Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 230: YouTube | Spotify
Back after 3 weeks! 13 songs this week. The YouTube playlist has all the songs, while Spotify is missing the one Marathi song from Ankush because it’s on Zee Music.
Na Hosh Chale – Khufiya (Vishal Bhardwaj) – Hindi: A Vishal Bhardwaj soundtrack usually gives me sleepless nights and a lot to enjoy and write about. Khufiya, sadly, was not that kind. Na Hosh Chale was the only song that stood out for me, and even that was mainly because of what I identify as a certain Vishal Bhardwaj template for which he first used to have Suresh Wadkar singing before taking on that mantle himself (there is also a Vishal Bhardwaj version of this song in the soundtrack 🙂 )… and now, it’s with Arijit Singh. Arijit is in excellent form as always, and brings life to the sedate tune.
Unakku Thaan – Chithha (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: I’m a bit surprised by the 3 composers assembled for this film: Dhibu Ninan Thomas composing 3 songs, Santhosh handling this song, while Vishal Chandrashekhar scores the background music. Even though it hasn’t reached T-series Hindi level of double-digit composers for a single film, the status quo does seem to be changing steadily. But this was perhaps eventual, in the constant search for variety, which first led to breaking the monopoly of one/few singer(s) per film to what is widely credited to Rahman – an assortment of singers (even for the same faces), per film. Santhosh does justice to this lullaby song, though, even as it feels vastly different, musically, from Dhibu’s outstanding Kangal Edho.
Un Idhazhgalinaal – Margazhi Thingal (Ilayaraja) – Tamil: When the first interlude started, I was mentally transported to the mid-90s, with images of a young and dashing Prashant dancing on the TV screen (Prashant is 50 years old now, for context). Tune-wise, this is excellent. Ananya Bhat’s singing too, on similar lines. But the background sounds worked for me only because of the kind of nostalgia they evoke. I don’t know if that itself is a positive. I’m imagining what Yuvan may have done with this melody.
Emayyindho Emito – Mangalavaaram (B Ajaneesh Loknath) – Telugu: And Ajaneesh scores yet again! The starting reminded me of some Rahman song – possibly Nila Kaaigiradhu, but the tune takes on a lovely hue eventually with delightful background music and brilliant singing by Harshika Devanath.
Idhi Idhi Maaya – Spark (Hesham Abdul Wahab) – Telugu: Hesham’s music is acquiring a similar familiar template much like Mickey J Meyer’s. I really don’t when it would cease to be interesting (to begin with, it did, for me, in Hi Nanna’s new song, Gaaju Bomma), but at this point, the man is adding enough to make even his templatized songs fairly interesting. But even as the sweeping, ethereal music seems familiar, Hesham has a really interesting, almost conversational anupallavi between himself and Shreya!
Yedha Pongenaa – Nachinavadu (Mejjo Josseph) – Telugu: Mejjo has excellent support from Yazin Nizar who handles the faux-carnatic style melody beautifully. I thought the violin layer did complete justice to the song that alternates between fusion and faux-carnatic admirably, but the thumping thavil seemed a bit forced.
Brundavanive – Gam Gam Ganesha (Chaitan Bharadwaj) – Telugu: Not only does Chaitan get Sid Sriram to sing in a considerably lower range than what we are used to, but he has some really captivating musical phrases as well! That ‘Brundavanive Yavvanive Neeve’ hook is effortlessly likeable, while the interludes, sung by Chaitan himself, too are fantastic. Plus the melody for the anupallavi stands out making the song truly engaging all through!
Unnano Leno – Aakasam Dhaati Vasthaava (Singer Karthik) – Telugu: I wouldn’t be surprised if Karthik uses the tune for a Tamil song that features Gautam Vasudev Menon – it fits that combo’s style so much 🙂 It’s a pleasant melody, really well sung by Karthik, with a catchy hook.
I’m in love – Bad Manners (Charan Raj) – Kannada: What a lovely ballad! Yogaraj Bhat’s lines and Charan Raj’s tune + singing hits the mark perfectly! Charan’s tune has enough melodic variation over a steady rhythm and his singing elevates the song’s appeal considerably.
Unad Valut – Ankush (Amitraj) – Marathi: While I have heard a lot of music by Amitraj, they largely haven’t worked for me. This one stood apart! It has a Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’ish texture, melodically, though the interludes seemed, at best, functional and perfunctory. The singing by Harshwardhan Wavare and Ketaki Mategaonkar helps a lot.
Maari Maavadi – Bhoomi 2023 (Amit Trivedi) – Gujarati: A rousing Garba by Amit Trivedi, sung by Osman Mir and Aamir Mir with the requisite verve. The rhythm remains steady and jaunty all through, and even when I assumed Amit would amp up the speed in the end, he doesn’t and lets it remain at the same pace.
Ab Rukna Mat – Papon (Indipop/Hindi): This is almost a Mikey McCleary song sung by Lucky Ali… but it isn’t!! Papon’s marvelous voice effortlessly gels with this Lucky Ali’ish tune, and his guitar adds so much character to the song too.
Aaja Baija Tu – Salim Sulaiman, ft. Arijit Singh (Indipop/Hindi): This is straight out of Salim Sulaiman’s Band Baaja Baaraat soundtrack! Or, it’s perhaps way too seeped in the duo’s sound 🙂 It’s a good listen, nonetheless, made better by Arijit’s singing.
