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Sunday May 8, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 183 – MAY.08, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 183: On Spotify | On YouTube
18 songs this week! All the songs are available on YouTube and Spotify.

Kahani – Laal Singh Chaddha (Pritam) – Hindi: Oh wow! This is Pritam taking us
back to his frothy Barfi sound! And the choice of Mohan Kannan for the singing
(as against a Papon, for instance, who too could have been great for this
melody) makes a big difference in adding freshness to the tune. Lovely song.

Dil Ki Gali – Jayeshbhai Jordaar (Vishal and Sheykhar) – Hindi: If I hadn’t
known the composer of this song, I’d have guessed, instantly: Shankar Ehsaan
Loy! Vishal and Sheykhar produce a cracker of a song that’s pleasant and
captivating, and includes some fantastic singing! Sheykhar’s singing of his one
line, in particular, is a lovely touch! On the other hand, Katyayani holds the
song in total style!

Keetraadum Vaaanam, Nigazhe Sadhaa & Naan Pookalaalae Unnai – Kathir (Prashant
Pillai) – Tamil: Kathir’s soundtrack is a lovely little surprise by Prashant.
It’s perhaps his most mainstream, non-experimental sound in recent times, but
even in this zone, his work is fantastic! Sreekanth Hariharan is excellent in
Keetraadum Vaaanam, handling the sax-loaded melody, while Preeti Pillai joins
him in Nigazhe Sadhaa, another lilting and pleasant melody with lovely lyrics by
Karthik Netha. The vocal interplay between Sreekanth and Preeti is particularly
lovely! Preeti is stupendously good in her solo, Naan Pookalaalae Unnai, evoking
Rahman’s melody-style.

Kaalathukkum Nee Venum – Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (A R Rahman) – Tamil: What a
pleasant surprise! Rahman, after all these years, produces a song that sounds
like something that we have heard long, long ago from his early films! There is
an innate simplicity in the tune and the backgrounds that hark back to early
Rahman. What does not go back to those days is the choice of singers. Despite
Silambarasan’s valiant effort, he is singing against type, and the strain shows,
both in his singing and in the song itself. Rakshita Suresh does a stupendous
job handling Thamarai’s evocative lyrics, and I’d love to hear another version
of the song in the album perhaps sung by a singer who deserved this kind of a
melody.

Maayava Thooyava – Iravin Nizhal (A R Rahman) – Tamil: What Rahman doesn’t do in
the above song with regard to the choice of singer, he does incredibly well in
this song! In a beautiful melody that may fit perfectly in a film like Kaaviya
Thalaivan, he ropes in Shreya Ghoshal to sing the song. And what a fabulous job
she does!

Soorathenga – Koogle Kuttappa (Ghibran) – Tamil: A terrific, ebullient song,
with a superb hook reminiscent of Ghibran’s electrofolk series. Very well sung
by Gold Devaraj.

Emundi Ra – Krishna Vrinda Vihari (Mahati Swara Sagar) – Telugu: The first song
from the film, Varshamlo Vennella, didn’t work for me; I found it rather
generic. But Mahati Swara Sagar gets this one right! In Haricharan’s dependably
excellent singing, the lively tune is a lovely listen! And did I hear a
Nordic-style interlude too? Seemed so, and was interesting as an addition and
the way it was Indianized!

Ee Veduka – Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam (Jay Krish) – Telugu: A gorgeous
melody from Jay where his choice of singer—Haripriya—too works tremendously to
the song’s advantage. Jay gives her a tune that involves extending the sound of
each word all through the pallavi and the sweet melody comes alive right here.

Kothaga Ledhenti – Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga (Devi Sri Prasad) – Telugu: This is
the side of DSP who produces Raja-style melodies while he is not busy churning
foot-tapping songs with repetitive hooks! Arman Malik and Haripriya are very
good with the singing. That 3rd line, ‘Intha Daggarunna Nuvvu Nenu Kothaga
Ledhenti’ tune took me back to some Ilayaraja song that I couldn’t place!

Sottala Buggallo – Ramarao On Duty (Sam CS) – Telugu: Before Sam lands the
catchy hook, he layers the song with a lovely melody! After Sam’s recent,
less-interesting work, this song is a relief and a welcome change!

Ma Ma Mahesha – Sarkaru Vaari Paata (Thaman S) – Telugu: Very, very catchy, but
also something Thaman could compose in his sleep these days 🙂

Bhala Thandhanana – Tholi Choopu (Mani Sharma) – Telugu: It’s perhaps ages since
Manisharma produced melodies like this! But I’m so glad to hear him create this!
Darn good singing by Anurag Kulkarni and Sahithi Chaganti.

Paathi Paathi – Night Drive (Ranjin Raj) – Malayalam: I missed this song from
December 2021 and found it only now after the film’s release. While the basic
tune is interesting enough, and very well sung by Kapil Kapilan and Nithya
Mammen, Ranjin’s musical additions are even more engaging, particularly those
pulsating interludes interjected beautifully by the flute.

Kannil Pettole – Thallumaala (Vishnu Vijay) – Malayalam: Relatively less
interesting as a tune, but Vishnu Vijay gets the music and sound very right! The
glitzy, captivating music, along with Irfana Hameed’s rap makes it a good
listen.

Aaraanu Athu – Jo & Jo (Govind Vasantha) – Malayalam: Govind seems to be having
solid fun composing, and particularly singing this song 🙂 The song’s build-up
is brilliant and that nadaswaram (by Balasubrahmanium) layer is a groovy touch!

Laage Re Nain – Paras Nath (recreated bandish), ft. Pratibha Singh Baghel –
Indipop: The familiar bandish set to Raag Bhopali gets a modern, bouncy fusion
version in Paras’ imagination. It works perfectly for Pratibha’s skills since
her singing is impeccable even as the music makes itself distinct from Coke
Studio Pakistan’s 2013 recreation.

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Saturday April 23, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 182 – APR.24, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 182: On Spotify | On YouTube
18 songs this week! All the songs are available on YouTube, while Spotify is
missing the Malayalam song Santhwani, and Shankar Mahadevan’s Dil Ki Dhun for
obvious reasons considering it’s a promo song from rival streaming platform,
JioSaavn 🙂

Jordaar – Jayeshbhai Jordaar (Vishal-Sheykhar) – Hindi: It’s good to hear
Vishal-Sheykhar’s music, though he is ‘Sheykhar’ now, the music remains the
same! The song’s pulsating sound and Gujarati smattering go pretty well. The
singing, by Vishal Dadlani and Keerthi Sagathia, is thoroughly enjoyable, and
that ‘Bhai toh ek dum Jordaar’ is an earworm!

Maan Le – Chitrakut (Somesh Saha) – Hindi: Somesh’s melody, that tabla-laden
backdrop, the strings that punctuate the first interlude, and the sitar that
joins the song eventually… all make the song sound a lot like an Indipop song.
Arijit’s singing is the star, though – he holds the song that already shines
with Somesh’s confident, engaging melody.

