Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 289: YouTube | Spotify
Title Track – Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri (Vishal-Sheykhar) – Hindi: Vishal and Sheykhar usually deliver such catchy synth-pop for Hrithik Roshan, but surprisingly, their work here is for Kartik Aryan who actually aces his presence impressively. It’s a song that is easy on the ear, wth Vishal’s cool vocals doing all the heavy-lifting.
Gehra Hua – Dhurandhar (Shashwat Sachdev) – Hindi: Even though there seems to be a lot of ‘Pudhu VeLLai Mazhai’ in the background, this is still a lovely song. Arijit Singh and Armaan Khan handle the sweeping melody phenomenally well, particularly the ‘Gehra Hua’ hook.
Hijr – Haal (Nandhagopan V) – Malayalam/Hindi: A Mithoon-style techno-sufi song in a Malayalam film, in Hindi, sung by Ankit Tiwari and Shakthisree Gopalan! It was difficult to remove the Mithoon-influence from the song, but when I was able to, I enjoyed the song.
Ratnamala – Parasakthi (GV Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: Sudha Kongara extracts a delightful melody yet again from GV Prakash Kumar! The song’s whispery goodness peaks in the chorus-led ‘Vaalai Kumari Penne’ phrase. The other interesting aspect is the mix of Telugu lyrics right from the beginning, that I went back to checking if I am hearing the Telugu version 🙂 After confirming that I was indeed listening to the Tamil version, I got curious about the Telugu version of this song – what would that song include, beside Telugu? Tamil? Nope – they have Hindi! Interesting mix that leads me to wonder if Sreeleela plays a Telugu girl in the Tamil version of the film, while she is a Hindi-speaking girl in the Telugu version, eh?
Esa Kaaththa – My Lord (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: Raju Murugan’s debut Cuckoo – Santhosh Narayanan. Joker? Sean Roldan! Then, Gypsy? Santhosh again. Raju’s Modern Love Chennai segment ‘Lalagunda Bommaigal’? Sean again. Japan was the outlier, with GV Prakash Kumar. By sequence, it should be Santhosh, but I see Sean here 🙂 The song is very, very Sean Roldan, Joker, Raju, etc. Very glad to hear Chinmayi along with Sathya Prakash in the heady melody with swirling strings keeping everything consistently enjoyable!
Karmugil Kannazhago – Kaantha (Jhanu Chanthar, co-composed by Sivam) – Tamil: I’m fairly sure A.M.Rajah’s Then Nilavu (1961) song ‘Paattu Padava’ is the reference given to Jhanu to compose this new song. This, even though the YouTube video mentions ‘Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor’ as inspiration in the description! It’s a good recreation that works on Goundamani’s classic logic, ‘Eeyam Poosuna Maathiriyum IrukkoNum, Poosaatha Maathiriyum IrukkoNum’ 🙂 The ‘period’ sound paves way to a more modern sound soon and the melody takes on a surprisingly vibrant outlook, with Arcus Aryian’s rap leading the tune, with Pradeep Kumar merely bookending the song at the start and end!
Aalapikkey Ummak – Vaa Vaathiyaar (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: I remember being obsessed with the song’s shorter, instrumental version back when it released in November 2024. To some extent, the teaser worked better for me than the actual song, much like Sai Abhyankkar’s ‘Blud on his way’ teaser than the full song ‘Oorum Blood’ itself 🙂 But eventually, the goodness of the shorter song fades and merges into the longer song making me like the newer variant too.
Mannichiru – Sirai (Justin Prabhakaran) – Tamil: Trademark Justin melody! The ‘aNa aNa aNaikka’ chorus is a dead giveaway. I also see that he is writing the lyrics himself in this song, like Sam CS. Good singing by Sathya Prakash, and Aanandi Joshi who makes her presence felt only in the end.
Noodhana Noodhana – Niram (D. Imman) – Tamil: While the ‘Noodhana Noodhana’ hook makes the song a great listen, Imman layers it imaginatively with kanjira, thavil, and nadaswaram too. It’s a concoction that works quite well!
Gira Gira Gingiraagirey – Champion (Mickey J Meyer) – Telugu: A song that has Mickey’s signature written all over it. It’s almost like the specific masala a cook/chef uses with which we can identify their creation 🙂 The rythm is high-energy and Ram Miriyala’s singing aces the melody perfectly.
Odiyamma – G.O.A.T (Leon James) – Telugu: The song’s opening lines took me back to Rahman’s Jeans number, ‘Anbe Anbe Kollathey’, but eventually, Leon lands the Odiyamma hook and turns things around. The result is something that I associate with GV Prakash and not Rahman or Leon! It’s a good enough melody, though and Anurag Kulkarni gives it his all to make it work.
