The focus of songs has slowly shiftedto beats and rhythm, more than the lyrics,laments Sahiti who has written over 1000 songs for Telugu cinema. He also says the current position of lyricists is pathetic with people who have no knowledge and judgment of music profess to have a mastery of it and interfere in its composition and output. directors have dominated the producers and directors over a period of time and are changing the first words and first lines and stripping the lyrics of its purity. Sahiti adds, “Veturi once said, ‘lyricists Draupadi pancha bharthukala laga ayipoyaaru' . Very true we have to impress the music director, the producer, his bava maridi , his relatives, etc.” Sahiti is in fact the pseudonym of Cherukupalli Sriramachandra Murthy.
He is popular in the industry because of his straight forward nature and for his forte in writing folk songs with various slang and dialects of Andhra Pradesh. He travelled far and wide, interacted with people, collected their colloquial words and terminology and created a unique mark for himself in folk poetry. His Lalu Daruwaza Lashkar Bonal Panduga , a Vijayashanti-number from Mondi Mogudu Penki Pellam became a big hit. He feels that the beautiful and rich slangs have been trampled; he says “ Thota lo oke rakam puvvulu unte bagodhu, nalugu rakaala puvvulu unte garden ki andham .” Hailing from Mylavaram in Vijayawada, Sahiti grew up in an atmosphere of music and literature. He says, “All I knew of my childhood was singing bhajans and reading books.”
He adds there were many well-read people in his village and after 30 years when he returned to his roots, the people cried, they were so overwhelmed to see him. Sahiti says it helps a lot to have a foundation and a strong knowledge of music, to be in the good books of the music director.
He has worked from K.V. Mahadevan to Thaman and stresses that his aim in life is to elevate sahityam and write songs that would be remembered for posterity.
