Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 186: On Spotify | On
11 songs this week! All the songs are available on YouTube and Spotify.
The Punjaabban Song – JugJugg Jeeyo (Abrar Ul Haq, Tanishk Bagchi) – Hindi/Punjabi: If you look past all the acrimonious exchange and allegations between Abrar (the original composer from Pakistan) and T-series (which has officially bought the rights for the song from a music label), this is a very competent recreation. Tanishk evens out the late-90s/early-2000s edge to produce a high-energy variant that stays true to the original largely and yet amps up the catchiness.
Kone Komaane – The Legend (Harris Jayaraj) – Tamil: The film’s soundtrack has very Harris songs that involve a lot of sounds that would remind you of snatches of many of his earlier songs – this is table-stakes with a Harris album anyway these days. While there are impressive sound segments in the other songs like Vaadi Vaasal and Popopo, the only song that worked for me as a whole was Kone Komaane. The Tamil uttered by the singers, Javed Ali and Chandana Balakalyan, leaves a LOT to be desired and takes me back to Udit Narayan’s Tamil singing days. But Harris tune and the energetic backgrounds keep the song in great stead! The mridangam usage in the song took me back to Majnu’s Mudhar Kanave.
Dhada Dhada – The Warriorr (Devi Sri Prasad) – Telugu: This is the other DSP, one who gives up his foot-tapping rhythms for producing extremely Raja’ish melodies! Haricharan sings the gorgeous tune effortlessly while DSP’s backgrounds are where the real magic is!
There is just so much Ilayaraja in the song’s approach, including the interludes, but the influence is subtle and not explicit.
Murari Vaa – Sarkaru Vaari Paata (Thaman S) – Telugu: The song that was shot, but edited out of Sarkaru Vaari Paata (the makers chose to retain the more massy Ma…Ma…Mahesha, apparently) is now back in the movie after a month of its theatrical release! I can understand the choice between this one and Ma…Ma…Mahesha if it was based on so-called ‘massiness’, but this one has a melodic charm in true Thaman style and is no pushover.
Andala Raasi – Pakka Commercial (Jakes Bejoy) – Telugu: Jakes has been the music man behind quite a few films across Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films so far but I don’t think any of his work would fall under the masala-hero film template. Even his Telugu debut, Taxiwala (which had excellent music) was more tuneful (I’m looking at you Maate Vinadhuga), wouldn’t fall under that template, IMO. So I was quite curious about a film that has its genre plastered even in its title – Pakka Commercial! The title song didn’t work for me – it didn’t have the bang associated with a film like this, but I think Jakes is getting the hang of it with Anadala Raasi! Even as he’s producing catchy music that the leads can dance to and produce Reels-worthy material, his style is markedly different from a DSP’s or Thaman’s!
Yaathonnum Parayathe – Vaashi (Kailas) – Malayalam: After some stellar work in films like Theevandi, Member Rameshan 9aam Ward, and Finals, it’s good to hear Kailas Menon’s music again. He doesn’t disappoint in this first single from Vaashi, with its unusual rhythm pattern that almost seems to intrude with the melody’s flow in the beginning till you get the flow. The singing is top-notch, with Abhijith Anilkumar taking on a lower base to Sithara Krishnakumar’s higher notes initially, till the 2nd anupallavi reverses that equation. That ‘Pathivazhi Theerumbol, Neeyakale Maayumbol’ is a gorgeous line, in particular.
Gelathiye – Buddies (Judah Sandhy) – Kannada: I heard the song without knowing the composer’s name and as the 2nd Olavina started with the captivating music behind it, I knew this was no newbie… and sure, it was Judah! Lovely melody, and even better music! Aishwarya Rangarajan’s singing in the opening segment, and Varun Ramachandran’s singing, both are excellent.
Ra Ra Rakkamma – Vikrant Rona (B.Ajaneesh Loknath) – Kannada: What would Ajaneesh paying homage to R.D.Burman sound like? Ra Ra Rakkamma! What a banger of a song!! Ajaneesh’s Pancham style is truly imbibed and not explicit even as he adds very Kannada filmy layers in it beautifully. The singers do an outstanding job – Nakash Aziz and Sunidhi Chauhan, as do the chorus singers, Varun Ramachandran, Prithvi Raj, Suprith Sharma and Ganesh Karanth.
Ninnanne Ninnanne – Saddu! Vicharane Nadeyuttide (Sachin Basrur) – Kannada: Sachin, who is the singer of songs like Salaam Rocky Bhai and Toofan from KGF Chapter 1 and 2 also happens to count that film’s composer, Ravi Basrur as his uncle. Sachin, making his debut as a composer in this film, definitely has an interesting melody in Ninnanne Ninnanne. That musical interlude that plays as the pallavi ends is something I have written about earlier in the works of Telugu composer Shekar Chandra (while referring to Ninnu Chudagane from Atithi Devo Bhava).
Chaal Ka Badalaleli – Medium Spicy (Hrishikesh, Saurabh, Jasraj) – Marathi: An absolutely dreamy melody by the talented Marathi music trio! Abhay Jodhpurkar is superb with his singing and infuses the right kind of feel needed for the song.
Raah Dikha De – Roposo Jamroom (Shubham Shirule and Ana Rehman – Jam8 Studio) – Indipop: Given the singers behind this new musical series in the trailer, it sounds very promising. The first single, composed by Shubham Shirule and Ana Rehman is a very good solid. The way Mohit handles ‘Jaaoon mein kahaan’ in the opening is very different from the way Asees handles it after she makes a lovely entry with her part in the middle. The tune and music have a very Pritam’ish touch, particularly his mid-2000s repertoire like Jannat and Gangster, but that’s understandable since he is the musical mentor for Jam8.