Dil Ki Dhun – Shankar Mahadevan (Indipop/Hindi): The single has so many
marketing tie-ups behind it – a song produced as part of JioSaavn’s current ‘Dil
Ki Dhun’ campaign, a music video shot with OnePlus 10 Pro, and more! But, for a
song that aims to showcase ‘My Country, My Music’, the song is way too short
(under 2 minutes) and decidedly Mumbai + ‘North’ India. Shankar’s composition is
fantastic, though. The way he drops the sound at the 1-minute mark and brings in
a classical high with his impeccable vocals is a lovely touch!

Boli Tujhse – Amit Trivedi (Indipop/Hindi): This song is table-stakes by Amit’s
standards, but still, is a listenable melody. The singers—Asees Kaur and
Abhijeet Shrivastava—elevate the song considerably though that ‘Naam Tera Jo
Mujhse Judd Gaya’ line screams so much of Amit’s template.

Maaman Magale & Nee Pirindhadheno – Kuttram Kuttrame (Ajesh) – Tamil: I have
already expressed confidence in Ajesh’s composing skills more than once in this
blog, and here he is, proving it yet again. Even though the Maaman Magale
refrain harks back to ‘Aathangara Marame’ in a slightly slower mode, and even if
the song reeks of early Rahman, this is still a very listenable song! Ajesh
comes into his own in Nee Pirindhadheno that he not only composes but also sings
extremely well! Viveka’s soulful lyrics add weight to this pensive melody too.

Naandhaana Naan Needhaana – Kathir (Prashant Pillai) – Tamil: It’s clear that
Prashant is aiming for a ‘period’ sound to go with the sepia-toned visuals from
the past. But instead of going the whole hog, he simply underlines the period’s
musical style mildly while retaining a more modern sound, and this combo works
wonderfully well for this melody. The choice of the singers has a lot to do with
the song’s feel too – Gowtham Bharadwaj and Keerthana Vaidyanathan.

Dippam Dappam – Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal (Anirudh) – Tamil: To be sure, I was
less impressed by the starting portions led by Anthony Daasan, but Anirudh
concocts an incredibly catchy ‘Dippam Dappam’ hook that holds the song together.

Madichu Vecha Vethala – Buffoon (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: What starts off as
an authentic therukoothu escalates into something completely different at the
2-minute mark! It becomes a pulsating techno number using a familiar Tamil folk
melody 🙂 Hugely enjoyable twist, that!

BulBul Tarang – Ramarao On Duty (Sam CS) – Telugu: After a series of
non-starters, Sam seems to have a ‘big’ film in hand and he gets his recent best
form, along with Sid Sriram in tow. The tune has a Western Classical base and a
mysterious sound to it, a combination that works quite well!

Bullet Song – The Warriorr (Devi Sri Prasad) – Telugu: Trust DSP to produce the
catchiest gimmicky songs 🙂 The bike sounds, the vocalization of bike sounds,
the simple, hummable tune, and the catchy rhythm… everything simply works in
this enjoyable masala song. And yes, the singers – Silambarasan and Haripriya!

Bhale Bhale Banjara – Acharya (Mani Sharma) – Telugu: Mani shows that he still
has the goods to handle a ‘big’ film! The tune is a standard-issue hodge-podge,
to be sure, but it takes its masala origins seriously enough and delivers
adequately.

Aanandamo – Solamante Theneechakal (Vidyasagar) – Malayalam: Oh wow, the return
of Vidyasagar! That too, in Malayalam, where he has a decidedly more melodic
repertoire compared with Tamil and Telugu! The first single lives up to his
legacy in Malayalam with excellent singing by Abhay Jodhpurkar and Anwesshaa,
particularly in the anupallavi where Cochin Strings showcases its magic too.

Maayalle Maayalle – Makal (Vishnu Vijay) – Malayalam: Another ‘comeback’ film,
but this has nothing to do with a musical comeback – Meera Jasmine’s comeback 🙂
But in a Sathyan Anthikad’s film! Vishnu’s first single is a breezy listen,
particularly in Haricharan’s effortlessly good singing. The way Vishnu has
constructed the anupallavi in a seemingly lengthy way is really charming as is
the ‘Vattam vattam pottittu’ hook!

Santhwani – Ente Mazha (Sharreth) – Malayalam: Sharreth is such an anomaly in
present-day film music—a much-needed anomaly! What was once a staple in
Malayalam film music in the 80s, a classical carnatic composition, makes an
appearance in all its splendor, sung brilliantly by Sharreth, as expected. I
assume the raaga is Abheri.

Kanasallu Kaanada – Cutting Shop (KB Praveen) – Kannada: I figured that KB
Praveen is not only the composer of the film, but also the film’s lead! That’s a
fairly unique role that few actors have performed before him – my immediate
references are T.Rajendar and K.Bhagyaraj in Tamil, though I’m sure there are
quite a few more. The film’s first single, released last year (Yako Sisya),
didn’t work for me, but both that one, and this new single have carnatic ‘sa ga
ri pa’ style alaap as a key musical element despite being completely different
genres, musically. I’m assuming Praveen’s musical knowledge is reasonably good
that he is confident with his tunes, and it shows in Kanasallu Kaanada given
that it is a more-than-competent melody handled beautifully by the couple, Nakul
Abhyankar and Ramya Bhat Abhyankar. Praveen keeps the ‘Sa Ga Ri Ma’ refrain as
the song’s main hook (in Ramya’s vocals) and this adds to the song’s appeal.

Bai Ga – Chandramukhi (Ajay-Atul) – Marathi: The film’s other 2 songs (Chandra
and To Chand Rati) didn’t work for me, but this one’s classic Ajay-Atul! The
melody is wonderfully lush and classical raaga-based, and Aarya Ambekar’s
singing is fantastic! The chorus part towards the end was a wonderful surprise!

Bulbuli – Coke Studio Bangla, Season 1 (Bangla): The song picks up the famous
Nazrul Geeti (by Kavi Nazrul Islam), Bagichay Bulbuli, and gives it an energetic
Coke Studio treatment. The update is very interesting given that the original is
a rather sedate ghazal while the new version is so very pop-music lively!
Rituraj Baidya’s singing is scintillating. When Sanzida Mahmood Nandita joins
him mid-way with her ‘Dol Dol Dol Diyeche’, the song becomes a delightful duet!

While listening to the song, and the original, I couldn’t help but notice how
similar it sounded to Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s Khilona title song!

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Saturday April 9, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 181 – APR.10, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 181: On Spotify | On YouTube
11 songs this week! All the songs are available on both YouTube and Spotify.

