Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 106: On | On
Fully loaded musical week! 21 songs this week. JioSaavn has 19 songs and is missing Varane Avashyamund’s single (which has been released only via Dulquer’s own YouTube channel) and the theme song from Kannada film Dia (Soul of Dia). The latter is a particularly fantastic song that deserves to be up on more streaming platforms. YouTube has 20 songs and is missing only Chhavi Sodhani’s Banne Re (a JioSaavn Artists Original that may get a music video soon).
Rahogi Meri, Aur Tanha, Yeh Dooriyan, Shayad (Reprise), Parmeshwara, Dhak Dhak & Haan Tum Ho – Love Aaj Kal (Pritam) – Hindi: Pritam had already produced a masterpiece of a soundtrack for the earlier film with the title. That he produces a monster of a soundtrack for another film with the same title, for the same director, speaks volumes about the composer’s evolution and imagination! I have already written about the earlier 3 songs – Shayad, Haan Main Galat and Mehrama. There are 8 more songs and together, this is one heck of a soundtrack, on the lines of Pritam’s Jab Harry Met Sejal!
Rahogi Meri puts Pritam in Coldplay territory once again, and in Arijit’s searing vocals, this is an effortless winner. Aur Tanha has KK and need I say anything more? This one goes back to Pritam’s rock-band days of Life in a Metro, with a smattering of African-style chorus in the background! Yeh Dooriyan’s sweet tune is accentuated significantly by MOhit Chauhan dependable singing, while Haan Tum Ho is the only song that seems to be overdoing the whiny sound. But then, it gets Shilpa Rao to join Arijit Singh and that redeems the sound almost immediately.
The 2 songs that do not fit into the rest of the soundtrack’s sound (along with Haan Main Galat) are Parmeshwara and Dhak Dhak. Both are absolutely enjoyable, though. Parmeshwara is a rap-style ode to Lord Shiva led by Raftaar, with a hilarious hymn-style phrase! Dhak Dhak is the oddest one out in the soundtrack, with a Calypso/Carribean touch! As Nikita Gandhi and Akasa go Dhak Dhak, the song picks up pace and becomes a head-shaking indulgence!
Arey Pyaar Kar Le – Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (Bappi Lahiri/Tanishk Bagchi) – Hindi: Tanishk Bagchi adds a phenomenal spunk to the already super funky Disco classic by Bappi Lahiri and the result is one massive floor-banger. The original was alluding to yaar in the opposite sex while the recreation upends that notion in service of the film’s theme, much like how people started seeing new meaning into George Michael’s earlier songs after he announced that he was gay. Full marks to a A-list star like Ayushmann Khurrana for headlining and carrying this evolution!
Channa Ve – Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship (Akhil Sachdeva) – Hindi: Akhil, Nasha band’s vocalist made his Bollywood composing debut with Humsafar from Badrinath Ki Dulhania. That was strictly functional, but he does far, far better here, both in terms of the tune and the singing, where he is joined by Mansheel Gujral. In fact, it’s their singing and the energetic background sound that keeps the song steadily likeable.
Firse Machayenge – Emiway Bantai/Tony James (Hindi): Pulsating rap with hilarious lyrics that are apt for Valentine’s Day 🙂 Tony James’ music traverses through the usual repetitive framing of sounds and phrases, but that goes well with Emiway’s edgy rap style.
Banna Re – Chhavi Sodhani (Indipop/Hindi): Composed by Chhavi Sodhani, and sung by Chhavi and Bawa Sahni, this one’s a catchy song with a Rajasthani tinge. The composition reminded me of Sachin-Jigar’s musical style, as also Maatibaani’s music. That’s definitely a complement!
Aasai Thathumbucha – Justin Prabhakaran (Indipop/Tamil): A surprise non-film single from Justin, for Valentine’s Day 2020, directed by Nelson Venkatesan of Oru Naal Koothu fame. Justin keeps the tune low-key and tantalizingly low-key, with wailing violins for company. Teejay Arunasalam, the lead singer and star in the video, holds the brief rather well in terms of the vocals.
Kadhal Kozhappudhey – Oh My Kadavule (Leon James) – Tamil: What started an average soundtrack gets a fantastic closure with the 3rd good song by Leon James. Leon ropes in rocker Sanjeev Thomas (who himself has been doing incredibly well in Malayalam film music with soundtracks like Manoharam) for punchy rock number on the lines of The Doors.
Veyyon Silli – Soorarai Pottru (G.V.Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: GVP gets many things perfectly right in the song. His own captivating tune and the jaunty rhythms is one. Vivek’s lyrics, full of interesting wordplay is another. The best part is the choice of Agam’s lead singer, Harish Sivaramakrishnan. Harish is stunningly good in his rendition of this high-pitched melody.
Kutti Story – Master (Anirudh) – Tamil/English: Anirudh returns to his Kolaveri template, in an obvious nod to that global chartbuster. Just like that song, there is a generous sprinkling of Tanglish mix, and has the lead actor singing it too. And cheekily, it uses a dialog that Vijay Sethupathi is known for (from Vikram Vedhaa) as the opening for a Vijay song, though both are featured in the film. It’s all very, very catchy and enjoyable. A special mention for the music video animation by Realworks Studios, Coimbatore.
Raletti – World Famous Lover (Gopi Sundar) – Telugu: A very, very charming tune that, sung beautifully by Divya S Menon. If only the tune and sound didn’t sound so similar to Manikanth Kadri’s 2018 Kannada song, Shaakuntle Sikkalu from the film, Naduve Antaravirali.
Mathi Kanna Ullathu Chollan (Unnikrishnan Song) – Varane Avashyamund (Alphons Joseph) – Malayalam: A solid ‘fun’ song 🙂 The tune’s tone shifts often, including a rap portion and a joyous outburst. But Alphons keeps all tightly knit within his grasp, in a thoroughly enjoyable package! The video is a lovely watch too!
Vazhkaiyin Payanam – Sunadhshankar (Indipop/Malayalam): Even though it takes almost 2 minutes in the music video to get to the song (with the lengthy dialog prelude even alluding to the lead actress as ‘Gautham Menon film heroine’), it does pay off! Sunadhshankar has a really involving tune with a strong Middle Eastern undercurrent. The interlude sounds and instruments are pretty inventive, and San Jaimt’s rap too works very well in the flow. Singer Harisankar KS spectacularly holds everything together.
Soul of Dia (Theme Song) – Dia (Ajaneesh Loknath) – Kannada: Oh boy, what a mesmerizing melody! Ajaneesh hits it out of the park with a brilliantly lush melody and layering it inside that lilting rhythm! And then the singers – Ajaneesh gets Chinmayi and Sanjith Hegde for the duet and that choice works absolute wonders!!
Joru Joraagi – Thurthu Nirgamana (Dossmode) – Kannada: I wasn’t that impressed with the film’s first single, Somberi (The Lazy Song). But Dheerendra Doss a.k.a Dossmode gets this one right. IN what sounds almost like a companion piece to Justin’s Aasai Thathumbucha, tune-wise, this one is warm and serene, getting the best out of Suneel Rao and Varijashree Venugopal’s singing.
Whispering Hues – Varun Sunil, ft. Rajhesh Vaidhya (Indipop/Instrumental): Even as Masala Coffee’s lead vocalist Sooraj Santhosh has gone in his own way, here’s the band’s other vocalist going solo while remaining in the band! Varun’s composition is largely instrumental barring Malavika Rajhesh’s background humming. The star of the song is obviously Rajhesh Vaidya and his magical veena! The overall sound Varun puts together is ambient and very new-age, and the veena brings a fantastic Indian angle to it.
