Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 280: YouTube | Spotify
Bas Ek Dhadak – Dhadak 2 (Javed-Mohsin) – Hindi: Javed-Mohsin channel Ajay-Atul (who scored the music for Dhadak, after having scored outstanding music for that film’s Marathi original, Sairat. Sure, by that logic, the makers of Dhadak 2 could have approached Santhosh Narayanan who scored brilliant music for this film’s Tamil original, Pariyerum PerumaaL. But that’s not how things work, I understand. This is a lofty melody that’s easy on the ear, with a splendid strings backdrop and excellent singing by Shreya Ghoshal and Jubin Nautiyal.
Yaad – Encore, Qayde Se – Reprise, Hote Tak – Metro… In Dino (Pritam) – Hindi: With 9 + 13 songs across 2 albums, I’m honestly exhausted with the music of this film. Almost every song has an encore or a reprise and the variations don’t entirely work for me. In the Side B album, Hote Tak is a sandout, besides Qayde Se (about which I wrote in my previous Weeklies). Sandeep Shrivastava uses Ghalib’s verse deftly and improvises on it efficiently, while Papon is, as always, outstanding. Pritam loads the backdrop with an expansive orchestra and chorus, and both accentuate the song perfectly. The other songs (or variants) that worked for me involve Shilpa Rao! She’s terrific in the reprise of Qayde Se, something Arijit aced himself. And in the encore of Yaad, Pritam does something interesting by bringing in B Praak and Shilpa Rao, while the original had just Papon. The duet, amped up version offers a genuinely different experience.
Mann Chala Manwa – Tanvi The Great (M.M.Keeravaani) – Hindi: I believe this film is the first Hindi project of M. M. Keeravani where he is credited with this name and not M.M.Kreem, how he has been known in Hindi film industry for the longest time, since 1996’s Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, his Hindi debut. I checked his last released film, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, and even if the YouTube description lists it as ‘M.M.Keeravani’, the on-screen credits in the end of the film’s trailer continue to mention it as ‘M.M.Kreem’. But in the trailer of Tanvi The Great, it’s ‘M.M.Keeravani’ everywhere. But musically, this is a very average piece of work from the man. Mann Chala Manwa was the only song that worked for me, mainly for his wonderfully warm vocals and a tune (and the sitar combo) that took me back to his Zakhm days.
Barbaad Reprise – Saiyaara (The Rish) – Hindi: It’s probably Shilpa Rao’s singing or the tune itself, but it all makes it a lot like a Mithoon song even though it isn’t. Good listen, even though it it short.
Monica – Coolie (Anirudh) – Tamil: Oh boy! Just when I was thinking that Anirudh seems to be getting into a general rut of similar music, he drops an absolute banger! The steady, pulse-pounding rhythm, Anirudh’s singing—including that emphasis in the second ‘Monica..h’—and in particular, Sublahshini’s outstanding lead vocals, everything just seamlessly comes together. This is one of the catchiest songs I have heard in recent times.
Naan Thani Pizhai – Bad Girl (Amit Trivedi) – Tamil: Though the lyrics are in Tamil, the song has Amit’s Hindi sensibility quite distinctly. ID Rao’s sax adds a lovely base for the song and Dimple Saikia’s vocals work well (even as Amit’s own vocals reminded me of Udit Narayan’s Tamil). That ‘Unnodu Naanum Mele Mele’ (as a 4-line set) reminded me of quite a few older songs, though I finally zeroed in on one – Suresh Peter’s Mughilenna Mazhaiyenna from Minnal!
Aagasa Veeran, Sella KoLaarey – Thalaivan Thalaivii (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: Santhosh is having a great year, clearly. After Pottala Muttaye, he has two more aces in this film’s soundtrack. In Aagasa Veeran, half his job is done with the choice of singers – Pradeep Kumar and Dhee. Santhosh’s melody is superbly breezy and likeable. But Sella KoLaarey is even more interesting in a lot of ways. First, the singer – Kuruji Muralitharan. His voice sounds fresh and he handles the higher notes beautifully. Then the music, punctuated by a prominent tabla, a string instrument (in the interlude) that I couldn’t identify, and the violin that straddles the singer towards the end.
Maareesa – Maareesan (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: Yuvan compensates his below-average singing with a brilliant reggae-tinged backdrop that brings in multiple, interesting instruments into the mix!
Chillana Sirukki – Blackmail (Sam CS) – Tamil: Sam’s tune took me back to his own ‘Uyir Uruvaatha’ from Iravukku Aayiram Kangal, both melodically and structure-wise given the concentration of a ‘Oh oh’ humming at the center of both songs.
Kaajuma – Bun Butter Jam (Nivas K Prasanna) – Tamil: While Vaanavilley, the other single from this film, with an odd mix of English lyrics, did not appeal to me at all, Kaajuma is an effortlessly likeable number from Nivas. There’s an explicit homage to Ilayaraja’s cult classic ‘Vanithamani’ from Vikram and from that ownards, the composer loads a thrumming rhythm that keeps the catchy tune steadily entertaining. When Aditi Shankar joins mid-way, things get even better!
