Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 291: YouTube | Spotify
The first Weeklies of 2026 has a lot of backlog from the 2nd half of December considering I closed the entires for my annual round-up by mid-December. So, solid playlist this time, with 20 songs!
Ghar Kab Aaoge – Border 2 (Anu Malik, Mithoon) – Hindi: Mithoon doesn’t tamper much with Anu Malik’s original and it sounds as fresh and soothing as it many years ago.
Aiyo Kadhaley – With Love (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: Sean Roldan’s minimalist acoustic groove powers this charming track along with Vijaynarain’s honeyed lead vocals and Sean’s own flashy backing vocals.
Neelothi and Minnu Vattaam Poochi – Sirai (Justin Prabhakaran) – Tamil: I had a tough time realizing that this is by Justin and not Santhosh Narayanan! This is straight out of Santhosh’s Cuckoo soundtrack – the feel is oh-so-similar! But Justin does get the best out of both Sooraj Santhosh and Chinmayi, with a lush strings section (Budapest Scoring Orchestra, that appears in Santhosh’s Kannada song further down this list!) backing them. Minnu Vattaam Poochi is more like it – totally in Justin’s zone all the way. And is that really Yuvan Shankar Raja singing? Oh wow! Justin seems to have extracted phenomenal vocals from the otherwise off-key expert (some digital processing?). Padmaja Sreenivasan does very well, alongside Yuvan. The melody is upbeat and playful, and very easy on the ear.
Unnai Ninaithu – Kadhal Reset Repeat (Harris Jayaraj) – Tamil: Typically sparse and simple music that elevates Sid Sriram’s singing – Very Harris. The melody is surprisingly basic and likeable, though Sid makes it seem more immersive than it is with his exquisite singing.
Dheere Dheere – Funky (Bheems Ceciroleo) – Telugu: I really enjoyed the colloquial Telugu-Hindi mix in the lyrics by Anudeep – ‘dheere dheere tu dilo aa gayi’ is a charming way to frame it 🙂 Bheems’ melody is seductive and slow-burn, and gets even more interesting when Rohini Soratt sings in an understated way what Sanjith had finished singing in an excited way!
Chiri Thottu, Vellarathaaram, Puthu Mazha, and Mayajaalame – Sarvam Maya (Justin Prabhakaran) – Malayalam: There are Coldplay-adjacent touches in Chiri Thottu – the song’s midtempo, mellow groove and crowd-friendly “woah-oh” English refrains (“I saw you on the floor in the crowd yet alone…”) echo the pop-softness and stadium-ready simplicity of Coldplay. But Justin makes it his own with the sax and Indian rhythmic phrasing that works immensely well. Chinmayi is astonishingly—and expectedly—fantastic with her singing.
Vellarathaaram, on the other hand, makes inventive leaps, as much as Akhil’s idea of casting Nivin and Aju as traditional Brahmin priests – fusing Narayanan Bhattathiripad’s chanting of mantram and Bálint Sapszon’s Budapest Scoring’s strings! It’s a heady mix and works very nicely within the song. Vineeth Sreenivasan’s voice glides over the jaunty rhythms too smoothly. Puthu Mazha has a featherlight, easily likeable melody, and Shakthisree Gopalan owns it wiht her dreamy vocals. There’s a nice Carnatic swaram-style passage in the interlude and that blends well with the otherwise western-leaning harmony. Sooraj Santhosh’s superb vocals root Mayajaalame’s brooding alt-rock sound, subtle electro touches from Justin accentuating the impact.
Considering the film released for Christmas 2025, the makers should have released the soundtrack much, much earlier instead of giving it just one week! I closed entries for my 2025 annual round-up by mid-December, but I’ll most definitely have a couple of songs from Sarvam Maya in my 2026 list!
Title song – Chatha Pacha (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) – Malayalam: This is Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy’s punchy Malayalam debut though a mildly familiar/predictable kuthu sound felt like a downer to me since I expect the trio to set the trends, not merely follow them. But the song’s electro-rock sound works very well, amped up by Shankar Mahadevan’s full-throated singing.
Shuru Shuru – Balaramana Dinagalu (Santhosh Narayanan) – Kannada: It is good to see Santhosh return to Kannada film music after his tentative effort here (background score for Lucia, and songs for Tamil ‘Kodi’ remake, ‘Dhwaja’). The song’s arrangement hints at his signature fusion of subtle folk-rock edges with a breezy, lush melody. Sanjith Hegde and Punya Selva’s voices travel beautifully over tune.
Chinna Chinna (Love Song) – Vrusshabha (Sam CS) – Kannada: The one shining spot in the otherwise trainwreck of a soundtrack (and film, from what I see in reviews)! The melody, particularly in the antara, seemed like an offhsoot of Madhyamavathi raaga, and Kapil Kabilan is a perfect vehicle to deliver this energetic, engaging melody.
Tampu Tirl – Koragajja (Gopi Sundar) – Tulu: I believe the film has been released in multiple languages, but given the director’s background and the Daiva-worship theme, I’m assuming it is a Tulu film first. Tampu Tiri is language-agnostic, though, with Gopi treating it as a wonderful melody first without any context to Tulu or the region (which are reserved for a few other songs). It’s very Gopi in terms of melodic texture, with an almost conversation melody between Rameshchandra and Prathima Bhat.
Novala – Santhosh Narayanan (Coke Studio Bharat) – Indipop/Tamil/Malayalam: A rolling, track where Santhosh Narayanan smoothly mixes earthy folk, parai-driven groove, and a gently anthemic, addictive hook to great effect. Jayamoorthy’s vocals grounds the melody and humanise the fisherman’s grind with conversational ease through the lyrics.
Jil Jil – Amrit Ramnath (Indipop/Tamil): Jil Jil took me back to Amrit’s work in Varshangalkku Shesham where he explored more musical variety (relatively, than his Tamil debut in 3BHK). Here, he has a breezy, soft-focus earworm, with the mouth organ adding a nostalgic quirk, and the Indian Choral Ensemble cushioning the hook. This is a lovely musical-theatre style harmony.
Hey Mama – Darbuka Siva (Indipop/Tamil): After the splendid hype created by Gautham Menon in launching Darbuka Siva as ‘X’, I don’t know what happened to him eventually with film music, even though he surfaces occasionally with pop singles. Hey Mama is a mighty competent pop single as far as the punchy background sound goes, with its synth effects working well to blanket the minimal rap-like lyrics. I could see this tune/sound being apt for a film song too.
Alaipayuthey – Iham Kavyam Experience (Indipop/Tamil): What can someone do afresh to an already over-experimented melody like Alaipayuthey Kanna? Well, Kavya Ajit and Precious Peter make a valiant attempt and succeed too! Kavya’s luminous vocals are fantastic, but it is in Peter’s production that the reimagination’s true power comes to life, since he layers pleasing modern textures over the (Kaanadaa) raga’s evocative gamakas and flute-like phrasing.
Poraga Poraga – P V N S Rohit (Indipop/Telugu): A vibrant musical experiment by P V N S Rohit where he confidently blends Carnatic music’s intricate gamakas with hiop-hop to great effect, throwing in Hindi phrases too in the mix!! Did I hear strains of Aarabi raaga in the melody – I’m not entirely sure.
Mukilpoovin – Adobe Abode (Vidyasagar) – Indipop/Malayalam: Vintage Vidyasagar! Just listen to the anupallavi – it transported me to 90s music! But Vidyasagar plays around with this melody and sound quite extensively, particularly with notes that move in unusual directions unexpectedly. The melody is clearly Jasim Jamal’s show even as Rakshita Suresh appears very, very briefly only in the second interlude.
