Jogi' overtakes 'Aaptha' in audio race

By R.G. Vijayasarathy, Indo-Asian News Service
Bangalore, May 5 (IANS) Over 100,000 audiocassettes of "Jogi", Starring Shivaraj Kumar and directed by Prem, have already been sold. And the film is yet to be released.

The following are the top five Kannada albums of the week:

1. "Jogi": "Hodi maga", "Bin Laden nan maava" and "Ello Jogappa nan aramane'have become extremely popular. Music director Guru Kiran has once again proved that he has mass appeal.

2. "Aaptha Mithra": The film's audio is still doing well despite the release of "Chandramukhi". The film has completed 36 weeks and, according to tradeestimates, a minimum of 30,000 to 40,000 cassettes have been sold. The songs "Raa Raa", "Anku Donku" and "Pata Pata" are still chart-toppers. Again, Guru Kiran's music is the high point of this film.

3. "Varsha": This Vishnuvardhan-starrer, directed by S. Narayan and produced by Rockline Venkatesh, is on the way to becoming an audio hit. S.A. Raj Kumar has scored music for the film. Three songs - "Vasanthi Vasanthi", "Kanneerige Kanneereke" and "Ikku Maga" - have become popular.

4. "News": The songs of the film, which is yet to be released, have become popular mainly because they have been aired on popular television channels.

"Naanu Jithendra" and "Neenu Siridevi" have been on the top of charts for the past two months. Normally, all Upendra-starrers with music by Guru Kiran have produced successful audios.

5. "Akash": The film's audio, released just a week ago, has been doing well.

This is mainly because the film has Puneet Raj Kumar in the lead. The audio of Puneet's previous film "Mourya" was also a hit. Telugu music director R.P. Panayak establishes himself further in Kannada cinema with this album.

"Neene Neene" and "Hodi Hodi" have become popular.

--Indo-Asian News Service