Nadhive – The Girlfriend (Hesham Abdul Wahab) – Telugu: A very, very Hesham-style song that you can identify from a mile. But it still works. His singing continues to be impressive and even within this template, he adds minor flourishes that keep it interesting.
Nuvvunte Chaley – Andhra King Taluka (Vivek-Mervin) – Telugu: Aah, Vivek-Mervin make their Telugu debut! And it is a jaunty melody and not a masala-kuthu song (which could still be coming up next!). It’s a simple enough melody that also manages to sound a bit like Anirudh’s own since he is the one singing it.
Yenidu Maleyaagiro Haagide – Doora Theera Yaana (Ronada Bakkesh – Karthik Chennoji Rao) – Kannada: Pineapple Express’s lead singer Karthik Chennoji Rao joins Ronada Bakkesh to produce this lovely track that seems something like he would have sung in a Pineapple Express album, with a lilting semi-classical melody, a lovely Veena layer by Shubha Santosh, but without heavy metal in the background. The singers, Karthik, Eesha Suchi, and Srilakshmi Belmannu do a great job.
Mangalyam Tantunanena – Just Married (B Ajaneesh Loknath) – Kannada: A film written and directed by a woman music composer C R Bobby and produced by two film music composers (B Ajaneesh Loknath and C R Bobby)! That itself makes things very unique! Ajaneesh’s tune is familiar and simple but Sanjith Hegde breathes life into it.
Nee Nanna – Nidradevi Next Door (Nakul Abhyankar) – Kannada: Pleasant enough melody that sounds like a mildly amped down version of Roy’s ‘Sooraj Dooba’, but made better by Sonu Nigam’s singing.
Gaane Gaane – Dhumketu (Anupam Roy) – Bangla: A delightfully soft melody that Anupam concocts as a conversation between Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal. And the duo delivers so beautifully.
Chi Pae Thu – Dharan Kumar, ft. Santhosh Narayanan and Vaaheesan Rasaiya (Tamil/Indipop): The other song, besides Coolie’s Monica, that worked as a compellingly catchy song this week for me! Composer Dharan, who showed immense promise at one point (Sivi, from 2007, for example) has been scoring generally uninteresting music barring occasional bursts. Here, he delivers a whopper! Not only is the main tune incredibly catchy and foot-tapping, but the background music that plays a pretty immersive melody (listen carefully) is so very well layered. Fellow composer Santhosh Narayanan is an inspired choice for the lead singer, while Vaaheesan Rasaiya (who also writes the funny lyrics) offers good rap support. Dharan even makes a Santhosh-style detour in the mid segment which goes ‘Aye Thanga Malarkodi’ which harks back to Santhosh’s own recent, ‘Aye Kaattu Malli, Kanaga Malli…’ from the chartbuster ‘Kanima’!
Vizhi Veekura – Sai Abhyankkar (Tamil/Indipop): Sai must be the hottest music composer in India right now, with only three (four including this one) non-film singles to his name and even without a single film, already has seven films in the pipeline, each bigger than the other: Allu Arjun – Atlee film, Pradeep Ranganathan’s Dude, Raghava Lawrence’s Benz, Shane Nigam’s Balti, Suriya’s Karuppu (RJ Balaji), Karthi’s Marshal, and Silambarasan’s 49th film! Not bad at all for someone who is only 20 years old! Interestingly, his 4th single doesn’t come with a flashy music video, unlike this first 3 singles. Or, perhaps a music video is in the pipeline, but for now, there’s just an audio song. That actually helps avoid any distraction for the new song. The seemingly discordant prelude is already a Sai trademark now. So is the idea of titling the song with a phrase from deep inside the song as against the opening words! The meandering melody gets a jolt with Sai Smrithi’s intervention mid-way and gets more interesting. But, among the four songs from Sai, this is perhaps his weakest, and I can see the style fraying already. I hope the films hold newer, better music.
Walk of the Bride/Seetha Kalyana Vaibhogame – Agam (Arrival Of The Ethereal) – Indipop: When Harish ends his opening and the music starts at the 2-minute mark, you know you are listening to an Agam song! The band’s signature is all over the song and the embellishment they add to the incredibly familiar melody, derived out of a Thyagaraja kriti set to Shankarabharanam raaga, is spellbinding. While Praveen Kumar gets a superb phrase to shine, OK Gopi’s Nadaswaram layer too makes the second interlude come alive with the chenda melam ensemble. The chorus-led ending is another touch that works wonderfully. If these two songs are any indication, we are in for a feast with the rest of Agam’s upcoming album!
Thodi Si Daaru – AP Dhillon, Luca Mauti (Indipop/Punjabi): A spirited pop sound but with Punjabi lyrics that just slaps! A lovely duet featuring AP Dhillon and Shreya Ghoshal, at that!
