Originally published in The Hindu.
Halena – Iru Mugan (Tamil – Harris Jayaraj)
“Halena Hale Hale na! Gasena Gase Gase na!” is the kind of lyrical combination that can only appear in a Harris Jayaraj song! A conventional Harris Jayaraj song, with gibberish, repetitive words and a catchy tune, has now become indistinguishable from the myriad parodies he gets on the internet. Still, he consistently manages to produce trendy earworms and Iru Mugan’s Halena falls right into that bucket, despite it sounding a lot like American rapper Fetty Wap’s debut single Trap Queen.
Mugilu matte matte – Puta Tirugisi Nodi (Kannada – Dheerendra Doss)
There is an all-round resurgence in Kannada cinema these days, and this extends to the kind of music produced in Sandalwood too! Dheerendra Doss, one half of Live Banned (the other half being Amrit Rao, who debuted as a composer in Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam earlier this year) makes his debut in Puta Tirugisi Nodi. The soundtrack’s opener Mugilu Matte Matte is also the pick of the lot, with a spritely sound that owes its captivating backgrounds to Live Banned’s Fake You and excellently sung by another upcoming Kannada composer, Joel Dubba.
Saaiyaan – Qurat-Ul-Ain-Balouch (Composed by Asad Chohan)
Qurat-Ul-Ain-Balouch, also known by her stage name, QB, is a Pakistani singing star known for her work in Coke Studio and cover versions of popular songs like Reshma’s ‘Akhiyan nu rehn de’. Her Indian debut is Saaiyaan, with Bulleh Shah’s lyrics, has music by Asad Chohan, produced by Salman Albert. QB’s powerful singing style adds significant charm to the fairly templatized sufi-rock sound.
Kho gaye hum kahan – Baar Baar Dekho (Hindi – Jasleen Royal)
25 year old Jasleen Royal made her filmy debut as a singer in the Sneha Khanwalkar composed Preet, for Khoobsurat. Now, making her debut as a composer (and singer), she ropes in Delhi-based singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad to write Kho gaye hum kahan. The song, the best of the soundtrack by a mile, is wonderfully dreamy and serene, with an ultra-minimal guitar backdrop and a catchy hook propping Jasleen and Prateek’s vocals, much like a classic Mikey McCleary jingle!
Endha pakkam – Dharmadurai (Tamil – Yuvan Shankar Raja)
Yuvan Shankar Raja has been conspicuously missing when rival composers like Anirudh and Ghibran have been creating waves. His last full album (if you ignore the few singles from Yaakkai) was Yatchan, exactly a year ago! Now, he is back with Dharmadurai, for director Seenu Ramasamy with whom he produced an outstanding soundtrack in Idam Porul Yaeval. Endha pakkam is good old Yuvan, incidentally! Immersive melody over a simple, captivating rhythm, and superbly sung by Chinmayi and Rahul Nambiar, with a particularly lovely humming-based bridge connecting the anupallavi and pallavi.