Here we go again…at the end of another calendar year…another annual round-up. 2010 was a phenomenal year for Hindi film music and Indipop; an average year for all 4 South Indian language film music.
The lists here are in order of preference.
Hindi
Mainstream Hindi film music had a wonderful year, yet again. It was clearly Amit Trivedi’s show..a fact that he sealed with a national award for Dev.D! The other composers who really made a mark include Vishal and Shekhar. Their consistency in making highly listenable music was marred only by the kind of projects that came to them. And, some of the most unheard, underrated music made its mark too, at least on Milliblog – soundtracks like Soch Lo, for instance. When it comes to listing the top 3 soundtracks of the year, Uddan tops the list clearly for me – it was a triumph of a fantastic film and even better music by Amit. Vishal Shekhar’s Anjaana Anjaani may be have drubbed severely as a film, but it was one of the few soundtracks of the year that was listenable back to back, almost every single track of it. I also had a tough time choosing the 3rd one – it was a difficult toss between No One Killed Jessica and Striker, but I choose to go with the latter because of the sheer vibrancy a multi-composer soundtrack like that offered.
As for the actual list of songs, considering the number of requests that came last year asking me to list the ones I had removed from the top 10, I’ve added an extended list of the top 30!
Composer of the year: Amit Trivedi
Top 3 Hindi OSTs of 2010
01. Udaan (Amit Trivedi)
02. Anjaana Anjaani (Vishal Shekhar)
03. Striker (Yuvan Shankar Raja, Amit Trivedi, Swanand Kirkire, Shailendra Barve, Vishal Bharadwaj and Blaaze)
Top 10 Hindi songs of 2010
01. Nadi mein…Ek udaan (Udaan, Amit Trivedi)
02. Ranjha ranjha (Raavan, A R Rahman)
03. Mera yahaan kaun (Soch Lo, Nitesh Pires)
04. Dilli (No One Killed Jessica, Amit Trivedi)
05. Hairat (Anjaana Anjaani, Vishal Shekhar)
06. Uff teri ada (Karthik Calling Karthik, Shankar Ehsaan Loy)
07. Lehrein (Aisha, Amit Trivedi)
08. Man lafanga (Lafangey Parindey, R.Anandh)
09. Tarkeebein (Band Baaja Baaraat, Salim Sulaiman)
10. Adhoore (Break Ke Baad, Vishal Shekhar)
The 10 that did not make it!
11. Cham cham (Striker, Shailendra Barve)
12. Madno (Lamhaa, Mithoon)
13. Call me dil (Jhootha Hi Sahi, A R Rahman)
14. Jab mila tu (I Hate Luv Storys, Vishal Shekhar)
15. Yun hua (Striker, Vishal Bharadwaj)
16. Geet mein (Udaan, Amit Trivedi)
17. Aitbaar (No One Killed Jessica, Amit Trivedi)
18. Dedh inch oopar (Soch Lo, Charu Moohan)
19. Aisha (Aisha, Amit Trivedi)
20. Kaare kaare badra (Mirch, Monty Sharma)
The remaining 10 that I had to rudely drop out of the top 20!
21. Bombay Bombay (Striker, Amit Trivedi)
22. Hey ya (Karthik Calling Karthik, Shankar Ehsaan Loy)
23. Dil to bachcha hai ji (Ishqiya, Vishal Bharadwaj)
24. Aye khuda (Paathshaala, Hanif Sheikh)
25. Pee loon (Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, Pritam)
26. Tujhe bhula diya (Anjaana Anjaani, Vishal Shekhar)
27. Munni badnaam (Dabangg, Lalit Pandit)
28. Mayya Yeshodha (Jhootha Hi Sahi, A R Rahman)
29. Title song (Guzaarish, Sanjay Leela Bhansali)
30. Sheila ki jawani (Tees Maar Khan, Vishal Shekhar)
**
Tamil
If the Hindi film music scene was Amit Trivedi’s show, the Tamil film music scene belonged to young composer Thaman S. Thaman showed a lot of promise in 2009, but soared really high with many soundtracks in 2010. He has definitely made a mark and I expect some bigger banners to opt for his services in the years to come – the kind of films he has worked on so far seem much smaller, at least in Tamil, unlike in Telugu where he’s composing strangely average music for stars like Nagarjuna and Ravi Teja. Harris Jayaraj also made a resounding comeback with a solo soundtrack even as I await his ‘Ko’, likely to be released around Christmas (so, would be added in next year’s round-up. logically). The strange thing with Harris is that he is hardly experimenting and seems to be cementing his style even more – sometimes it falls flat, but in other times, like Engeyum Kaadhal, it rocks! Vidyasagar made his presence felt with an incredibly nuanced soundtrack in Ilagnian, a soundtrack that I made the blunder of assigning only a 100, initially. The kind of music Vidyasagar has arranged for this film is breathtaking and is delightfully inventive.