Intezaar – Lucky Ali, Mikey McCleary (Hindi/Indipop): Oh wow – the return of
Lucky Ali! And Mikey seems to be the perfect guy for bringing him back to the
elusive singer back to mainstream! The tune is very Mikey but Lucky makes it his
own with his inimitable singing!

Beast Mode – Beast (Anirudh) – Tamil: This is Anirudh magic all through! Right
from that ‘Meaner, Leaner, Stronger’ hook… to that captivating musical bit that
starts the song… to the catchy rhythm… to Anirudh’s punchy vocals, this is a
hero-worship song that is oozing swag and style.

Kaalai Maalai – Paper Rocket (Dharan Kumar) – Tamil: A very beautiful melody
from Dharan who keeps the lilting rhythm at a tasteful minimum to let the tune
shine through. Sid Sriram’s vocals elevate the song considerably and this
becomes even more obvious when in the anupallavi, the tune goes into that
‘NaaLai enbadhu nilavaaga’ pivot. Vivek’s lyrics are a significant part of the
song’s charm too.

Pogadhey – Nadhi (Dhibu Ninan Thomas) – Tamil: After Nadhi’s very, very
promising first two songs (Theera Nadhi and Kathari Poovasam), Dhibu hits it out
of the park yet again – that’s 3 fantastic songs in a row! Singer Anila Rajeev
is clearly in fantastic control of the enjoyable melody even as Dhibu helps her
with a really captivating melody that literally flows so beautifully! Some bits
of the melody took me back to Ilayaraja’s style and panache!

Lawyer Papa – Nenu Meeku Baaga Kavalsinavaadini (Manisharma) – Telugu: Before I
come to the song, I’m honestly surprised by the frequency of films starring
Kiran Abbavaram! I quite like the chap’s disarmingly simple appeal, but he had
SR Kalyanamandapam in August 2021 (which he also wrote!). Then, he had Sebastian
P.C. 524 in March 2022. Even before that film released, promos and songs for his
next, Sammathame, had started. And now, the first single from Nenu Meeku Baaga
Kavalsinavaadini! A lot of films, in a short span of time! Good for him, though.

The song is an interesting kuthu tune by Manisharma. It seems like it was
crafted out of a minor variation in Rowdy Baby’s ‘Ra, namma beach pakkam potham…
Oru dappankuthu vesthaam’ hook! But Manisharma, the veteran he is, builds
something very catchy out of that, and Ram Miryala is superb in handling the
raucous song.

The Panchakattu Song – Ante Sundaraniki (Vivek Sagar) – Telugu: Oh my God! This
is Vivek Sagar at his best in recent times! The way he uses Aruna Sairam’s
superb voice in a heady, zany tune is brilliant! The tune itself is a completely
whimsical affair that gets rooted in Aruna’s brilliant singing, particularly in
the anupallavi.

Manju Thullikal – Four (Bijibal) – Malayalam: A typically Bijibal-style melody
that is low-key and so very unassuming. But in Najim Arshad’s always-delightful
singing, the simple melody comes alive along with the small nuances Bijibal
infuses into the tune. Like that ‘Hridayam Vaanil… Uyarnne’ high towards the end
of the pallavi that I thought would have a more rounded closure but it just ends
with 3 different pitches for ‘Uyarnne’!

Aakasham – Aromal Chekaver (Malayalam/Indipop): An unusual and catchy song where
the techno sound fuses with a faux-classical sound, and the mix, curiously, is
very good! Siva Prasad’s Nadaswaram has also been used very well in this mix.

Sing To The Skies : Swararaaga – The Immersive Experience, Vol. 2 (Sandeep
Chowta, ft. Varijashree Venugopal, John Connearn, Jonathan Huber & Seb Read) –
Indipop: I remember writing about 2 songs from Sandeep’s first volume of The
Immersive Experience back in February 2021. And I completely missed the 2nd
volume that released in May 2021! The pick of the album is the take on the
Shankarabharanam raaga-based Tyagaraja kriti, Swararagasudha. The song is a
new-age recreation of the kriti that starts with the original’s charanam and yet
retains the soul of the original, thanks to Varijashree Venugopal’s fantastic
singing!

Reunion 1 – The Immersive Experience, Vol. 3 (Sandeep Chowta, ft. Abhay
Nayampally, Seb Read) – Indipop: So, how did I come across the volume 2 of The
Immersive Experience? Because I stumbled on volume 3, and then wondered when I
missed the 2nd volume 🙂 Surprisingly, the new album (3rd volume) has 9 songs,
unlike the previous 2 albums that had only 4 songs each! But oddly, enough, just
one worked for me as a striking enough song, even though the album is a good
listen overall. Reunion 1 is the only song that features Abhay Nayampally’s
carnatic classical guitar and that alone makes this song a great listen! The
song’s other version (Reunion 2) has more of Diego Hedez’s trumpet with only a
smattering of Abhay’s guitar, though.

Prarthona – Coke Studio Bangla, Season 1: I’m really not sure about the
frequency of songs in Coke Studio Bangla! The first song was released on
February 23rd and the second song drops on April 1? The song is lovely, though.
Using the Bangla folk song, ‘Allah megh de’, led by Momotaz Begom, as the base
(famously ripped off by Bappi Lahiri twice – once for Runa Laila’s album,
Superuna, and then for the film Sharabi), the song fuses ‘Baba Maulana’ too
eventually, and the result is one hugely lilting song.

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Saturday April 2, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 180 – APR.03, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 180: On Spotify | On YouTube
14 songs this week! All the songs are available on both YouTube and Spotify.

Jalwanuma – Heropanti 2 (A R Rahman) – Hindi: Whoa, this was a pleasant
surprise! A very, very tuneful and classically filmy song from Rahman in a Tiger
Shroff film! The lilting qawali style backdrop works mighty well, and the
singers—Pooja Tiwari and Javed Ali—are fabulous.

Vaa KaNakku – Manmatha Leelai (Premji Amaren) – Tamil: Beyond all the on-screen
shenanigans by Premji, I have always found him to be a very, very adept composer
from the limited body of work he has produced. In Vaa KaNakku, he delivers on
that promise again very, very confidently! That rhythm he concocts is incredibly
addictive and the tune has a naughty edge to it, in line with the film’s theme.
For some reason, Ajay Krishnaa sounds and perhaps imitates Udit Narayan, though
it goes well with the tune. But Swagatha S Krishnan handles it in her usual,
normal way that works perfectly.

Oh Reba – No Entry (Ajesh) – Tamil: When the song started with ‘Oh Reba Reba’
and a generous sprinkling of English words evoking Vaali’s lyrical style, both
the tune and lyrics seemed less than interesting. But Ajesh turns the song
around with his ‘Kanna pinna manasukku’ hook and after that, the song remains
consistently interesting! I was a bit surprised he didn’t rope in the film’s
lead, Andrea as the singer, and instead got in Jonita and Benny Dayal. Both do a
terrific job, of course. Ajesh has been consistently promising and deserves
better opportunities as a composer.