Ravinte Ekantha – Pongala (Ranjin Raj) – Malayalam: Instant ‘Ente Khalbile’ memory recall! Similar raaga, perhaps? Lovely singing by Sithara Krishnakumar and Abhay Jodhpurkar, even as Ranjin handles the melody with the light touch it deserves.
Shilayoru Deviyay – Khajuraaho Dreams (Gopi Sundar) – Malayalam: Is this song based on, or uses Kaanada raagam? I was able to pick up strains of Sindhu Bhairavi’s ‘Poo Maalai Vaangi’, particularly in the anupallavi. Beautifully imagined melody by Gopi, and phenomenally sung by Vijay Yesudas, evoking his legendary dad’s memory, and Afla Subhana.
Mannanai, En Vaighai, Andhi Maalai, and Nee Malargalil – Kalamkaval (Mujeeb Majid) – Malayalam/Tamil: Mujeeb does something enormously interesting in this film’s soundtrack! It’s a Malayalam film’s soundtrack but all the songs are in Tamil. And they hold almost direction reference to classic Tamil film melodies. For instance, Mannanai sounds, tune-wise, a lot like MS Viswanathan’s Deerka Sumangali number ‘Malligai En Mannan Mayangum’, but is coated in Ilayaraja’s 1980’s style guitar work. En Vaighai fits straight into Thalapathy’s Sundari KaNNaal Oru, right into the anupallavi, smoothly! Anthi Maalai seems like it is sculpted off Povoma Oorkolam’s (Chinna Thambi) anupallavi! And Nee Malargalil fits beautifully into Thenmadhurai Vaigainadhi (Dharmathin Thalaivan). I’m very curious to see how director Jithin K Jose uses these intriguingly and obviously derivative musical pieces into the film!
Hasravva – Mango Pachcha (Charan Raj MR) – Kannada: A hypnotic melody layered with pulsating music that goes perfectly with the ‘intoxicating’ theme of the song.
Patho – Cult (Arjun Janya) – Kannada: Arjun Janya channels his inner Pritam and delivers a gorgeously mounted song with Nishan Rai’s splendid singing and Crispin Netto’s electric guitar piercing throughout the song. The power-ballad style sound works well for the song’s mood.
Kaarmoda Karagi Maleye Shuruvaagide – Maarnami (Charan Raj MR) – Kannada: Hamsa Naadham raaga? Brought to my mind many songs including Vidyasagar’s Poo Vaasam (Anbe Sivam). Charan Raj gives the melody a beautiful Ilayaraja-style backdrop with nadaswaram and flute adorning it in the interludes. Lovely singing by Kapil Kapilan and Sindhuri Vishal.
Malhari – Gondhal (Ilayaraja) – Marathi: This is the kind of tune and rhythm that could transport any Tamilian to the Ilayaraja era of the 1980s/90s instantly! Everything sounds so very vintage and pristine, far removed from synthetic, modern sounds that we are currently accustomed to. The chorus too, that beautifully interacts with Abhijeet Kosambi’s ebullient lead vocals, does a terrific job. And the two interludes are absolute wonders – the shorter ‘promo’ video doesn’t do justice to the full song (included in my playlist). I was totally taken aback by the way Raja inserts the first interlude with just the Ektara, almost teasing it like a completely different song before bringing it in context brilliantly!
Raaja Raaja – Hitesh Modak (Marathi/Indipop): The second song this week that reeks of Ilayaraja’s Tamil-style retro sound but is actually a Marathi song, after Gondhal’s Malhari (by Raja himself, of course). And the song itself it called ‘Raaja Raaja’ too!! Hitesh has so much going for him in this song – it’s heady and rhythmic, but the rhythm doesn’t overpower the soaring, lush melody that shows itself better in the antara, almost sounding like an Ajay-Atul melody.
Harjai – Faridkot (Hindi/Indipop): A blingy, synth-driven retro pop that glides oh-so-smoothly! The backing vocals (Nupoor Khedkar, Brecilla Dsouza, Damini Gautam, and Nidhi Wagle) does a pitch-perfect job in accentuating the song’s feel, while Rajarshi Sanyal swoops in with a guitar interlude in total style. IP Singh’s lead vocals is, as always, excellent.
Saasu Maa – Jaani Aaya Hai (Bunny, ft. Jyoti Nooran) – Hindi/Indipop: A punchy, Nusrat-style semi-classical melody that Bunny blends with his catchy modern rhythm. The mix works very well mainly because of Jyoti Nooran’s convincing singing.
Mast Qalandar – Amir Khusrau/Ashiq Hossain, ft. Runa Laila (Coke Studio Bangla, Season 3): Whoa, they got THE Runa Laila herself to sing her most popular song? Brilliant! She handles it wonderfully, given that this is the song that she is most famously associated with.