Like the Hindi top 30, I have added the top 25 tracks for Tamil, just going by feedback of earlier years. Other composers, who in my mind made their marks with limited output included GV Prakash Kumar (Aadukalam), Vijay Ebenezer (a Harris Jayaraj clone, in Kanden), Imman (Mynaa) and Ramesh Krishna (Aanandhapurathu Veedu).
Composer of the year: Thaman S
Top 3 Tamil OSTs of 2010
01. Mundhinam Partheney (Thaman S)
02. Engeyum Kaadhal (Harris Jayaraj)
03. Ilaignan (Vidyasagar)
Top 10 Tamil songs of 2010
01. Paniye (Ayyanar, Thaman S)
02. Idhu varai (Goa, Yuvan Shankar Raja)
03. Aaraadha kobamillai (Bale Pandiya, Devan Ekambaram)
04. Nenjil nenjil (Engeyum Kaadhal, Harris Jayaraj)
05. Imai thoodhane (Ilaignan, Vidyasagar)
06. Aaromale (Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, A R Rahman)
07. Mundhinam Paartheney (Mundhinam Paartheney, Thaman S)
08. Ayyayo (Aadukalam, GV Prakash Kumar)
09. Iragai pole (Naan Mahan Alla, Yuvan Shankar Raja)
10. Kaadhal anukkal (Endhiran, A R Rahman)
The 10 that did not make it!
11. Indre indre (Mundhinam Paartheney, Thaman S)
12. Thozha vaanam (Ilaignan, Vidyasagar)
13. Jingu chikka (Mynaa, D.Imman)
14. Yaathe (Aadukalam, GV Prakash Kumar)
15. Thee illai (Engeyum Kaadhal, Harris Jayaraj)
16. Narmada (Kanden, Vijay Ebenezer)
17. Chithira vaanam (Aanandhapurathu Veedu, Ramesh Krishna)
18. Paithiyam pudikkudhu (Baana, Yuvan Shankar Raja)
19. Enna kurayo (Mandhira Punnagai, Vidyasagar)
20. Kuthudhu kodaydhu (Nagaram, Thaman S)
The remaining 5 that I had to rudely drop out of the top 20!
21. Missing something (Aridhu Aridhu, Thaman S)
22. Oru nila (Chikku Bukku, Hariharan & Leslie Lewis)
23. Vaanavillum (Nil Gavani Selladhey, Selvaganesh)
24. Neeyum naanum (Mynaa, D.Imman)
25. Oothu thanni (Magizhchi, Vidyasagar)
**
Telugu
I know this is going to be tough…the fact that I chose a lesser known, lesser liked soundtrack like Kedi. I have heard a lot of complaints about the bad pronunciation in the soundtrack, but as an outsider who doesn’t know Telugu, I really do not have the power to go that deep into language nuances. From a musical point of view, Kedi represented a superbly rich musical spectrum – Sandeep assembles some of his best world music’ish sounds and I have lost count of the number of time I play ‘Short and sweet’ on the way to the airport, early in the morning, amidst desolate streets of Bengaluru! Last year’s star, Mickey J Meyer remained largely muted this year, barring his wonderful work in Maro Charitra remake. Choosing the top song was also a tough task – and in the end I was forced to choose the one that stayed on my mind the longest…Chakri’s song from Vamsi’s Saradaga Kasepu.
Composer of the year: Sandeep Chowta
Top 3 Telugu OSTs of 2010
01. Kedi (Sandeep Chowta)
02. Komaram Puli (A R Rahman)
03. Vedam (MM Keeravani)
Top 10 Telugu songs of 2010
01. Vennela chinukala (Saradaga Kasepu, Chakri)
02. Short and sweet (Kedi, Sandeep Chowta)
03. Telugammai (Maryada Ramanna, MM Keeravani)
04. Ye teega puvvuno (Maro Charitra, Mickey J Meyer)
05. Amma thale (Komaram Puli, A R Rahman)
06. Malle malle (Andari Banduvaya, Anoop Rubens)
07. Enduko enthaki (Kedi, Sandeep Chowta)
08. Malli puttani (Vedam, MM Keeravani)
09. Andala lokam (Gaayam 2, Ilayaraja)
10. Gadi thalupulu (Mirapakay, Thaman S)
**
Kannada
It may seem unfair to list a Tamil composer as the leading composer of Kannada film music for 2010, but Joshua Sridhar has proven it beyond doubt. His brand of music seems to be on the wane in Tamil, but in Kannada he is definitely finding a solid ground for himself. Veteran Mano Murthy continued his appeal with Yograj Bhatt’s Pancharangi, while Harikrishna (a Kannada version of Chakri, in my opinion) was fabulous in the soundtrack of Puneet Rajkumar starrer, Jackie. Raghu Dixit swooped the Kannada list towards the end of last year with Just maath Maathalli and could possibly do an encore with his soon-to-be-released ‘Kote’ starring Prajwal Devaraj. But considering it is still not out, I’d perhaps need to include it in the list for next year, much like Harris Jayaraj’s Ko.
