Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 306: YouTube | Spotify
Ishq Mastana, Tere Paas Main, Dheere Dheere, Dariya – Main Vaapas Aaunga (A R Rahman) – Hindi: There’s so much happening in this song that it was all head-spinningly too much for me in the first listen. This is Rahman at his showboating best in a very, very long time. After the traditional Punjabi tappe opening, the song abruptly turns into jazzy swing but while retaining a sole Punjabi folk note at the very bottom. But when the song again tries to shift genres after another short detour into Punjabi folk, things start to become muddled… in an almost ‘look how dramatically we change genres’ way. It’s definitely interesting, and I presume within the movie’s theme, there’s a place for this genre hopping (perhaps to show two households and the way they approach love through the protagonists), but as a song, it starts great, and ends up in an odd zone.
With regard to Tere Paas Main, what can I say? Oh, wow – this is an absolute gem of a song! Rahman seems to be channeling his inner Pancham in terms of the sound and feel, though the Desh raag is doing heavy-lifting effortlessly. Surprisingly, both versions, by relatively lesser heard singers—Deepali Sahay and Vipin Aneja—are outstanding! If Rahman had roped in known/often heard singers, the song may have sounded a little more familiar but the fresh(er) voices help enormously! As if challenging our appreciation of the song, the antara is even more beautiful than the mukhda!
Close on the heels of the absolutely magical Tere Paas Main, Dheere Dheere makes a terrific mark too, with Faheem Abdullah’s lead vocals, backed by Antara Nandy brilliantly. But where the song shook me was the almost ominous turn it takes mid-way with Shilpa Rao’s vocals (Antara joins too eventually)! The melody in this part seemed to be alluding to Puriya Dhanashri raaga, a complete departure from what Rahman showcased in the ‘Dheere Dheere’ portion, though he does bridge the melody back to that original phrase. The very-Bengali sounding Dariya is perhaps the odd one out in the magnificent soundtrack, though it does the double duty of sounding good enough as a song, and perhaps adding a lot more to the movie in terms of narrative movement.
After Gandhi Talks and Peddi, Rahman seems to be having one of his best years in recent times, with Main Vaapas Aaunga easily being the best of his output and overall Hindi film music too, so far, this year!
Leher – Cocktail 2 (Pritam) – Hindi: Oh wow!! After Arijit announced his retirement from playback singing, some of his best songs are dropping and this one definitely joins that list! Pritam’s melody is oh-so-dreamy, with a sedate musical background. Arijit’s vocals are swoon-worthy when he extends the ending of the lines so beautifully.
Yaar Yaarival – Ram In Leela (Ankit Menon) – Tamil: I’m assuming this is Ankit’s Tamil debut, and along with Sid Sriram’s usually and wonderfully expressive singing, he hits it out the park in the very first song from the film. The melody is easy to like, with a sweeping faux-classical aalapana that Sid excels in handling. But more than the tune it is the busy’ness of the background score that lifts the melody significantly. Ankit has assembled the backdrop in a nuanced way that, including that Hindi interlude by Sawai Bhatt, it works in tandem with the main melody and calls for attention at the same time!
Love-U Love-U Kaatteri – Immortal (Sam CS) – Tamil: Mayamalavagowlai raaga in full flow! The raaga that has given us memorable songs like Engeyum Eppodhum (Ninaithale Inikkum, MS Viswanathan) sees yet another variant by Sam CS and he produces quite a floor-stomper with the source material. And with that ‘Azhaga Pookura’ line, Sam twists the raaga’s flow even more excitingly, all the while amping up the dance-worthy rhythm. It’s only the lyrics (Shalli C) that seem utterly corny, with a severe overdose of pointless English words.
Nightu Nila – Vekkai (GV Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: Safely within GV Prakash’s familiar template and continues to entertain adequately. Gana Bala’s singing is the highlight, besides sparkling nadaswaram interludes by Mambalam Sivakumar, though it all sounds way too reminiscent of many other songs.
Vaama Vaama – Idhayam Murali (Thaman S) – Tamil: A sprightly song that bounces its way to being easily likeable. Dhanush’s singing helps too though the song doesn’t demand much. Besides the catchy ‘Vaama Vaama’ hook, Thaman layers the melody with even more catchy verses like that ‘Neram Ninnu Poche’.
Adi Podi – Meesaya Murukku 2 (Hiphop Tamizha) – Tamil: The most-Hiphop Tamizha type song yet in the soundtrack even as the earlier ones had a markedly different style (despite his singing bringing his trademark). It has a sedate sound made even more tranquil by his vocals. It does work overall though.
Doki Doki – Parimala and Co (Foxn) – Tamil: The only other song that stood out for me in the soundtrack (besides ‘Watcha Udadha’). The energetic song is built on a frenetic British underground drum and bass rhythm and Adithya RK’s vocals of the melody sails through quite well.
Magaraasi – Gatta Kusthi 2 (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: The film’s first single, Sambavakaari, didn’t work for me at all, but I’m glad Sean has a winner here in Magaraasi. The father-daughter song template has been way too predictably maudlin recently (I’m looking at you, Chella MagaLe from Jananayagan!) in Tamil movies that a rhythmically lively variation is totally welcome. Plus Vijay Narain’s (reasonably, given he hasn’t sung too many songs yet in Tamil movies) fresh voice makes a big impact too.
