Dookudu (soundtrack)

Dookudu is the soundtrack to the 2011 film of the same name composed by S. Thaman with lyrics written by Ramajogayya Sastry, Viswa and Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar. The film starring Mahesh Babu was directed by Srinu Vaitla. The six-song album was released by Aditya Music on 19 August 2011. The album was met with mixed response from critics, but fetched Thaman his maiden Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu.

Background
The film marked Thaman's maiden collaboration with Babu and Vaitla; he also replaced the latter's usual music composer Devi Sri Prasad as he could not accommodate the dates for the project. The songs were recorded during March–July 2011. In mid-June 2011, Thaman planned to record two songs in China and one more song in Czech Republic during the re-recording as some special instruments were not available in India and were exclusively available there. Initially, Thaman composed the song "Champakamala" for the film, but as Vaitla required a "massy tune" for the romantic song, he composed "Dethadi Dethadi" instead while the former was used in Kandireega. The re-recording of the film began on 31 August 2011.

Release
Aditya Music acquired the audio rights. The soundtrack was unveiled by hosting a promotional event at Shilpakala Vedika on 19 August 2011. The event was aired live on MAA TV and on the film's official website from 7:30 pm.

Reception
The soundtrack was successful in its collections, but received mixed response from critics. Sify wrote "Thaman's music sounded average in the theatres, though a couple of numbers – 'Guruvaram' and 'Dethadi' – could enliven the mood of the spectators. The background score and the music during some romantic moments are dull." IndiaGlitz termed it the first passable album of Thaman and called it a forgettable one. Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com felt that Thaman's score is "a lot of sound and fury" but only "Nee Dookudu" and "Guruvaram" "linger in one's memory for a while".

Contrarily, Suresh Kavirayani of The Times of India called the film's music impressive. A reviewer from IANS felt that "Nee Dookudu" and "Guruvaram" were well shot and composed while the overall music could have been better. Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog said that Thaman "has figured how to catch our attention within commercial limits". Mahesh K. S. of 123Telugu called the album as an "all-round winner" and selected "Nee Dookudu", "Guruvaram", "Dethadi Dethadi" and "Poovai Poovai" as his picks; he further praised the picturization of the other songs, except for the item number "Poovai Poovai". Critic based at The New Indian Express wrote "Thaman’s music is justified with artistic picturization of songs, especially the title track, 'Dethadi Dethadi' and 'Poovai Poovai' [...] his background elevated most of the scenes when necessary." Regarding the trends in Telugu film music in the 2010s, Krishna Sripada of The Hindu mentioned the album having both "melodious" and "peppy" numbers.