Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist. Week 42:
On Apple Music | On Saavn | On YouTube
23 songs this week. Apple Music has 20; is missing Vidya Vox, Madhan Karky & Shankar Tucker’s Kaadhal Thozhi, Sharanya Srinivas & Shravan Sridhar’s Muralidhara Gopala and Bhale Manchi Chowka Beram’s Seedha Gundelloke. Those 3 songs are only on YouTube (for now). Saavn is missing those 3, plus Jass Manak’s Suit Punjabi.
A note on the songs in the playlist.
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Aap Se Milkar Reprise & Woh Ladki (AndhaDhun, Hindi): A sweet, old-fashioned melody from Amit that gains a lot from Ayushmann’s singing. The instrumentation is decidedly gentler and from a different era, particularly the way it follows the line, ‘Tuk tuk lagakar’ in the antara. In comparison, the normal version, by Abhijeet Srivastava & Aakanksha Sharma seems less interesting. Woh Ladki’s infectious vaudevillian sound, Arijit’s voice and The Chennai Strings fuse together to create a captivating song!
Bhare Bazaar (Namaste England, Hindi): When the song is composed by Rishi Rich and Badshah, you could be reasonably sure that it would be catchy. And it sure is! The song has an easy, bouncy vibe and the singing by Vishal Dadlani, Payal Dev and Badshah is on the dot, accentuating that feel.
Badhaaiyan Tenu (Badhaai Ho, Hindi): Tanishk Bagchi scores one more original (increasingly more often, alongside his recreations) with the song’s quirky tone and the singers, Brijesh Shandailya, Romy and Jordan, handle it aptly, with the right fun feel.
Mujhme (Jalebi, Hindi): The only other song that worked for me, in Jalebi’s sprawling, maudlin soundtrack (ok, Tanishk Bagchi’s Tera Mera Rishta wasn’t maudlin). Mujhme is nothing but the female version of Tum Se, sung beautifully by Shilpa Rao. Tum Se’s tune, by Samuel Shetty and Akanksha Nandrekar, is incredibly affecting and addictive. The female perspective is an equally good variant!
Anaganaganaga, Peniviti & Reddy Ikkada Soodu (Aravindha Sametha, Telugu): Thaman is back and how! The song’s melody has a superb verve, and that electric violin by Dandilya is a superb addition! Naveen’s flute too joins the mix, and in Armaan Malik’s likeable vocals, this is an easy winner! Peniviti is Thaman-style all the way; it’s familiar and predictable, particularly when the strings accompany the main tune in the first interlude. But, even within the familiarity, the tune is captivating, thanks t Kaala Bhairava’s fantastic singing. And in Reddy Ikkada Soodu, Thaman does way with the conventional need for a pulsating masala Telugu track and instead creates a more global-music’ish masala mix that is instantly appealing. The song’s prelude, Pendyala Nageswara Rao-composed iconic song, Veyi Subhamulu Kalugu Neeku from the 1963 film, Sri Krishnarjuna Yudham is a nice touch.
Hey Babu, Chettu Kinda Doctor & Emo Emo Emo (Devadas, Telugu): The song fits perfectly with the first song from the film, Vaaru Veeru. There’s a similar retro’ish swing here too, and Karthik is perfect for the lively tune that has a kick-ass 2nd interlude featuring a superb brass section. Chettu Kinda Doctor is completely wacky, with Padmalatha perfectly managing the comical affectation needed for the song. The hook is kick-ass! 
Emo Emo Emo is, of course, Sid Sriram’s show, even as Mani beautifully layers it with a stupendously sweeping strings layer akin to early Rahman. It’s great to see Mani Sharma back in action so confidently.
Vagachi (Amala, Telugu): Gopi’s tune is tantalizingly slow and sedate, and a lot of credit should go to the singer too, Anarkali Marikar who handles it so well! Gopi keeps the music calmly in the background to let her singing take precedence, and the effect is brilliant!
Seedha Gundelloke (Bhale Manchi Chowka Beram, Telugu): Composer Hari Gowra, who was last heard in a middling single from Nakshatram, does significantly better here! The guitar-led, breezy tune works well in Hemachandra and Ramya Behara’s vocals. The anupallavi is particularly tuneful.
Suit Punjabi (Jass Manak, Punjabi): A typically templatized Punjabi hiphop’ish number, but as usual, the package works thanks to Jass Manak’s likeable vocals, and the repetitive phrases.
Kaadhal Thozhi (Vidya Vox, Madhan Karky & Shankar Tucker): Shankar has proved to be a very, very good composer (if you haven’t heard his debut album, Filament, you are missing something! See Milliblog review of the album: http://bit.ly/2NvfYnm). Kaadhal Thozhi immediately stands out for 3 things – the first is Madhan’s verse, in beautiful Tamil! The 2nd is Vidya’s diction – it delightfully gets the language’s inherent appeal perfectly. And then there’s Shankar’s breezy and highly engaging melody, that includes a lovely chorus layer. Fantastic song!
Muralidhara Gopala (feat. Sharanya Srinivas & Shravan Sridhar): The Maand raaga classic comes alive magnificently in Mahesh Raghavan’s wonderfully modern packaging, using the geoshred! Sharanya’s singing is exquisite, and Shravan adds a beautiful violin layer to complete the experience!
Ikadun Tikade (Home Sweet Home, Marathi): Santosh Mulekar’s tune is incredibly charming. It starts off predictably enough, but as soon as the make-shift antara paves way to a change of pace, the song takes off in a wonderfully exciting route! Ajay Gogavale’s voice is an asset to the whimsical song, that even touches a techno vibe eventually!
Freak Penne (Oru Adaar Love, Malayalam): I didn’t quite like the Munnale Ponaale teaser song, but Shaan does better as a follow-up to the incredibly popular Manikya Malaraya Poovi in this rap song. Its racy music and Sathyajith’s singing keeps it spritely, along with Neethu Naduvathettu. It’s the lyrics that’s quite silly, though
Nooru Vattam (Mandharam, Malayalam): A nice ballad’ish song that reminded me of Phil Collins’ Another Day In Paradise. No, not the tune directly, but the way it feels. Mujeeb is promising, all through Mandharam’s soundtrack (except Mittayi).
Mounam (Mangalyam Thanthunanena, Malayalam): Read full soundtrack review here: http://bit.ly/2PVNAaM
Maathado Taareya, Oh Kshana & Just Fly (Ambi Ning Vayassaytho, Kannada): Maathado Taareya seemed to be like raaga Madhyamavathi, and Gummineni Vijay Babu sings it with a particular warmth that’s so endearing. The veena interludes too add to the song’s charm. Oh Kshana works mainly because of Anirudh’s breezy vocals. Arjun comes to the fore with a tune that’s equally fresh and pop’ish, and the little nuances like the ‘La la’ chorus backdrop in the anupallavi is really good. And Vijay Prakash lifts Just Fly to a new plane, even as Arjun plays around with the sounds, infusing the Kerala Chendai sound and Malayalam phrases in between, possibly to signify the bike travels of Ambi! Lovely, lilting listen.