Hi Nanna (soundtrack)

Hi Nanna is the soundtrack to the 2023 Indian Telugu-language film of the same name directed by Shouryuv and starring Nani and Mrunal Thakur. The film is scored by Hesham Abdul Wahab and the soundtrack features 10 songs with lyrics written by Anantha Sriram and Krishna Kanth. The soundtrack was released by T-Series on 18 December 2023. It is notably the first India film to re-record the background music through artificial intelligence.

Development
Hi Nanna is Wahab's second Telugu film after Kushi (2023). He described it as an "imperative" process scoring the film which reflects the tranquility of the visuals and production design and has composed music for the background at situations where the story demands it. The music had been recorded at his home studio in Kochi and other recording studios in Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai.

Wahab arranged the entire compositions through a single word, when it comes to non-Malayalam films. He asked the lyricist Krishna Kanth for finding the colloquial words used to address loved ones in the domestic native language, and after he came with the word "Ammadi" he composed the entire song. He went with both traditional and non-traditional ways of composing, with for few songs including "Gaaju Bomma" were composed in a pallavi—charanam format.

Upon the song "Samayama" released, it was compared with Wahab's own Malayalam song "Darshana" from Hridayam (2022) to which he claimed that only the first note of the song was similar to that, but he did not rehash the tunes as he was very particular on giving something fresh to audience. The track "Odiyamma" was conceptualized with the intention to subdue the emotional tonality. It was sung by actor Dhruv Vikram in his Telugu debut, who agreed to Shouryuv's suggestion on him crooning vocals for that song and went to Hyderabad in person to record it which he did in 2–3 days.

Wahab incorporated artificial intelligence for re-recording the film's score, thereby becoming the first in India to do so.

Release
Hi Nanna 's soundtrack preceded with the first single "Samayama" sung by Anurag Kulkarni and Sithara Krishnakumar, being released on 8 September 2023. The second single "Gaaju Bomma", performed by Wahab, was released on 6 October. The third song "Ammadi", which was sung by Shakthisree Gopalan and Kaala Bhairava, was released on 28 October 2023. The fourth song "Odiyamma" was released on 30 November, it was sung by Dhruv, with Shruti Haasan (who also made a cameo appearance) and Chinmayi Sripaada. It was preceded with a launch event at Vardhaman College of Engineering in the presence of Nani and Wahab. The fifth and final single from the album "Idhe Idhe" was released on 6 December. The full album consisting of 10 songs were released on 18 December 2023.

Reception
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "Music composer Hesham Abdul Wahab is a big asset to the film. The songs are hummable and pleasant, but the background score takes the cake. When the strains of 'Idhe idhe tholisaarila…' play at different points, it is impossible not to be moved. He also uses the calming notes of the waves and silences where essential." Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express wrote "Hesham’s music, reminiscent of Kushi tracks, helps the movie immensely." Critic based at123Telugu wrote "Hesham Abdul Wahab’s songs and background score are wonderful. The only downside is the Odiyamma song, which wasn’t absolutely necessary."

Neeshita Nyayapati of Hindustan Times wrote "The songs might not stay with you, in the sense that you want to listen to them over and over again, but they fit in well with the narrative and sometimes, even add to the scenes." Ram Venkat Srikar of Film Companion described it as a "soothing and evocative soundtrack". Janani K. of India Today felt that Wahab shoulders the film, saying "the songs and the background score elevated the film to a greater extent".