Colours of Love – Partner (Santhosh Dhayanidhi) – Tamil: When I heard the
soundtrack of Partner, I had shortlisted 2 songs for the Weeklies addition –
Raati and Colours of Love. Then I had a feeling that Raati sounded very familiar
– figured eventually that Santhosh was reusing his own 2018 Madras Gig single 🙂
So, only Colours of Love for the Weeklies! There was a shade of Harris Jeyaraj,
I thought, probably owing to the prominent flute phrase, but Santhosh has
something original here. His choice of roping in Sean Roldan for the lead vocals
is very, very good. Swetha Mohan adds weight too, as the song progresses and
Santhosh layers the song with some brilliant strings in the interludes.

Elamalakaadinullil – Pathaam Valavu (Ranjin Raj) – Malayalam: Based on Ranjin’s
previous work, I had expected more from this song. It does have a fantastic
melody that Haricharan delivers wonderfully. But when the rhythm started, it
sounded a bit too templatized. But don’t let that stop you from listening to the
song given how good the tune and singing is.

Udd Gaya – Lekh (B Praak, Jaani) – Punjabi: B Praak has been credited for
‘music’ while Jaani has been credited as ‘composer’, so I’m not entirely how it
works. But this is a gorgeous song, with a heartwarming lilt. B Praak’s voice
is, as usual, incredibly powerful and carries the melody wonderfully.

Ghei Chand Makarand, Kaivalyagaan, Bindiya Le Gayi, Le Chali Taqdeer, Ram Ram –
Lori (both male and female versions), Vithala… Darshan Deun Jaa & Aaj Sugandh –
Me Vasantrao (Marathi): I heard the songs from this magnificent labor of love
last month and have been desperately trying to get the complete credits since it
includes original songs composed by Rahul Deshpande as well some traditional
songs too. Suffice to say, my limited musical knowledge (if I can even call it
that) doesn’t offer me any words to appreciate this film soundtrack’s music. All
I can say is that I find the soundtrack incredibly, incredibly pleasing. I know
that’s hardly a review or even a statement but that’s the best I can add 🙂 If
you have even a passing interest in music, do give this phenomenal album a try.

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Saturday March 26, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 179 – MAR.27, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 179: On Spotify | On YouTube
17 songs this week! All the songs are available on YouTube, but Spotify is
missing 2 songs – A R Rahman’s Moopilla Thamizhe Thaaye and Vaanam Bhoomi from
Kaliyuga Kaandu Mirugam.

Ye Luthrey, Boom Boom & Aaram Karo – Sharmaji Namkeen (Sneha Khanwalkar) –
Hindi: Sharmaji Namkeen is a pretty good soundtrack by Sneha! Of the 4 songs,
except for the Laung Gawacha redux, the other 3 see her bringing her A-game in
terms of sound! To be sure, there’s the generous Amit Trivedi sound too in the
songs, but Sneha’s backgrounds are brilliant! Jasbir Jassi is his ebullient self
in the high-energy Ye Luthrey, while Kailash Kher and Raja Mushtaq handle the
super catchy Boom Boom with the necessary comic touch it needs. Gopal Datt
layers even more of the comic touch in Aaram Karo that, like Delhi Belly’s
Saigal Blues, intentionally brings the old’ish sound in a spanking new sound.

DaFa Kar – Heropanti 2 (A R Rahman) – Hindi: This is passable by Rahman’s
standards, and fits his recent musical style as heard in films like 2.0, Mersal,
and Sarkar. But that he offers Tiger Shroff a song that barely has a rhythm he
could dance to (he still does, of course) is interesting. The tune is
decent-enough, though adequately predictable, the background music keeps things
a bit unpredictable and lively.

Tera Saath Ho – Tanishk Bagchi, Ft. Zahrah Khan and Guru Randhawa) –
Hindi/Indipop: Tanishk starts the song in the most unassuming style with Zahrah
singing sedately. But then he infuses tremendous energy with the Punjabi folk
‘Mukhda Janda Mahiya’ phrase and the song takes on a totally different,
phenomenally catchy tangent! Guru joins in much later, and this is largely
Zahrah’s show!

Yaadein Wohi – Arijit Singh (Hindi/Indipop): Arijit recreates the 80s synth
sound in the song so perfectly! Of course, his singing is, as always, terrific.
Very catchy song!

Kathari Poovasam – Nadhi (Dhibu Ninan Thomas) – Tamil: This is a chorus song
featuring 4 female (Sinduri Vishal, Deepthi Suresh, Soundarya Nandakumar, and
Bhargavi Sridhar) and 4 male singers (Aravind Srinivas, Saisharan, Shenbagaraj,
and Santhosh Hariharan). And it makes sense given the situation – a college
song, something that used to be a regular musical genre in Tamil cinema (and
perhaps in many other languages) at one point in time. Dhibu gets the opening
very well, with the men and women singing one after the other, and then only the
men launch into the hook (Kathari Poovasam). It’s only in the last version of
the hook that everyone sings together. The hook has a catchy 90s feel to it and
brings the melody together mighty well!

Moopilla Thamizhe Thaaye – A R Rahman (Tamil/Indipop): Rahman is no stranger to
such thematic anthems and to be entirely honest, I had become a bit immune to
his similar anthemic sound of late. But, after starting the song in his own
voice (that made to expect a certain kind of sound), he throws a wonderful
surprise with the female chorus (Saindhavi Prakash, Khatija Rahman, Amina Rafiq,
Gabriella Sellus, and Poovaiyar) that not only holds but also directs the song
incredibly. Rahman and Ameen (his son) do take over the later portions of the
song, but the best parts remain the ones sung by the women. Thamarai’s lyrics
are hugely imaginative and cover a whole spectrum singing Tamil’s praise. The
video too is brilliantly conceived and choreographed, with a lovely visual
backdrop of Tamil’s Aayidha Ezhuthu.

Vaanam Bhoomi – Kaliyuga Kaandu Mirugam (Jayakaran Wilfred) – Tamil: I was
pleasantly surprised by this song! One, the film’s title seemed scary and odd,
so I wasn’t expecting much. But composer Jayakaran Wilfred produces a very, very
pleasant melody and holds that soft, lilting sound steadily. His choice of
Jithin Raj is bang on target – Jithin adds life to the melody and makes it so
much more enjoyable!

O Manuja – Djinn (Prashant Pillai) – Malayalam: Oh, how I have missed this
Prashant Pillai! He gets Sithara Krishnakumar to sing what seems like a really
old Malayalam song but his own music is packaged in a superbly modern avatar.
The only hitch is that this package is very, very reminiscent of what Ram
Sampath did with Saigal Blues in Delhi Belly (the 2nd Saigal Blues reference
this week!). Still, this is a fantastic listen!

