Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 301: YouTube | Spotify
Kya Kamaal Hai – Main Vaapas Aaunga (A R Rahman) – Hindi: It’s very easy to offer the song’s title itself as a reaction to this amazing song – Kya Kamaal Hai! Rahman’s gorgeous experiment deftly mixes a classic 1960s Guru Dutt-era melody to a gospel-style backdrop and the result is jaw-droppingly brilliant! Rahman has produced such scintillating genre-benders reasonably often earlier – the entire Thiruda Thiruda album (Rasathi, in particular, in context of this song), Adiye from Kadal, among others. He does it again, this time, with Diljit’s delightfully crisp vocals and Irshad Kamil’s heart-felt lines.
Title Track – Chand Mera Dil (Sachin-Jigar) – Hindi: Sachin-Jigar channel their inner Pritam and produce a sweeping and effortlessly likeable rock ballad here. Faheem Abdullah is in superb form, with Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lines coming in a close second. I loved the fact that the deceptive one-and-a-half minute prelude that alluded to a very different, almost-Mithoon-style melody, eventually opened into a lilting rock melody.
Poo Paadal – 29 (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: Oh wow!!! After a long time, a Tamil film song that had me sit up in complete amazement! Sean’s sparse, beautiful melody has the restraint and inventiveness of a classic Vidyasagar composition from the 1990s/2000s, and he amps it up with Ravi G’s stupendous singing, and crystal clear Tamil lines by the film’s director himself (Rathna Kumar). The tune took me to Raja’s evergreen ‘Pani Vizhum Malarvanam’ – something raaga-linked?
Raathu Raasan – Karuppu (Sai Abhyankkar) – Tamil: Even though the start of the song made me think of Goundamani’s iconic ‘Start Meesic’ scene from Suriyan (for this Suriya starrer, no less!), Sai does well eventually in this song. This is a much better song than that first and second singles from this film. There’s a more confident vibe in this song, with excellent singing by VM Mahalingam, in particular, even as Sai builds the song’s layers progressively.
Korean Family – Con City (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: An absolutely hilarious and rousing kuthu that gets progressively more and more funny and interesting as it goes! The song’s rhythm is infectitiously manic, with the change of pace in the middle coming being a funny detour. The singers, Vangal Pulla Vicky, Sublahshini, and Leela, just let it all go in the song’s feel, with Sublahshini doing particularly well.
Yetta Yetta – Lenin (Thaman S) – Telugu: Assembly-line bouncy Thaman melody that the man seems to be capable of producing with remarkable consistency. It’s frothy enough, with good singing by Sri Krishna (and a particularly captivating chorus featuring Prakruthi Adviteeya, Sruthi Ranjani, Yamini, and Rajani), with a lovely hook.
Thassadiya – Maa Inti Bangaaram (Santhosh Narayanan) – Telugu: A sweet melody that fully deserved Chinmayi’s lead vocals (ably supported by Punya Selva). The semi-classical sound is remiscent of Rahman’s early days, but Santhosh takes the song in newer directions confidently, and lands the Thassadiya hook in the best possible way.
Veni Vidi Vici – Mother Promise (Navaneeth Sham) – Kannada: I’d have never imagined hearing this Latin phrase in a Kannada film song, but here we are! Navaneeth envelops the phrase in a frenetically paced kuthu sound, and somehow, it all fits perfectly! Composer Gurukiran is a spirited choice for the lead singer, and the chorus does a terrific job too.
Bulleya Ve – Coke Studio Bharat (Madhur Sharma, ft. Ashok Maskeen and Swarit Shukl) – Hindi/Indipop: After Ae Ajnabee, it is good to see Coke Studio Bharat going back to its signature style in all earnest! This one’s even better than Ae Ajnabee, with a heartfelt melody by Madhur, excellent singing by all three, particularly, Ashok Maskeen, a mill worker from Jalandhar, with a naturally powerful voice that Madhur uses very well here. The only minor issue that I had was the feeling that Ashok was being used in a tokenistic way, to open the song, and then Madhur and Swarit take the reins of the songs, vocals-wise and video-wise, almost fully.
Laiyaan – Rutvik Talashilkar, Harjot Kaur, ft. Arijit Singh, Ruaa Kayy, RUTVXK (Hindi/Indipop): An almost lullaby’ish soft melody by Rutvik Talashilkar and Harjot Kaur gets a wonderful outlet in Arijit’s lead vocals. Arijit’s serene vocals loom large over the song even as the other 2 singers make their best effort to stand out.
Seetha Kalyana – Suprabhatha (Curry) – Kannada: Composed by Ashish Palanna, Ria D’souza, and Sumanth Shetty, the ‘Seetha Kalyana Vaibhohame, Rama Kalyana Vaibhohame’ line has only the lyrical similarity to the Thyagaraja kriti, not musical, though the actual tune and phrase appears later in the song as a small interlude. The melody is actually surprisingly spritely, with an energetic pop rhythm, punctuated by Ajay Chandramouli’s violin. The ending, blending everything harmoniously, is particularly very good.
