Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 287: YouTube | Spotify
Rahein Na Rahein Hum, Dilbar Ki Aankhon Ka – Thamma (Sachin-Jigar) – Hindi: Rahein Na Rahein Hum has Sachin-Jigar traversing Pritam zone, much like how they traversed A R Rahman zone for Pardesiya in Param Sundari. The Pritam zone is particularly more pronounced when the melody kicks off in a different gear midway with the ‘Pyaar jo na kisi ko’ antara! It’s a lovely melody overall, beautifully sung by Soumyadeep Sarkar. But that ‘Rahein Na Rahein Hum’ refrain reminded me of some of other film song that I was not able to put my finger immediately. After about 5 hours of background thinking, I finally got it 🙂 It is “Kaatru Nuzhaivadhu O… Uyir kalandhu KaLithirundhen” (or “Phir meri baatein karna, yaara raat se din karna” in Hindi), from Snegithane/Chupke Se (Alai Payuthey/Saathiya). Dilbar Ki Aankhon Ka, on the other hand, evokes recall of multiple 1980s songs like ‘Yamma Yamma’ (Shaan), ‘Pyar Do Pyar Lo’ (Janbaaz), among others. It’s a competent mix, adequately catchy and pulsating, with solid vocals by Rashmeet Kaur.
Aap Is Dhoop Mein – Gustaakh Ishq (Vishal Bhardwaj) – Hindi: Vishal, Gulzar, Arijit! How can anything by these three people not sound good? This song sounds magical! There’s a dreamy quality in the melody that Vishal embellishes with a gorgeous chorus (Vaishnavi Bhuyar, Surabhi Khekale, Vasudha Tiwari, Sonal Choubisa, Sushmita Narayan and Bandita Bharti). Vishal even infuses an intriguingly lovely diversion with the ‘Jahan Baithen Wahan Dhoop’ line! And what to say about Arijit’s magnificent singing… it’s incredible!
Kaalamaadan Gaanam – Bison Kaalamaadan (Nivas K Prasanna) – Tamil: What a banger by Nivas!! The soaring tune, the spellbinding folk rhythm, the piercing nadaswaram… everything screams Ilayaraja (think Chinna Thaayee’s Kottaya Vittu), but Nivas makes it his own in the best possible way. V.M.Mahalingam’s singing is perfectly on point.
Dhochaave Nanne – Premante (Leon James) – Telugu: Is the melody based on something like Kaanadaa or Darbari Kaanadaa? Leon gets the melody delightfully right, just like Dragon’s VazhithuNaye. Abby V’s brilliant singing is just the cherry on the cake. Excellent song.
Hudiyo Hudiyo – Mass Jathara (Bheems Ceciroleo) – Telugu: A simple, lilting melody that I’d expect from someone like Devi Sri Prasad. Bheems does great, though – the interludes are particularly exotic and lovely. I see Mahathi Swara Sagar (Mani Sharma’s son) credited for keyboards and rhythms – good to see him working with other composers even as he composes on his own too.
Anuraginee – Oru Vadakkan Therottam (Berny and Tansen) – Malayalam: Another Darbari Kaanadaa this week? The melody and music made me look up who Berny and Tansen are and that’s when I figured that this is the same Berny of Berny-Ignatius fame, and Tansen is his son – Tansen Berny! Not just that, even the singer, Vasudev Krishna, is Unnikrishnan’s son – this is his debut! All that explains why this is a pretty good song!
Onde Ondu Sala – The Devil (B Ajaneesh Loknath) – Kannada: There is SO MUCH OF A R Rahman’s iconic ‘Thee Thee’ (Thiruda Thiruda) in this song that I found it very difficult to pause my memory of that older song! Even the chorus that begins at the end of the Pallavi harks back to ‘Oru viral thottu vaithathey’! Between Kapil Kapilan and Chinmayi’s vocals, the song works wonders, though.
Varnamaale – Gatha Vaibhava (Judah Sandhy) – Kannada: Judah’s melody is a pleasant throwback to the olden days of melodies by the likes of Hamsalekha. It has a jaunty rhythm in the beginning that sets the base wonderfully, followed by harmonious strings. Abhinandan Mahishale’s singing, at least in the Pallavi seemed slightly labored, though it gets better as the song progresses. Sunidhi Ganesh is considerably better, in comparison.
Shadows of Time, Flight to the Summer Sky, and Between Doubt and Destiny – Arrival of the Ethereal (Agam) – Indipop: Full album review.
