Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 73: On | On
17 songs this week, and after a really long time, all 17 are present in both the playlists! I have embedded the folk version of Ambersar De Papad by Dolly Guleria for comparison, below (while the new song is on both playlists).
Turpeya – Bharat (Vishal-Shekhar) – Hindi: In the style of ‘Tu Hi Re’ (Dil Se), with a similar hypnotic melody. The composing duo layer a fantastic, punchy rhythm and snazzy EDM to go with it and Sukhwinder Singh owns it like he usually does.
Ambersar De Papad – Chandigarh Amritsar Chandigarh (Jatinder Shah) – Punjabi: Jatinder Shah takes the popular Punjabi folk song made popular by Dolly Guleria and makes it a catchy pop song. He has excellent help from the film’s leading man + singer Gippy Grewal, and particularly Sunidhi Chauhan!
Pularaadha – Dear Comrade (Justin Prabhakaran) – Tamil: Close on the heels of Monster’s Andhimaalai Neram comes another Justin-Sid combo! Considering this was the song featured in the teaser, contrastingly playing over an ultra violent scene (that did end in a passionate kiss), this may have been the first song by the combo, I assume.
There’s a certain sense of serenity when the song starts… it fits perfectly with Karthik Netha’s delightfully clear and rich Tamil lines (who also wrote Andhimaalai Neram, btw!). “Pularaadha kaalai thanile, nilavodu pesum mazhayil” is incredibly rich imagination, expanding on early morning that hasn’t seen light yet, with a rain that speaks to the still-on-the-sky moon! And the creativity in ‘Nanayaadha nizhalai pole yengum kaadhal’, signifying the early tentativeness of love like the shadow that hasn’t got wet in the rain yet! This is brilliant stuff. Justin’s music is incredibly apt, and Sid’s singing just takes it to a newer plane!
The other interesting connect between Pularaadha and Andhimaalai Neram (besides Justin Prabhakaran, Sid Sriram and Karthik Netha): while the former connects early morning with the moon, the latter connects late evening with the moon (though you could argue that in the latter, Karthik is referring to the lover as ‘nila’ and not the literal moon) 🙂
Karadu Moradu Poove (Joyful Version) – Bakrid (D.Imman) – Tamil: After the Sid Sriram-sung Aalankuruvigalaa, I really wanted to like Lorry Lucky Lorry, with its Iktara-backdrop used in a bluegrass-style, but the tune hardly worked for me. Karadu Moradu Poove, however, fares much better. The sarangi-prelude and the song’s melody accentuated by Narayanan Ravishankar work well in tandem. When Narayanan lands the ‘Tarararum’ hook, the song takes off wonderfully. The song’s other version (called ‘sober’) has excellent singing by Punya Selva, but the tune doesn’t sound that nice in the sober variant.
Avizhaai – Madras Gig Season 2 (Darbuka Siva) – Tamil: Mr.X-fame Darbuka Siva produces a smashingly funky song featuring Sanjana Kalmanje’s groovy singing. The true hero of the song, however, is Madhan Karky’s verse that feature very good Tamil. “Aadai Thurandhum Ingu Nirvaanam Illai. Mei Neengiyum Ingu MaraNam Illai”.
Oru Naal – Angelina (D.Imman) – Tamil: Imman’s tune is typically his template but what works in his favor is the current ruler of playback in the South, Sid Sriram’s singing. Sid breathes life into what could be a good-enough song in another singer’s voice and owns the song completely. Imman does help too, with the catchy instrumental hook.
Un Kadhalai – Penin Velai 999 Mattume (Judah Sandhy) – Tamil: After ABCD (Telugu), Kannada composer Judah makes his Tamil debut too, in a short span! The song is not on the level of his Kannada/Telugu music, but does have spunk. I look forward to more songs from the oddly titled film’s soundtrack. Special mention to Lahari Tamil for not listing the singer names in the YouTube upload, and not sharing the song with streaming platforms (they did only last week, across Gaana, Wynk, Saavn etc.) despite having added the song on YouTube in February.
Mailaanjiye – Sivappu Manjal Pachai (Siddhu Kumar) – Tamil: Debutant Siddhu has a more-than-serviceable melody here. It sounds a bit like Imman’s style when the Mailaanjiye hook appears, and that’s a compliment.
Yevathive & Hey Yela – Hippi (Nivas K Prasanna) – Telugu: Nivas’s Telugu debut song is nice to listen but not particularly different or inventive. Steve Vatz’s guitar and the calypso’ish sound keep it lively and likeable. Hey Yela falls on the same zone too – very breezy, without sounding different or new. Sathya Prakash carries it along with Keba’s guitar.
Koyilamma – Sita (Anup Rubens) – Telugu: Koyilamma’s sound is very reminiscent of Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s dholak music that even Tamil composer Bharadwaj used to great effect in Roja Koottam’s Apple Penne Neeyaaro. It’s catchy and very easy on the ears, thanks also to Armaan Malik’s singing.
Theeru Maaruthondhe – 28°C (Shravan Bharadwaj) – Telugu: A surprisingly Yuvan-style composition from Shravan, largely due to the ear-worm’y celtic musical base. The pitch change towards the end is also a neat twist!
Parayuvan – Ishq (Jakes Bejoy) – Malayalam: Sid Sriram’s Malayalam debut? Very well sung by Neha S Nair too. And Jakes back in Malayalam. Very pleasant (albeit a bit too predictable) tune, and the backgrounds are even better.
Pranthan Kandal – Thottappan (Leela L Girish Kuttan) – Malayalam: After last month’s Athippoovin from Oronnonnara Pranayakadha, composer Leela L Girish Kuttan strikes again! The immersive melody is a beautiful musical conversation between Pradeep Kumar and Sithara Krishnakumar, with Nathan’s clarinet interfering to stupendous effect! Keba’s guitar backdrop is perfect too! Lovely music!
Udalodu Uyirupol – Oronnonnara Pranayakadha (Anand Madhusoodanan) – Malayalam: Composer Anand Madhusoodanan follows up his Malabari Penne with another very listenable song from Oronnonnara Pranayakadha! The tune and packaging reminded me of Mudhal Kanave from Harris Jayaraj’s Majnu, including the 2nd interlude that also seemed reminiscent of the ‘sololeyo’ 2nd intelrude chorus in the older song.
Joru Paattu – Amar (Arjun Janya) – Kodava: A Kodava dance song! That’s a wonderfully welcome thing. And they get a Malayalee (Jassie Gift) to sing the song… even better! Catchy song that delivers on the simple promise. The video promises to be a multi-starrer!
Rescue Me – OneRepublic: A brand new single from the band that produces earworms with alarming consistency. This upbeat song is no exception. Plus that video, featuring Cody Bingham of Dancing with the Stars: Juniors! Truly cinema-style, using dance and superpowers to face-off with bullies – hugely imaginative and thoroughly enjoyable!
