Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 298: YouTube | Spotify
Tere Ishq Ne, Aakhri Ishq, Phir Se, Aari Aari, Jaan Se Guzarte Hain – Dhurandhar The Revenge (Shashwat Sachdev) – Hindi: In Tere Ishq Ne, Shashwat Sachdev wonderfully extracts another strand from Baba Bulleh Shah’s ‘Tere Ishq Nachaya’, just like how A R Rahman did in Dil Se’s ‘Chaiyya Chiayya’. Jyoti Nooran is spellbindingly good with her singing even as Shashwat builds the pulsating music progressively and meticulously. Aakhri Ishq is hauntingly melodic, thanks also to Jubin’s hugely expressive singing. The prominent flute interlude in the middle reminded me of something I had heard in the past. After a few hours of mental struggle, I landed on the source: the completely dissonant flute prelude in Gupt’s (1997) ‘Yeh Pyaar Kya Hai’, which itself was sourced from the opening flute prelude of Satyam Shivam Sundaram’s (1971) ‘Yashomati Maiyya Se Bole Nandlala!
Shashwat also makes phenomenal use of Arijit Singh’s vocals in Phir Se, and here, I felt a tinge of sadness that this voice cannot be moulded by inventive composers like Shashwat (or Pritam) anymore in movies, though I tremendously admire Arijit’s decision to evolve out of one mode of singing! The racy Veena-based interludes is truly terrific in this song, complementing Arijit’s serene singing in a deligfhtful way. Bombay Rockers’ 2003 original, ‘Aari Aari’ gets another lease of life in a stupendously pulsating recreation by Shashwat. The composer adds and unleashes everything on the song that it just booms! In Jaan Se Guzarte Hain, Khan Saab does an admirably good job of shadowing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s original singing. Shahswat turns the otherwise soulful melody of his source into a power-ballad of sorts, with the soul remaining intact.
Overall, I believe Shashwat has done better in the sequel than the first Dhurandhar and that’s quite an achievement!
Thuru Thuru – Happy Raj (Justin Prabhakaran) – Tamil: An otherwise conventionally sacharine-sweet melody by Justin that gets an X factor in the singer – Gangai Amaren! And yes, that ‘Thuru Thuru’ chorus is truly addictive.
Aaralya – Made in Korea (Hesham Abdul Wahab) – Tamil: Made in Korea is a surprisingly middling soundtrack from the otherwise in-form Hesham (it also has 2 singles by Dharan Kumar and Simon K. King). The only song that stood out for mem that too because it was Hesham reusing his signature sound from so many of his earlier songs, is Aaralya. You hear the song and you would know it is from Hesham 🙂
Title Song – Sattendru Maarudhu Vaanilai (Girishh Gopalakrishnan) – Tamil: I was far less impressed with the first song from the film (Akkadi), but Girishh does significantly better here, given that he also has Shreya Ghoshal singing. The tune for the stretch that lands the title hook (Seendalillai Theendalillai Theeppidikkum Mananilai, Iravumillai Pagalumillai Sattendru Maarudhu Vaanilai) is particularly lovely!
Sancharame – EPIC First Semester (Hesham Abdul Wahab) – Telugu: Unlike his work in Made in Korea, Hesham attempts something different in Sancharame! He has solid support from lyricist Gorati Venkanna who also sings along with Hesham in this song. The melody traverses from a generic flow to a more rooted Telugu folk sound (sung by Gorati Venkanna) and that makes the song more unique.
Magnetic Kannane – Maharaja Hostel (Aswin Ram) – Malayalam: A very sweet, albeit simple and predictable, melody from Aswin Ram that gets both the lead vocals (Ayraan) and the child’s chorus (Nirupama P) beautifully right.
Kaattu Thottappol – Patriot (Sushin Shyam) – Malayalam: Very Sushin Shyam melody with The Indian Choral Ensemble being the highlight! When the choir arrives, the track tilts from its intimate ring to a full-blown stadium sized ambition, particularly the second interlude and onward. There’s also a lovely contrast between iSai’s (Sai Prabhaa) tender, almost fragile vocal texture vs. Kapil Kapilan’s surer, more grounded phrasing.
The Ascension (Marivere Gathi) – Agam (Indipop): I would love to know/see/hear how Shyama Shastri would react to his original being recreated in such a cinematically large and magnificent way by Agam! Perhaps I should feed Shyama Shastri’s life and times into an LLM and ask it to imagine what he would say in response to Agam’s sprawling new recreation 🙂 What I really liked in this new version is the splendid imagination of the band, in terms of the nuances they bring in the many additions. Consider the pause in the 3rd charaNam (Sukha Shyamala) and the serene percussion that arrives to back it up! And then the extended closure that takes a life of its own mildly removed from the song’s Anandabhairavi raaga base, making it all the more alluring. By now, I know that this is the band’s signature sound and I can identify it from a mile, but it continues to work so very well!
Ae Ajanabee – Coke Studio Bharat (Aditya Rikhari, Ravator, Kutle Khan) – Hindi/Indipop: Just when I had given up on Coke Studio Bharat completely, here comes a new song that gives me a glimmer of hope about the platform (tentatively). The trio of Aditya Rikhari, Ravator and Kutle Khan crack a lush melody and add a soundscape that befits the scope of the melody. Aditya Rikhari does a lovely job with the lead vocals, holding the entire song together, amply supported by Kulte Khan as the song progresses.
Athidooram – Sachin Warrier (Malayalam/Indipop): There’s a easy, swaying gait to the song’s cadence that makes me nod along with it. Sachin has done some great work in Kannada film music, so it is good to see him expanding to Malayalam pop too. Sajo Sajan’s trombone is also used so very well inside the song’s construct!
Aahana – Rajat Hegde (Kannada/Indipop): Yes, there’s a generous dose of The Weeknd in the music, but Rajat crafts his own melodic layer on top of that quite well.