Puzhayarikathu Dumm – Jo & Jo (Govind Vasantha) – Malayalam: Govind produces an
absolute banger in Puzhayarikathu Dumm(u)! It isn’t something far from
Thaikkudam Bridge’s trademark sound, of course… and Milan V S’s singing props
the energetic, folkish melody brilliantly. But it is Govind’s pulsating rhythm
that totally rocks the song!

Manjin Thooval – Aviyal (Sharreth) – Malayalam: Whoa!! Trust Sharreth to take us
straight back to the 80s and 90s with this incredibly lush melody! It felt like
I was listening to a classic Ilayaraja song from the 80s or a Vidyasagar song
from the 90s! The melody is delightful, and the singing, by Chithra and Unni
Menon, adds to that effect, along with the ‘lalala’ interlude and the profusion
of strings!

Ee Mazha/Barkha – Sreekanth Hariharan & Srinath Nair (Malayalam/Indipop): This
is a gorgeous song! Sreekanth brings Malayalam while Srinath brings Hindi, and
the mix works so neatly! The melody in the song keeps both elements perfectly in
balance and they blend really well towards the end too.

Jhanjar – Deep Kalsi (Punjabi/Indipop): Bouncy Punjabi number that has a
confident lilt and good singing by Deep Kalsi. Mudassir Khan’s Sarangi is a
lovely touch!

Go – Abdullah Siddiqui x Atif Aslam (Coke Studio, Pakistan – Season 14): After
Thagyan, here’s another total stunner from Coke Studio’s season 14! The song
starts with what seems almost Carnatic in sound! It’s just a snatch repeated to
create a persistent backdrop. Abdullah Siddiqui’s English lyrics (first time in
season 14?) and pop sensibility beautifully blends with Atif’s always-enchanting
vocals. That ‘Dil jaane na jaane’ phrase that both sing after the interlude in
the middle and reach a stupendous crescendo (Atif’s trademark) is a lovely
touch!

As I’m Getting Older – Tejas (English/Indipop): Very listenable and enjoyable
rock sound with captivating guitar riffs and excellent singing. That extended
musical interlude bang in the middle leads to a superb guitar phrase!

Bones – Imagine Dragons (English): I found it very similar to the band’s
now-iconic Believer, in terms of the anthemic sound they gun for. It’s more
tuneful than Believer, but the energy is very similar.

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Sunday March 20, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 178 – MAR.20, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 178: On Spotify | On YouTube
10 songs this week! All the songs are available on both Spotify and YouTube. And
no, Beast’s new single, Jolly O Gymkhana was way too generic for my taste.

Phir Se Zara – Attack (Shashwat Sachdev) – Hindi: Shashwat’s music reminded me
of early Harris Jayaraj’s music. The almost-ominous backgrounds retain an
ambient, ethereal feel and a solo, punchy voice (Jubin Nautiyal) leading a
hugely impactful melody. Jubin’s singing is terrific for this particular tune
and it gets better as the song progresses.

Kattikoda – Taanakkaran (Ghibran) – Tamil: It’s great to see Ghbiran get his
mojo back occasionally after being so enormously promising in the earlier part
of his career. This song has superb singing by Shweta Mohan but the real
highlight is the gorgeous tune. The tune took me instantly to Ilayaraja’s Andha
Oru Nimidam Charukesi-classic, ‘Siriya Paravai Siragai Virithu’, particularly
that tantalizing line, ‘Udhadu uruga… amudham paruga (varugavae varugavae)’ that
forms the base for ‘Otha vaartha… motha vaazhkka’!

Pottu Vaiththaan – Maha (Tamil/Indipop): I believe the raaga used is
Hamsanadham, most probably. It is most definitely a raaga that I already love
and I was able to trace a few known songs from this tune – Thendral vandhu ennai
thodum (Hamsanadham), Swasame swasame (Hamirkalyani), and Nilavum malarum
malarattume (Saaranga), among others. Surprising to hear this beautiful number,
that too sung by singers like Harini and Tippu, being released by an unknown
label with zero fanfare!

Adavi Gusagusalu – Bheemla Nayak (Thaman S) – Telugu: Bheemla Nayak is already a
very, very good album. Now that the full album is out, the other song that I
really liked was Adavi Gusagusalu. The steady background sound that is
wonderfully ambient, the fantastic singing by Manisha Eerabathini and Sri
Krishna, the chorus that kicks in the two-and-a-half-minute mark that alludes to
Thyagaraja’s Entharo Mahanubhavulu… this is a lovely song!

Bullet La – Sammathame (Shekar Chandra) – Telugu: Much like some of Thaman’s or
Gopi Sundar’s trademark sounds, Shekar Chandra too has his trademark sound that
I wrote about in Atithi Devo Bhava’s Ninnu Chudagane. That familiar
percussion-sound makes its appearance here too – it remains catchy for now.

Jada – Chor Bazaar (Suresh Bobbili) – Telugu: Suresh continues to impress,
albeit occasionally. Here, he has singer Ram Miriyala handle a wonderfully warm,
almost-Amit Trivedi’ish melody brilliantly. The tune’s is soft but has a folksy
bounce that makes it thoroughly enjoyable.

Poya Kaalam – Lalitham Sundaram (Bijibal) – Malayalam: There are singers like
Sid Sriram and Sanjith Hegde who have a voice that you cannot ignore at all. And
then there are singers like Vineeth Sreenivasan who have a voice so warm and
relatable. Bijibal dips into that warmth in Vineeth’s voice beautifully in this
song, and layers it with an excellent vocal chorus and backgrounds that are
straight out of the 60s MGR-style music!

Isolated (Part 1) – Arnab Bashistha, ft. Papon and Kaysee (Indipop): Despite
being composed by Arnab Bashistha, the melody has the hallmark of a Papon
composition, and this may be a feeling evoked by his singing style too. The
overall ghazal’ish singing and composition style gets an added charm with
Kaysee’s English phrases, Ustad Murad Ali Khan’s Sarangi and Subhankar
Hazarika’s Sitar.

Thagyan – Coke Studio, Season 14 (Zain Zohaib x Quratulain Balouch): Thagyan is
the quintessential Coke Studio Pakistan sound! An incredibly catchy qawwali that
gets a phenomenal modern musical backdrop featuring swanky synths and horns
section. And when Quratulain Balouch enters in style (quite literally, in the
video), the song gets infinitely more interesting!

Sleepyhead – Parekh & Singh (Indipop): The classic Parekh & Singh sound is
intact, as always! It’s instantly likeable, lulling you into the trippy music,
with vocals to add to the mood!

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Saturday March 12, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 177 – MAR.13, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 177: On Spotify | On YouTube
14 songs this week! All the songs are available on Spotify, while YouTube is
missing one song because it is inside a jukebox – the short track from
SebastianPC524! I have embedded the jukebox below.

