Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 302: YouTube | Spotify
Prem Ki Leela, Mann Ki Dasha, Shyamal Sanware and Shubh Din Aayo – Krishnavataram (Prasad Sashte) – Hindi: There’s a sweeping Ismail Darbar feel all through the soundtrack of Krishnavataram! The melodies are incredibly vibrant and rich, the singing (and choice of singers) is outstanding, and the inventiveness in the orchestration is notably excellent! Prasad Sashte’s music has always stood out for me (like his 2 songs from 2018’s Mulk, or 2025’s single, Adhoora, or 2024’s Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani) and I was wondering why he doesn’t compose more, or a full soundtrack. Krishnavataram seems like a dream project for Prasad (or any composer, these days, considering it is a solo composer album with 8 songs) and the music simply explodes in the most pleasant way! Shreya rules through Prem Ki Leela and Mann Ki Dasha. While Javed Ali joins her in the former, along with a fantastic intervention towards the end by Suvarna Tiwari, the latter is a solo where she gets flowy, expressive tune to sing, and she does a terrific job. Shyamal Sanware is my favorite from the soundtrack, with its incredibly likeable jaunty rhythm mounted specifically for the beautifully melody. Even though Neeti Mohan opens the song (admirably), it is Sonu Nigam who looms large all over it. The chorus and bridges (between the antara and mukhda) are all exquisitely layered. Shubh Din Aayo is a joyous confluence of voices shared by Abby V who leads impressively, with Shweta Mohan and Shivam Singh joining in.
Dil Waale Chor – Pati Patni Aur Woh Do (Rochak Kohli) – Hindi/Punjabi: Sounds like a dreamy Punjabi melody composed by The Weeknd! It works effortlessly because of Aditya Rikhari’s lead vocals, even as Shreya Ghoshal does her magic in the antara.
Polladha Aasaigal – 29 (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: After Poo Paadal, Sean Roldan hits it out of the park again here! The use of Darbari Kaanada raaga is exquisite, with a mild nod to Vidyagasar’s use of the same raaga at places. What makes the song stand out is the almost overpowering, energetic rhythm that carries the otherwise soft melody – the combination works wonders. Sathyaprakash seems perfect and obvious for this song, but the choice of Saindhavi is the X factor by Sean!
Kannakuzhiya – Hi (Jen Martin) – Tamil: While listening to this song, in particular to the generous flute part by Lalit Talluri, my mind started humming ‘Yerikkarai Poongaatre’, that cult classic by Ilayaraja from Thooral Ninnu Pochu (one of Ilayaraja and K.Bhagyaraj’s very best soundtracks). Jen has some imaginative musical phrases peppered through the song. For instance, the song opener, ‘KaNNukizhiya Podhakuzhiya’ features again as a standalone call-out too, while the ‘Ninna edathula’ hook is employed to great effect. GV Prakash Kumar is an inspired choice for singer and he does extremely well for this melody.
Vellichudare – Irandu Vaanam (Dhibu Ninan Thomas) – Tamil: Dhibu produces what I associate with Nivas K Prasanna’s sound! But the composer owns the song the way he introduces the nadaswaram in the first interlude and layers a chorus based counterpoint to Kapil’s vocals in the anupallavi.
Unnai Nambi – Lenin Pandiyan (Ilayaraja) – Tamil: That warm, intensely nostalgic (and familiar) sound and melody from Raja. Shweta Mohan handles the solo wonderfully. The interludes are excellent, as usual.
Alelle Alelle – Srinivasa Mangapuram (GV Prakash Kumar) – Telugu: As usual, GV Prakash Kumar seems to reserve most of his more-interesting experimenting to Telugu film music! The sound here is the most nifty I have heard from him in recent times and definitely not in Tamil! He sings it well too, with Hari Priya.
Hridhayame – Madhuvindhu (Hesham Abdul Wahab) – Malayalam: The film’s soundtrack has 8 songs! I had earlier written about Mellave Mellave and while the other songs did not register for me (En Kaathaake Nee did, but only mildly), the only other song that worked for me was Hridhayame, that too, mainly because it had the familiar Hesham sound that I often complain about 🙂
IYKYK – Athiradi (Vishnu Vijay) – Malayalam: Trust Suhail Koya to make a sound out of a social media phrase and truly own it too 🙂 The lyrics include more phrases, like Sapiosexual and Sigma! Vishnu’s tune works at the level of an annoyingly compelling earworm!
Thendralil – Charulatha Mani (Tamil/Indipop): Charulatha Mani writes, composes and sings Thendralil, and her effort works wonders in all three departments. The song has sparkling, expressive lines like, ‘Kadal nurayil aazham theiyaadhe’ and Ilai nuni pol manadhu alai paaya’. Manonmani’s solo Sarangi stands out among the orchestration since it is used effectively. While the melody is lush and likeable, she does something interesting with the structure – it is essentially a single pallavi used twice. Makes the melody register even better.
Vari Vari – Dhee, Santhosh Narayanan (Tamil/Indipop): There’s a lot of Santhosh Narayanan in the composition even though it seems to be coated with a retro-ish synth melody in the background that makes a big difference from any other song from him. The leading rhythm echoes his more recent earworms like Kanima. Dhee handles the catchy tune with her usual flair.
