Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 115: On | On
16 songs this week. JioSaavn is missing only one song – Shadow and Light’s Yaarum Illai, a song I highly recommend that you do not miss. YouTube has all 16 songs.
Do Ka Chaar, Kaand, Gupchup & Koi Nahi – Chaman Bahaar (Anshuman Mukherjee, and Kalyanji-Anandji) – Hindi: A really strong and surprising outing by composer Anshuman Mukherjee, a name that doesn’t ring a bell at all! Debutant? Right from Do Ka Chaar’s dreamy sound (and hilarious lyrics by Apurva Dhar Badgaiyan!!) that Sonu Nigam aces, to the superb Amit Trivedi’ish sound in Kaand (really well sung by Mohan Kannan, to the darn sweet and lively Gupchup with a neat bluegrass’y edge (wonderfully sung by Vibha Saraf) the man surprises with the range of tunes and sound! Even in Koi Nahi, the recreation of Kalyanji Anandji’s Bairaag number Sare Shaher Mein Aap Sa, the effort is confident and very impressive!
Tum Ho – Babloo Bachelor (Indraadip Dasgupta) – Hindi: Oh wow, what a song! Indraadip’s ghazal-style melody gets a superb modern touch. But it is Arijit’s phenomenal singing that carries this song stupendously well!
Kaathodu Kaathanen – Jail (G.V.Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: Much like Yuvan Shankar Raja, it is disconcerting to see GVP use singers more for their star value than for other qualitative reasons like diction. Dhanush seems to be passionately singing about penne pasta! It’s not just that – in other places too, it is incredibly jarring to hear Dhanush utter ‘KaNmaNi poo pookka’ as ‘Kanmani poo pooka’ even as Aditi Rao Hydari seems to be keener on getting her diction right! Things are so obviously bad when both sing together ‘Irukku aNaithaaye’ where Dhanush says ‘anaithaaye’ and Aditi gets it right! It’s all a pity because the tune is very, very good! It’s like reading a great essay with terrible typos in it.
En Peru Enna Kelu – Katteri (Prasad S.N) – Tamil: Prasad, a student of Rahman’s KMMC, debuted with a decent enough soundtrack in Yaamirukka Bayame back in 2014! While I don’t think I have heard anything else from him in the meanwhile, it’s good to see him get back his debut’s director for another film – that’s a good partnership. The song’s racy, swing style reminded me of Jil Jung Juk’s Red Road’u, though this song has a zing of its own, thanks mainly to Jonita’s spirited singing. Prasad adds his charm too with the mid-song turn into kuthu – good fun!
Kolame – Penguin (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: What starts off almost like a rejected/reprise tune from Kabali thankfully moves into a different zone. Susha, the singer, is brilliant, particularly in the anupallavi that starts with ‘Kulavum ezhisayum’. And true to his style, Santhosh plays around with a different tune for the charanam (Enai thodum adheedhame)! Haunting tune with an undercurrent of sadness.
Yaarum Illai – Shadow and Light (Indipop/Tamil): I noticed that this was mentioned as Shadow and Light’s (Pavithra Chari and Anindo Bose) first Tamil song. I recall their highly listenable 2018 album, Sabar. This song goes beyond Sabar’s sound, and seemed much closer to their 2016 album, Elements and 2014 eponymous debut album. Brilliant, soulful tune, and Pavithra’s singing is easily the stunning highlight, with Haricharan offering excellent support.
Muthai Tharu – Ghibran’s Spiritual Series (Devotional): Ghibran’s ambition shows, even though some of the musical interludes go so far away from the verses’ point that treating them merely as a musical piece… jars, in those places. But yes, Ananthu’s punchy singing is excellent to bring these iconic and Arunagirinaadhar’s beautifully-Tamil lines.
Katharaayadam Reprise – Gang Leader (Anirudh) – Telugu: Anirudh already delivered a knock-out soundtrack for this film. His reprise of ‘Ninnu Choose Anandamlo’ is an enchanting mix – the same melodic high, but with a wonderful restraint as against the frenetic electronic mix of the original. And Anirudh’s own singing is a great foil for Sid’s original.
Arikil – Matadoria (Indipop/Malayalam): A simple, sweet melody by Matadoria! The song’s charm is in the lively simplicity and of course, Amal Antony Agustin’s fantastic vocals. The composer’s ingenuity shows in the way the anupallavi and bridge to the Nee Yaaro hook is layered in. The video remained quite engaging too, till the corny ending 🙂
Shanto Dupur – Rupak Tiary (Indipop/Bangla): A very competent tune handled darn well by singer-composer Rupak. The prominent musical phrase that underlines the tune seems like a cop-out despite the initial catchiness, however.
Hariye Jai, Jalshagor & Ekti Meye – Porichoy (Song Route – Arnab, Apurba & Anirban) – Indipop/Bangla: Song Route’s album, overall, is a very pleasant listen. More than the racier, grungy songs that they attempt, the softer songs come out really well. I really liked the gentle, retro-rock style of Harite Jai and Ekti Meye. I also Jalshagor for a very odd reason – I imagined it as a Jatin-Lalit imitation of Madonna’s La Isla Bonita!!