Ik Tu Hai – Attack (Shashwat Sachdev) – Hindi: For a film about a supersoldier,
the first single is so very soft and melodious! Shashwat’s song starts
wonderfully with what seems almost like the seconds of a clock amplified in the
background, wonderfully handled by Jubin Nautiyal’s singing and interspersed by
Salman Khan on sitar. But at the 2-minute mark, the song takes on a brilliant
rock sound amping up the song’s appeal too!

Kannaatti – Nooru Kodi Vaanavil (Siddhu Kumar) – Tamil: Siddhu’s tune is
pleasant enough but it is Anand Aravindakshan’s singing that makes a tremendous
difference and elevates the song significantly. When he delivers the ‘Kannaatti’
hook, it seems to be coming from deep inside his heart, with so much conviction!

Va En Thozhi – Ben Human (Indipop) – Tamil: I recall being impressed with Ben’s
earlier singles in 2019 – Hey Zara and Single Superstar. In Va En Thozhi too,
his overall sense of sound and melody makes a pretty engaging song, produced
well by Max Ulver. The song felt like listening to an early-Harris Jayaraj song,
and that’s a compliment.

En Kadhal – Andhagan (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: So, after the Telugu and
Malayalam remakes of Andhadhun, and the not-Andhadhun-remake Kannada film
Sakath, here is the Tamil remake of Andhadhun that has a similar-sounding title
too. Considering the hero is a pianist (a blind pianist, at that), there is a
piano-led lead song in all the versions. In Hindi, it was Amit Trivedi’s Naina
Da Kya Kasoor, a fairly ebullient song unlike what one may expect from a
piano-led melody. The Malayalam version mirrored that approach, with Jakes
Bejoy’s Munthiri Poovo. But the Telugu equivalent composed by Mahati Swara Sagar
used a sweeping, classic filmy melody in Maestro’s Vennello Aadapilla.
Santhosh’s Tamil version too goes with the Telugu idea – a deeply melodic,
piano-led tune, unless a different song exists in the Hindi and Malayalam
template in the soundtrack. Sid Sriram is his usual self considering the
melody’s highs are perfectly made for his range.

Imaikkariye – Selfie (G.V. Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: When the song started with
‘Look into my eyes’, I was ready to give up on it, but GVP quickly changes track
into the ‘En Uyire’ and ‘Imaikkariye’ phrases that take the song on a very
different zone. That, and the anupallavi’s melody, sung by GVP, and then by
Manasvini Gopal (charanam?) keep the song consistently likeable.

Nee Kanulalo Daagundaa – SebastianPC524 (Ghibran) – Telugu: What a shame that
this song is just one-and-a-half minutes long! I would rate this as the
soundtrack’s best song, next to Heli, that has been found to be way too similar
to Jathikkathottam from Thanneer Mathan Dinangal. Anudeep Dev’s voice is
fantastic, and Ghibran’s melody is the real winner here, with a deeply resonant
sound that reminded me of Ilayaraja’s melodies.

Manasutho Choodaleni & Chinna Maata – Clap (Ilayaraja) – Telugu: The first
interlude in Manasutho Choodaleni took me straight to Raja’s 90s repertoire, and
for some reason, I started singing ‘Kurta maxiyum salwar kameezum sumandha
pengaLe’ and I realized that the tune is also perhaps mildly connected. Also,
for some reason, I liked the Telugu version more than the Tamil version – Raja’s
age-withered voice, to me, did justice to the Telugu verse better. Chinna Maata
too is on similar lines – evoked Raja’s 90s music a lot at least to me. The
melody is lush and the rhythm too played contrastingly nice on top.

Mizhi Arikil – Veyil (Pradeep Kumar) – Malayalam: Pradeep conjures a film song
that almost sounds like a meditative experience! The sparse sound—involving
Pradeep’s voice and the keyboard, mainly—remains largely intact barring the
higher-pitched singing in the middle. Long after the song is over, the
‘Yelelelele’ refrain continued to haunt me!

Sellamma – PS Jayhari, ft. KS Harisankar (Indipop) – Malayalam: PS Jayhari, who
had a couple of impressive tunes in 2019’s Athiran, has a very listenable melody
here. Harisankar’s singing is perfect and amps up that ‘Sellamma’ hook
beautifully.

Tandanano – Maati Baani, ft. Shubha Raghavendra (Indipop) – Kannada: Maati
Baani’s first single under their new Folklore series sponsored by Target (O Re
Jiya) did not work for me despite the heady confluence of Konnakkol, Hindustani
music, and Kannada rap. But their 2nd single in the series hits the bullseye…
and how! Tandanano too has a Kannada element, but unlike the first single, this
entire song is in Kannada! But true to the band’s musical ethos, they mix
Kannada folk with Mariachi and the result is an exuberant song that is instantly
likeable and danceable!

Goriye – Darshan Raval (Indipop) – Punjabi/Hindi: It’s interesting to see
Darshan enter Guru Randhawa territory, with DJ Lijo in tow. The catchy song has
spunk and is very easy on the ear, with Darshan’s always-engaging singing
helping things even more.

Ranjhé – Ikky, Lavi Tibbi (Indipop) – Punjabi: Canadian musician Ikwinder Singh
aka Ikky produces a high-energy Punjabi track that shines with its global
musical outlook! If you listen only to the 40-second segment right in the middle
of the song starting with the 2nd minute, you may think you are listening to an
international pop track! But that’s the song’s success – it seamlessly fuses the
wonderfully enthusiastic Punjabi verse to truly global-sounding music. The
result is hugely enjoyable.

Ellulleri Ellulleri – Ram Surendar (Indipop): The Mavila tribal folk song has
been used and reused many times in Kerala. Most recently, Justin Varghese
produced a pulsating techno recreation of the song in Ajagajantharam. Ram
Surendar’s version is aptly pulsating too but in a more conventional danc’y
outlook, sung well by Durga Viswanath.

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Saturday March 5, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 176 – MAR.06, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 176: On Spotify | On YouTube
18 songs, this week – a pretty satisfying week from a variety point of view! All
the songs are available on YouTube, while Spotify is missing one song, from
Lalitham Sundaram!

Mon Aar, Beh Jaana & Dhandhli – Jugaadistan (Assorted composers) –
Bengali/Hindi: Mon Aar has an ebullient rhythm that kicks in early on and Anurag
Saikia layers it with the verve that stays till the end. Roshni Saha and
Gauranga Shekhar handle the Bengali lines (written by Roshni) wonderfully. Beh
Jaana is the usual Yellow Diary magic! Rajan Batra’s lush, affecting voice
sailing through the frothy melody effortlessly. The other song that stands out
in the packed soundtrack is by Khamosh Shah. His Dhandhli is something straight
out of Amit Trivedi’s earlier, more vibrant repertoire! Manish J Tipu delivers
the necessary comic edge to the song while still making it musically engaging.

