix/Mastering: Shadab Rayeen
Coordinators: ANB Coordinators

Manamantha

Tik Tik

 Manamantha is the first song we composed for the movie. 

Wasistha wrote the lyrics for this one first and we composed the melody for it. This isn't how things are normally done in the Telugu movie industry. Usually, the tune comes first. 

It's got beautiful lyrics - mostly very ruminative and so we kept the melody and the arrangement simple. 

Credits:
-----------
Vocals: Haricharan
Guitars: Arun Chiluveru, Pradeep, Jhanu
Bass: Arun Chiluveru
Backing Vocals: Sahithi Komanduri, Yamini, Harini, Mounima, Sahithi Chaganti
Recorded at: S A Media Labs
Recording Engineer: Anil Mani
Mix/Mastering: Shadab Rayeen
Coordinators: ANB Coordinators

This was one of those songs that we did for a Montage sequence in Manamantha/Vismayam. We didn't really plan for this song, but as often happens during post-production, we needed something for a sequence that moves the story forward. Instead of doing just a theme as part of a score, we decided to do a song instead. We ended up with a full-fledged song, with 3 verses, but we decided to cut it down to this. 

Credits:
-----------
Lyrics: Madhu Vasudevan
Singer: Nayana Nair

Aashagal

Swasantha

Inbam is part of Mugangal an album I did with Anita Udeep in 2002. That's also how I first met Raj and DK, which led to my working on Flavors - their first movie. 

It's interesting that this is now part of the OST of The Family Man. It's awesome that this has now gotten a new lease of life. 

Credits:
-----------
Vocals - Anita Udeep
Guitars - Brendan Neutra
Lyrics: Ramesh Chellamani
Composed, Programmed and Arranged by Mahesh Shankar
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Oakland, CA

Inbam - From the OST of The Family Man

One night in 2003, Vicky, Shankar and I headed to Geoffrey's Pub in Chennai (it was Madras back then). After a few drinks, listening to a band play live, and eating Green Curry, we headed back home. At home, we sat in a room, drank Cuba Libres that Vicky made, and wrote this song.

It was a great night of madness and fun, and the sort of silly humor with the both of us completing each other's lines - like any other day in our lives.
I want that night back, the same curry, and the same silly conversations.
I can't have them. 
Instead I have this song to remember them by.

Credits
----------
Lyrics: Vicky Chari
Vocals: Shudeep, Gopal Rao
Guitars: Akshay Chakrapani, Vivek Ayer
Bass: "Bass" Arjun
Keys & Programming: Mahesh
Mixed and Mastered by Jai Shankar "Self" Iyer at The Place
Featured in "Knock Knock I'm Looking to Marry", directed by Anita Udeep

Indian Curry

This was for a movie called Vareva. This is the unmastered version - and a weirdly mixed verion too. 

Lyrics by Kedaranath Parimi

Vareva

Innalloo

Musician, Geek, Freak. 
Music Producer. Composer.
Flavors, Knock Knock I'm Looking To Marry, Vennela, Prayanam, Prasthanam, Inkosaari, D for Dopidi, Bangaaru Kodi Petta, Manamantha/Vismayam/Namadhu, Prassthanam, The Family Man and a few more.

MaheshShankar

Popular tracks