Pattampoochi – Vishwanath and Sons (GV Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: Passably catchy enough, and Sublahshini’s singing does the hard work. But that ‘Rough’aana aaLum tough’aana girl’um’ line seems like an obvious riff off ‘Golden Sparrow En Nenjula Arrow’!
Karigindi Kaalam – Ramani Kalyanam (Sooraj S Kurup) – Telugu: After the title song, Kallolam, and Madhuram, Sooraj has one more song from the full soundtrack that had my attention – Karingindi Kaalam! This one has an interesting rhythm and there’s much happening in the background even as the repetitive Karigindi Kaalam hook makes a mark.
Title Song – Oh Sukumari (Bharath Manchiraju) – Telugu: I do not recall hearing Bharath Manchiraju’s music before though I see that he has composed a few movies prior to this. There’s something unique about the nadaswaram usage (Mallikarjun) in the song which felt a bit more shrill than usual, and Abhijith Rao’s singing hits the mark perfectly. But what took me by surprise is the way Bharath employed the rhythm in the anupallavi! Very measured and tactical, to excellent effect!
Chilaka – Thellakaagitham (Vijai Bulganin) – Telugu: The super energetic rhythm almost made the song seem like a standard-issue Devi Sri Prasad song, so I was quite surprised that this was by Vijai Bulganin! Anurag Kulkarni does a great job, as expected.
Oriya Pilla – Comrade Kalyan (Vijai Bulganin) – Telugu: Not with any specific identifiers that I associate with Vijai Bulganin’s music but listenable enough in a broad sense. Sid Sriram’s singing helps too, though Kerala-born Mahima Nambiar being called ‘Oriya Pilla’ seemed mildly amusing 🙂
Jigithara – Chennai Love Story (Mani Sharma) – Telugu: Mani Sharma’s intentional attempt at bringing the 1980s Ilaiyaraja sound and he succeeds mostly. The sweeping strings in the interlude and the backdrop, Karthik’s singing, the anupallavi’s melody, and the unmistakable rhythm… all work towards the aim of bringing Ilaiyaraja’s 1980’s form to mind.
Gunde Pelipothondhe – Srinivasa Mangapuram (GV Prakash Kumar) – Telugu: GV Prakash Kumar continues to deliver more interesting and more differentiated music in Telugu than Tamil (where his music seems functional)! The semi-classical sound with sparse rhythm and Anurag Kulkarni’s stupendous singing make this song a great listen.
Subah Varanasi, Kanavaanathu – Chinna Chinna Aasai (Govind Vasantha) – Malayalam/Hindi, Tamil: What starts off with Shikha Joshi singing Varun Grover’s lines morphs beautifully into Kapil Kapilan’s Malayalam portion after a brief violin interlude by Govind himself. The transition is truly magical, but in a very-familiar Govind Vasantha style. When the chorus starts after Kapil ends his part, you know you are fully immersed in a Govind Vasantha song. Sachin Balu’s Mohan Veena does superb heavy-lifting in the interludes. Kanavaanathu too works effortlessly, sung with her expressive best by Chinmayi, wonderfully punctuated by the tabla. The chorus featuring Aavani Malhar, Ajmal Fathima Parveen and Sony Mohan deserve a special mention too.
Sajje Khabbe/Anthem of Nobody – I, Nobody (Jakes Bejoy) – Malayalam/Punjabi: The rap portions (I’m guessing it is sung by Bjorn Surrao) in the middle took me to Apache India’s style, but the larger song that Jakes builds on the whole is quite a different, and pulsating affair. There’s a thrumming rhythm and bass that works in the song’s favor, keeping it steadily engaging, with lead vocals by Sudhir Yaduvanshi powering the anthemic flow brilliantly.
Himashila Uruki – Derby (Gopi Sundar) – Malayalam: That Charukesi raaga magic… never fails to move me. Gopi’s music traverses through all the predictable notes of the raaga but Krishna Prasadh K Raju’s singing carries it all beautifully.
Nenjakame Nee – Aroopi (Gopi Sundar) – Malayalam: Gopi handles the musical-style flamboyance in the melody really well, even though his own singing is the only thing that didn’t work for me (while Sruthy Sivadas does a great job). The violin interludes are terrific and adds to the genre’s appeal as well the song’s.
Mudd Muddu Putlakshmi – Ayogya 2 (Arjun Janya) – Kannada: A simple, jaunty rhythm envelopes the song and makes it a pleasant listen. I thought Sid Sriram’s voice, though it sounded apt for the song musically, seemed odd for Satish Ninasam. Prithwi Bhat does a good job, though.
Nannavale – Suprabhatha (Curry) – Kannada/Indipop: The third single from Curry’s album, Suprabhatha, after Seetha Kalyana and Manase. Compared to the other two songs, the traditional/folk element here seems less pronounced and it works smoothly as a solid Afro-pop song with a very catchy synth rhythm. It’s only in the interlude that the carnatic notes enter, and even as they seem fleeting, they do sound great.