Meri Jaan Meri Jaan – Bachchhan Paandey (B Praak) – Hindi: B Praak’s distinct
and powerful voice carries this one easily. But the composer in him layers the
song with that lovely ‘O Meri Jaan Meri Jaan’ hook that is used repetitively to
fantastic effect.

Nenjorama – Madhil Mel Kaadhal (Nivas K Prasanna) – Tamil: Nivas’s music and
Pradeep Kumar singing? Oh wow! The music is tantalizingly good – no-frills, but
a classic melody that occasionally brings to mind Ilayaraja’s music! Pradeep is
stupendously good with the higher notes, as is Malvi Sundaresan when she joins
in much later.

Parai – Sean Roldan (Tamil): A searing, touchingly sad song that makes one more
angry than sad! Kumaran’s music video, though short, makes a tremendous impact
in showcasing the mental disease called caste that we humans have invented for
ourselves and which alters our perception to not let see each other as humans.
Roja Adithya’s voice, along with Sean’s own singing, offers the necessary
gravitas to bring the anger in the lyrics alive.

Kangal Oya – Sanah Moidutty (Tamil): Sanah’s singing is, as expected, terrific,
but it is Sanah the music composer who impresses even more in this new single.
The tune is slow and sedative and that ‘Ri ri ri ri’ hook is a captivating
highlight.

Rathipushpam – Bheeshma Parvam (Sushin Shyam) – Malayalam: In line with the rest
of the songs from the film, Sushin stays with this 80s synth sound, and in Unni
Menon’s voice, this is a pleasant trip back to the disco days!

Maname – Veyil (Pradeep Kumar) – Malayalam: The other Pradeep Kumar song of the
week – and this one is his own composition, after the terrific ‘The Hey Song’
that came out mid-last year. The song is instantly recognizable as Pradeep’s
trademark sound, with that dreamy sound that was once the domain of Santhosh
Narayanan too.

Meghajalakam – Lalitham Sundaram (Bijibal) – Malayalam: A vintage Bijibal song
that is loaded with good-natured happiness in the melody that you cannot not nod
your head along. Najim Arshad is so, so good a choice for the song, and that
‘Pazhayoru Paattinde’ hook is sheer joy!

Laagni, Vaadli, Tu Juhi Re, Kori Ne Kaachi, Navi Zindagi & Fari Fari – Prem
Prakaran (Amit Trivedi) – Gujarati: After the extended prelude sung by Amit
Trivedi, the 80s style synth music kicks in even as a gorgeous flute layer too
wafts in. Ishani Dave’s sweet voice is perfect for the melody and Amit uses her
vocals in the backgrounds too, towards the end, very effectively. There’s even
more 80s synth in Vaadli too!! The tune is so very Amit, with a soaring hook
that screams his predictable style… that sounds fresh enough given the synth
package and Gujarati. In Tu Juhi Re, Amit has a beautiful melody that perhaps
deserved a slightly better singer than Amit, with his relatively flat rendition.
As if expecting that, the other version of the song, featuring Jigardhan Gadhavi
delivers brilliantly! Kori Ne Kaachi took me to Jatin-Lalit’s style of music
given the Pancham-style seeping in too 🙂 The rhythm, the charming tune, and the
throwback to an older style of music, and Jigardhan Gadhavi’s singing make this
one very enjoyable. Both Navi Zindagi and Fari Fari (sung by Siddharth Amit
Bhavsar) are light, frothy, and thoroughly engaging. Amits music is uncluttered,
understated, and lets the pleasant tunes stay at the forefront. Amit’s 10-song
soundtrack for Prem Prakaran has a very consistent sound all through, and
overall, makes for a very good listen as a package.

Paas Aa – Zaeden & Aakash (Indipop): Very summery vibe in an uncluttered,
easy-on-ear melody.

Monster- Dhruv Visvanath (Indipop): I loved the song as soon as I heard it, but
I was trying to pin it down to the ‘why’ (do I like it). The reason escaped me
for over a week, and finally, I have been able to pin it down! It’s a fantastic
melody, with a mysterious tinge in the tune, but my personal reason for getting
drawn to it is because I thought it was almost like a composition from Rob
Thomas (of Matchbox Twenty fame; has gone solo). Specifically, this song could
easily fit in his album outstanding Cradlesong (2009)!

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Saturday February 26, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 175 – FEB.27, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 175: On Spotify | On YouTube
10 songs, this week! All the songs are available on both YouTube, while Spotify
is missing the Coke Studio Bangla song!

Siragai, Viduthalai, Yaarisaikka & Title Song – Hey Sinamika (Govind Vasantha) –
Tamil: If I had not known the name of this film’s composer, I’d have guessed
Siragai to be Rahman’s – the rhythm is so reminiscent of a set of Rahman’s songs
from the yore! The tune is very Govind Vasantha, though, with a very sweet
opening and a somber turn in the anupallavi that gets Rahman’ish with the
‘KaariruL neekkum theeyaai’ line again 🙂 Keethana Vaidyanathan and Sai Prabha
handle the tune’s many twists very well even as the song ends on a high with a
lively rhythm-led closure that’s very Bollywood-style.

Viduthalai too carries a strong whiff of Rahman – the Alaipayuthey phase! But
Govinda throws a lovely surprise in the ‘ViNNile Naan Mattume’ line that seems
like a delicate strand of 96’s music dropped into this soundtrack set to a more
bouncy background music! The chorus in this portion is very well handled, and
Prarthana Indrajith’s main portion too is excellent. Bombay Jayashri is stellar,
as always, in the soundtrack’s only pathos song, Yaarisaikka. The title song has
an unenviable task of playing on a phrase (the film’s title) made incredibly
popular by Rahman, but instead of going headlong, with lyrics and all, it
cleverly aims at being a catchy piece of instrumental music. Within those
confines, it does a superb job!

Considering I have already written about the 3 songs released earlier, and the
fact that the soundtrack has 7 songs, this is a terrific album overall!

Thaaruzhiyum – Aaraattu (Rahul Raj) – Malayalam: The wonderfully melodious
melody took me straight to Ilayaraja’s Pudhumai PeN classic, ‘Kaadhal…
Mayakkam’. Is there a Sudha Saveri raaga connection, I wonder! Harishankar K.S
and Poornasree Haridas are outstanding in the song rendition even as it
traverses multiple phases.

Ondu Oorali, Yennegu Hennigu & Meet Madana – Ek Love Ya (Arjun Janya) – Kannada:
I recall writing about Yaare Yaare, the first song released in February 2021.
Post that I had missed the other songs that were released earlier. Now that the
film has been released, it may be a good time to list the other 3 hugely
listenable songs from the soundtrack. Shankar Mahadevan seemed like an unusual
choice for Ondu Oorali – I would have expected Arjun to pick Vijay Prakash
without a thought for this song. It’s very rhythmic and catchy, but the base
melody is highly tuneful with a mildly sad edge to it! In hindsight, Shankar’s
choice is quite a smart idea!

