Oohalu Gusagusalade is the soundtrack to the 2014 film of the same name directed by Srinivas Avasarala in his directorial debut, featuring Naga Shaurya, Raashii Khanna and Avasarala. The album featured four songs composed by Kalyani Malik with lyrics written by Anantha Sriram and Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry and was released through Vel Records on 28 April 2014.
The soundtrack met with positive response from critics and Sunitha Upadrashta received Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Telugu for "Em Sandeham Ledhu". The soundtrack also won six awards at the Mirchi Music Awards South in the Telugu branch, including Album of the Year.
Development.
Kalyani Malik was selected to compose the film's music and background score in his maiden association with Avasarala. Malik commenced the film's recording at Hyderabad on 1 October 2013 even before the start of the film's production. The first song was recorded by Sunitha during the recording session. Initially, Anantha Sriram was the sole lyricist of the film contributing two songs for the album, but Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry also wrote the song "Inthakante Vere" which had two versions recorded by Hemachandra and Karunya, respectively. Malik felt that the film's music was reminiscent of Salil Chowdhury's compositions for "Chhoti Si Baat" (1976).
Release.
The film's soundtrack was released under the Vel Records label on 28 April 2014. The release coincided with a promotional event held at Hyderabad, with the film's cast and crew in attendance along with S. S. Rajamouli, V. V. Vinayak, Boyapati Srinu, Allari Naresh, Nani, Mohana Krishna Indraganti, B. V. Nandini Reddy, D. Suresh Babu, amongst others. On 21 June 2014 (World Music Day), Malik released a press note dedicated the film's soundtrack to music lovers.
Reception.
The soundtrack received positive response from critics. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" described Malik's musical score and soundtrack as an asset to the film. Critic based at "The Times of India" summarized "Kalyani Koduri's music and background score is beautiful and it captures the essence of Srini's sharp writing." Sandhya Rao of "Sify" called the music "melodious". Karthik Srinivasan of "Milliblog" wrote "The under-rated Kalyani Koduri proves that he deserves to shed that tag". Analyzing the trends of Telugu film music in the past decade, Krishna Sripada of "The Hindu" wrote "Melody lovers would have really appreciated Kalyani Koduri's "Oohalu Gusagusalade" with its dulcet and calming tunes."