I have a lot of hope from AP Arjun in 2011 – he has shown consistent promise in the past few years and could be the dark horse that people are obviously missing. Other composers who shined in 2010 include Manikanth Kadri (Prithvi) and Vasu Dixit (Bengaloored).
Composer of the year: Joshua Sridhar
Top 3 Kannada OSTs of 2010
01. Gaana Bajaana (Joshua Sridhar)
02. Pancharangi (Mano Murthy)
03. Jackie (Harikrishna)
Top 10 Kannada songs of 2010
01. Naanu eega (Gaana Bajaana, Joshua Sridhar)
02. Elhogali shivne (Bengaloored, Vasu Dixit)
03. Life ishtene (Pancharangi, Mano Murthy)
04. Nenapidu nenapidu (Prithvi, Manikanth Kadri)
05. Nannanena (Thamassu, Sandeep Chowta)
06. Shiva anta hogutidde (Jackie, Harikrishna)
07. Dantheda bombena (Huduga Hudugi, Joshua Sridhar)
08. Galiye nodu baa (Sanchari, AP Arjun)
09. Nee hanga nodabyada (Hoo, Harikrishna)
10. Modala todala (Gubbi, AP Arjun)
**
Malayalam
Malayalam music was a mixed bag and considering the fact that I do not listen to every single soundtrack released, I may have missed a lot too. Plus the question of nativity – as an outsider, my expectation and perception will be dramatically different from a Keralite. While that could be a problem, it could also be seen as an opportunity to broaden your scope! Ramesh Narayanan’s ghazal-loaded soundtrack for Makaramanju clearly stands tall amongst all soundtracks. Gopi Sundar’s immensely enjoyable soundtrack for Anwar and Shaan’s fabulously put together soundtrack for Vineet Srinivasan starrer, Malarvadi Arts Club rounds off the top 3 soundtrack.
Composer of the year: Ramesh Narayanan
Top 3 OSTs of Malayalam in 2010
01. Makaramanju (Ramesh Narayanan)
02. Anwar (Gopi Sundar)
03. Malarvaadi Arts Club (Shaan Rahman)
Top 10 Malayalam songs of 2010
01. Then thennale (Makaramanju, Ramesh Narayanan)
02. Aaro padunnu dhoore (Kadha thudarunnu, Ilayaraja)
03. Kizhakku pookkum (Anwar, Gopi Sundar)
04. Poril theyyaram (Chekavar, Rahul Raj)
05. Priyankari (The Thriller, Dharan)
06. Lavan kashmalan (Malarvaadi Arts Club, Shaan Rahman)
07. Saalambaakkam (Pullimaan, Sharreth)
08. Njan (Anwar, Gopi Sundar)
09. Neelaponmane (Ringtone, Shaan Rahman)
10. Saarangiyil (Vandae Maatharam, D.Imman)
**
Non-film
In a way, the year belonged to non-film music. Bada boom, by Ranjit Barot is one of the best I have heard in recent times, while the Andhra-based Amogha: A Concert is the lesser heardm but deserves-to-be-heard album of the year. Many people told me that I made a mistake by not reviewing Rahul Sharma’s Rainchanted, but also thanked me for adding it in the top songs list in one of the months – it is a wonderful collection of songs and deserves to be in the top 5 albums list here. Pakistani music was very average in 2010, while the international list may really not match any other list given how less I listen to and how narrow my likes are.
Indipop
01. Bada Boom (Ranjit Barot)
02. Cafe Fluid (Naveen Kumar)
03. Tarunam (Sikkil Gurucharan & Anil Srinivasan)
04. Amogha: A Concert (Prudhvi Chandra, Geetha Madhuri, Pranavi and Dr. Vyzarsu Balasubrahmanyam)
05. Rainchanted (Rahul Sharma)
The sub-continent/ Pakistani
Babi sanem jaanam (Coke Studio Season 3, Zeb & Haniya)
Meri duniya (Wajood Hai Mera, Wajood Band)
International
01. The Union – Elton John And Leon Russell
02. Hands All Over – Maroon 5
03. OST, 127 Hours – A R Rahman and others