Yennegu Hennigu and Meet Madana too are incredibly foot-tapping, but the true
stars of the songs are singers, Mangli (with support from Kailash Kher) and
Aiswarya Rangarajan, respectively. The former’s folk-style melody is perfect for
Mangli’s familiar singing template, while Aishwarya rules over the latter that
has extended musical phrases that almost sound like sung lines!

Tu Na Aaya – Rahi Sayed, Nikhita Gandhi (Indipop): Kashmir-based singer and
songwriter Rahi Sayed composes the song and sings it as a duet with Nikhita.
It’s a simple, charming tune that gains tremendously from the two excellent
singers. I’m assuming the ‘Rinda Rinda’ part is in Kashmiri – it’s a lovely hook
in the song!

Nasek Nasek – Coke Studio Bangla: On the heels of Coke Studio Pakistan’s 14th
season, here’s the first season of Coke Studio Bangladesh! The season started
with a rousing recreation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Ekla Chôlo Re, and with the
first song—Nasek Nasek—the season makes a brilliant start! In true Coke Studio
style, the song mixes a Hajong dialect verse by Animes Roy and the Bangla folk
song Dol Dol Doloni. The confluence is heady, with stupendous background music!

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Saturday February 19, 2022

MILLIBLOG WEEKLIES, WEEK 174 – FEB.20, 2022

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Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 174: On Spotify | On YouTube
11 songs, this week! All the songs are available on both YouTube and Spotify!

Aaya Ye Jhund Hai, Lafda Zhala, Laat Maar & Baadal Se Dosti – Jhund (Ajay-Atul)
– Hindi: Aaya Re is one heck of a catchy song, like a Mumbaiya ‘kuthu’ song and
who better to compose it than the Gogavale brothers! The steadily pulsating
rhythm paves the way to a stupendously raucous towards the end! I thought Atul’s
singing was a bit too soft for the tone the song was aiming for. Lafda Zhala too
is insanely catchy and rhythmic, with a captivating synth-pop sound to start
with, and even sounded a bit Middle-eastern when the first interlude started
playing. Ajay’s singing fits perfectly here.

Sid Sriram’s Hindi debut happens in superb style with the remaining 2 songs in
Jhund! In Laat Maar, while he is supported by a terrific chorus, and rap
(Sourabh Abhyankar), the man himself is spectacular on his home turf, a sweeping
soul-style melody. Ajay-Atul mount a mindboggling frame for Sid’s towering
singing to work and it all works so well! Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics too
stand out with searing lines like,
“Tu gareeb hai toh log sochte hai teri kya aukaat hai,
Woh jaante nahi naseeb ne tujhe bhi de rakki saugaat hai”
In contrast, Baadal Se Dosti is Sid’s solo, largely… since there’s a fantastic
chorus that joins him in the latter portion of the song. But the duo’s melody
aids Sid alternating between extremely mellow phrases (a note in which the song
ends too) and a pulsating ‘Jeena’ that breaks from the soft flow in magnificent
style. Overall, Ajay and Atul have a very familiar motivational/inspirational
theme in their hands, but they craft hugely listenable and inventive soundscapes
even within this template all over Jhund!

Shikayat – Gangubai Kathiawadi (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) – Hindi: Considering it’s
been quite some time we heard a full-fledged qawali in Hindi films, it is good
to hear a well-written one (lyrics by A.M.Turaz) in Shikayat. The qawali, sung
by Archana Gore, with an excellent backing chorus by Tarannum Malik Jain, Aditi
Paul, Kalpana, Dipti, Ruchna, Pragti, and Archana, is a great listen given the
melody that Sanjay lavishes on the effort.

Halamithi Habibo – Beast (Anirudh) – Tamil: This is Anirudh having unabashed fun
given his comfort level with director Nelson (as evidenced in the previous 2
films – Kolamaavu Kokila and Doctor). The result is a riot of a fun song that
makes mincemeat of faux-Arabic written by actor Sivakarthikeyan (and has the
potential to incite a diplomatic fracas between the Middle East and Tamil
Nadu/India) 🙂

Kalaavathi – Sarkaru Vaari Paata (Thaman S) – Telugu: Kalaavathi is clearly
Thaman reusing this Samajavaragama template, but he makes it work somehow. The
core tune is charming enough, but the ‘Maangalyam thandhunaane’ phrase seems
forced, though I’m sure we may come to imbibe it eventually. Sid Sriram, if you
have not seen him overacting in the video released (for now), is fantastic with
this singing, as always.

That ‘Maangalyam thandhunaane’ musical expression also took me on a different
thought: how many other songs, in any Indian language, have a tuned/musical
(properly musical; and not just recited as-is) version of those famous Hindu
wedding-centric verses? I clearly recall Rahman’s tune for the lines as part of
the Endrendrum Punnagai prelude in Alaipayuthey. Any other songs that you can
recall?

I started a running thread to crowdsource and track this:

Heli – SebastianPC524 (Ghibran) – Telugu: Ghibran’s last Telugu outing (Hero)
was largely disappointing, but he shows promise in the next… this one! Kapil
Kapilan’s singing holds the melody together wonderfully, and the backgrounds,
particularly the prelude, showcase a lot of Ghibran’s early form.

Sinnavaada – Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam (Jay Krish) – Telugu: I used my
familiarity with Jay Krish’s music from 2019’s Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru to assess
the first song from the film. But despite the plethora of interesting sounds, it
didn’t work for me in unison. But Jay does far better in this faux-folk melody!
The song mainly rests on Ananya Bhat’s fantastic command over the melody (with a
smaller part sung by Gowtham Bharadwaj).

Chillumani Kayalinte – Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan (Bijibal) – Malayalam: I have
been missing Bijibal’s music of late and this one comes as a pleasant whiff of
fresh air! His daughter Daya sings it with the charm of a child, as expected
(though I don’t see a context in the music video for a child singing the song).
The melody reminded me of yesteryear’s Ilayaraja – very beautiful and simple,
with an innate sweetness coming out of the simplicity.

Aakasham – Bheeshma Parvam (Sushin Shyam) – Malayalam: This is the soundscape
that I associate most with Sushin’s music and it continues to deliver so well!
The singing, by Hamsika Iyer and Kapil Kapilan (Kapil’s 2nd song this week!),
accentuates the haunting nature of the melody incredibly well. Sushin’s choice
of backgrounds keeps that in sync too, particularly Nathan’s Clarinet that so
wonderfully stands out. I loved the tabla-based anupallavi too that crescendoes
towards the pallavi brilliantly!

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