Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 199: On Spotify | On
12 songs this week. All the songs are available on YouTube, while Spotify is missing just one song – the Malayalam song Kankaliluyir, from Iru.
Rasiya Reprise – Brahmāstra (Pritam) – Hindi: The actual Rasiya song didn’t work for me, but Pritam works his magic in the reprise pretty well that I cannot not like it 🙂 The new additions (Tum rahein na tum…) work very well! Or, it could also probably be because I felt that Tushar Joshi’s vocals in the original felt a bit soft and flat, whereas the reprise has Arijit singing in his impeccably likeable self.
Taali Taali – Double XL (Sohail Sen) – Hindi: 11 years after Dhanush sang ‘Why this Kolaveri?’ and burst into the national (and international) scene, here’s his contemporary/rival, Silambarasan, from Tamil cinema trying his hand at a Hindi song for the first time! The feel of the song is very similar – very Tamil cinema kuthu style catchy, with an inebriated flourish and English/Hindi sung with a distinct Tamil swag 🙂 Sohail layers the kuthu style very well and keeps the song consistently enjoyable.
Unakkena Naan – Nitham Oru Vaanam (Gopi Sundar) – Tamil: This is perhaps the most un-Gopi Sundar style song I remember hearing from the composer! But he totally aces the warm, sweet, lilting melody, thanks to really good singing by Deepthi Suresh and Deepak. The Shehnai-like interlude (that also closes the song) is a lovely touch!
Who Am I? – Prince (Thaman S) – Tamil: Beyond the stock sound Thaman employs for this song (that he has consistently and successfully used for many of his Telugu songs), what really works here is Arivu’s singing, and the catchy, colloqial lyrics.
Edhuvum Kedaikalana – Vaisagh (Vaisagh) – Indipop/Tamil: I barely liked ofRo’s Semma Bodha song from 2021 since it is referenced in the prelude of this song, but this song’s charm is quite easy to like. The gana-style lyrics and sound are perfect and the inclusion of GP Muthu’s ‘Nakku’ phrase is hilarious 🙂
Gundellonaa – Ori Devuda (Leon James) – Telugu: This is the 3rd song from this film (after Paathashalaloo in February 2022, and Avunanavaa , last week) to make it to Weeklies and that says something about Leon’s work, at least in my head. This one’s a fun song that sounds more like an Anirudh song, but that’s probably because he’s the one singing it 🙂
Papa Tho Pailam – Hunt (Ghibran) – Telugu: Ghibran has a really addictive and catchy hook here, with that ‘Pailam… papa tho pailam’ refrain. From that hook as a starting point, he builds a neat dance track with expectedly super support from singer Mangli (and Nakash Aziz). Works effortlessly!
Kankaliluyir – Iru (Sooraj S. Kurup) – Malayalam: Just what you’d expect from a composer like Sooraj! The melody and chorus are beautiful, and he has Vineeth Sreenivasan for company as the singer! Vineet and Manjari handle the singing brilliantly even as Sooraj’s ‘KankaLil Uyir’ hook is gorgeous!
Beesuva Gaali – Carlok, featuring Raghu Dixit & Madhura Balaji (ŠKODA Deccan Beats) – Indipop/Kannada: Yet another song from the ŠKODA Deccan Beats series that makes my cut – this too in Kannada, like last week. It’s a short, punchy track composed by someone named ‘Carlok’, which I thought was interesting given that a car brand behind this effort 🙂 Raghu’s singing is, as always, excellent, but it’s Madhura who surprises with her fantastic voice and singing. I sense a good future for her in the music industry.
Kojagiri – Godavari (AV Prafullachandra) – Marathi: I started playing the song without knowing the composer and as it progressed I knew this was someone I have previously earmarked as a ‘good’ composer 🙂 And it sure was – AV Prafullachandra, of Kaagar, Zombivli fame. He gets Aanchal Tyagi to literally whisper the opening portion as he builds the backgrounds gradually, before letting Shreyas Puranik join her. As the violins join the melody, almost like the style I associate with Ajaneesh Loknath, the song attains a really sweet tone with the melody!
Nachnar Bhai – Sunny (Souumil – Siddharth) – Marathi: This is the 2nd song this week where Indians are seeing singing inside a pub outside India, after Taali Taali from Double XL 🙂 Souumil – Siddharth’s music has shades of Siddharth’s dad’s composing trio, plus some more! It’s perhaps to do with Siddharth’s singing that rubs off on his dad’s style – understandably. It’s an ebullient song that brings the Maharashtrian flavor as smoothly as it adds snatches of the bluegrass’y plucks in the background.
Duawan – Pav Dharia (Indipop) – Punjabi: A wonderfully summery, European vibe in this song drew me in instantly. Kinda like Modjo’s Lady. Since I don’t know the language, without understanding the lyrics, I thought I heard a tinge of melancholy in the song, or at least in Pav’s singing, but the music video didn’t indicate anything of that nature.
