Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 81: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
12 songs this week. Malayalam music seems to have given up on JioSaavn and trusts only YouTube, it looks like! All the 4 Malayalam songs this week are missing from JioSaavn. YouTube has 11 songs and is missing only the Marathi Querida Querido from Girlfriend and that too only because the song is inside a jukebox.
The Wakhra Song – Judgemental Hai Kya (Tanishk Bagchi and Badshah) – Hindi/Punjabi: Tanishk Bagchi is everywhere, as usual, remixing and creating singles in this film or that. I wasn’t really impressed with Psycho Saiyaan from Saaho and Zilla Hilela from Jabariya Jodi, this remix of Badshah’s Wakhra Swag passes my test. The original seems to have jumped multiple labels – first released by Times Music in 2015 and raking up 209 million views! And then with Speed Records in 2018, and now, finally with Zee Music as Tanishk’s remix. Tanishk cleverly adds pace to the original that was rather oddly paced for the rap/lyrics and music.
Paagal – Badshah: The first ticket-to-fame is the 91 million+ views on YouTube in just 3 days! Is that some new world record? The song is very, very catchy, no doubt, but not something I’d associate with that big a number, but that’s just me. To paraphrase Badshah, Yeh Duniya Paagal Hai Paagal Hai Paagal Hai!
Querida Querido – Girlfriend (Hrishikesh-Saurabh-Jasraj) – Marathi: The composing trio’s tune here is similar to the title song, with an extra dash of the Latino sound. It’s a compellingly joyous tune and the lively singing by Shalmali Kholgade and Jasraj Joshi adds to the fun.
Adugula Madgula – Baba (Rohan Rohan) – Marathi: There’s an easy, rhythmic tune in Adugula Madgula that makes it endearing almost immediately. Combined with Marathi language’s beautiful sound (and Rohan Pradhan’s singing, in large part too), it’s a lovely, lilting listen.
Chaaruthanthi – Munirathna Kurukshetra (V.Harikrishna) – Kannada: While Hari tries the M.M.Keeravani sound in the first single (Saahore, not to be confused with a similarly titled song from Baahubali or Prabhas’ Saaho), Chaaruthanthi is more his trademark sound that he knows and does well. It has an Ilayaraja’ish edge that Hari does particularly well. Though I’d have loved to hear Kannada singers sing for this ambitious film, you cannot fault singers like Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal at all – both are phenomenally good.
Banda Nodu Pailwaan – Pailwaan (Arjun Janya) – Kannada: The 2nd large project with Lahari as the record label, after Munirathna Kurukshetra, this week. This one is larger, with a pan-Indian, multi-lingual ambition. And takes composer Arjun Janya to Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam too! The song is very-Arjun Janya – well-mounted, larger-than-life sound with a tune that has very well-rhyming lyrics in almost all languages. This is also the 2nd South Indian film in recent times that has pan-Indian goals, the other one being the Telugu-first Saaho.
Kanneer Meghangal – Sachin (Shaan Rahman) – Malayalam: Good to hear Shaan Rahman’s music after quite some time. Even this film had a few singles released a few weeks/months ago – not sure why this staggered release, and the film’s release. The melody is something you can easily relate to Shaan – a soft pathos-laden tune with lovely singing by Hesham Abdul Wahab and Bindhu. The long’ish phrases in the pallavi are particularly beautiful.
Illikoodinullil & Ambaram – Sathyam Paranja Viswasikkuvo (Shaan Rahman and Viswajith) – Malayalam: The second Shaan Rahman song of the week. Delightfully simple and likeable tune, with a particularly lovely flute phrase by Josy Alappuzha and a fantastic percussion from Kerala folk music. Pitch-perfect singing by Sudeep Kumar and Merin Gregory. The other song from the same film has music by Viswajith! It has a spritely tune that traverses through multiple genres, including Western Classical in the 2nd interlude and Kerala’s traditional music in the bridge from anupallavi to pallavi in a particularly imaginative stretch. And that ending is a complete surprise!! It’s a fantastic mix that works very smoothly, led by KS Harisankar’s singing.
Jaathikkathottam – Thanneer Mathan Dinangal (Justin Varghese) – Malayalam: The video looks like a sequel to Kumbalangi Nights, with Frankie’s life being expanded into a spin-off even as he has moved to cricket, from football (he is called Jaison, in this film though). Justin’s tune and sound is especially fantastic – a wonderfully constructed melody that’s a slow burner with superb singing by Soumya Ramakrishnan and Devadutt Bijibal. There’s also an eclectic mix of sounds, with the nadaswaram and thavil topping the list, besides an excellent vocal chorus featuring Daya Bijibal, Pavni Prakash, Anamika Prakash, Megha, Vygha, Girish.A.D and Dinoy.
Thaarame Thaarame – Kadaram Kondan (Ghibran) – Tamil: While I didn’t like the other new song by Ghibran this week (from the Tamil film Sixer), this one I can work with. It isn’t particularly unique, but it grows thanks to Sid Sriram’s singing and the little nuances Ghibran incorporates in the background.
My Best Life – KSHMR ft. Mike Waters: Oddly catchy, with a lovely dose of electronic sounds and a bizarre video to boot! The vocal slices are addictive, no doubt and the single cover is a hoot, in what looks like a Hindu Godman but is not 🙂
