Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 61: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
19 songs this week. JioSaavn has 18 of them, which is very good! It’s missing just Anivaga Poothoren from Neermathalam Pootha Kaalam. YouTube has 15 songs and is missing the 2 songs from Sonchiriya (since they are inside a jukebox—have added the jukebox below), Adangaa from Aghavan and Kaathu Kaathe from Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu.
A note on the songs in the playlist:
Baaghi Re & Ruan Ruan –
Kyun Dil Mera – Paharganj (Ajay Singha) – Hindi: A sonorous (almost) ghazal-style melody sung by Mohit Chauhan! The music is unhurried, with a lovely tabla layer, and Mohit’s voice lifts it several notches!
Kyun Rabba – Badla (Amaal Mallik) – Hindi: It is a tad too predictable, but in Armaan Malik’s pleasant vocals, it is eminently listenable. Amaal Mallik, after a familiar start, makes up with a zingy Kyun Rabba hook that lifts the song’s appeal.
Sillu Karuppatti – Agam Thaanai (Pradeep Kumar) – Tamil: That very, very Pradeep Kumar sensibility! The music is simple but eclectic, and most definitely endearing. I really look forward to more from Pradeep’s first—finally!—solo Tamil soundtrack.
Adangaa – Aghavan (C.Sathya) – Tamil: After Adiyaathi, last week Sathya impresses with yet another song from the film. Adangaa is a throwback to the Deva style of melodies from the 90s and 2000s… very, very pleasant and uncluttered melody. Priya Hemesh’s singing deserves a special mention.
Thamizh Anthem – LKG (Leon James) – Tamil: This is a beautifully soulful anthem for Tamizh, the language! That the makers included Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai’s Thamizh Thaai Vaazhthu inside the song, with the right flow, is a masterstroke! The singers are all top class, led by Sid Sriram and phenomenal support by P.Susheela, Vani Jayaram, L.R.Eswari and Chinmayi. Young Leon James should be very proud of this song!
Oye Kamali – Kalbettada Darodekoraru (J. Anoop Seelin) – Kannada: Oh boy, what a song! The soul-style opening reminded me of Rahman and Adiye… and surprise, there’s no Rahman or Sid Sriram! The classic piano sound by Anoop and the singing by Narayan Sharma and Varijashree Venugopal! This is brilliant stuff by Anoop!
Sanchari Hrudaya – Chambal (Judah Sandhy) – Kannada: The sound is very Judah Sandhy – breezy and pleasant, and the song is a complete departure from the soundtrack’s other songs, by Prabhu S.R and Poornachandra Tejaswi. Judah continues to be extremely promising! Very good vocals by Abhinandan Mahishale and Shreya Iyer.
Aakashamantha – Prema Katha Chitram 2 (JB) – Telugu: This is the 4th song from the film that is highly listenable. I wonder when J.B will get his big break in Telugu, if not for this film, despite his consistently good form over the years! This one’s an easy-on-the-ear catchy song that works almost instantly, plus good singing by Mohammed Hymath and Ramya Behara. The highlight is that Raja’ish anupallavi that is a superb touch.
Paye Paye – Falaknuma Das (Vivek Sagar) – Telugu: Vivek is on a spree!! This is one heck of an ebullient kuthu track that is so beautifully steeped in Telugu folk music! Blisteringly good percussion all through, and fantastic singing by Shiva Nagulu and Rahul Sipligunj.
Mella Mellagaa – ABCD (Judah Sandhy) – Telugu: The other Judah Sandhy song of the week, but in Telugu! And this is a Sid Sriram song as well, along with Aditi Bhavaraju! There is that persistent flute-like sound that is especially addictive and Judah uses it to great effect, layering it mighty well into his tune.
Kappalandi – Ilayaraja (Ratheesh Vega) – Malayalam: Ok, so there’s a Malayalam film called Ilayaraja. I’m assuming this has nothing to do with THE Ilayaraja… or at least the first song doesn’t indicate anything towards that direction (thankfully). It’s a simple, joyously catchy song that gets the hook right. And I had no idea actor Jayasurya could sing this functionally well!!
Kaathu Kaathe & Eenthola – Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu (Gopi Sundar) – Malayalam: Eenthola is very similar to Kappalandi, not in terms of the tune, but in getting a simple, foot-tapping melody so very right. Pranavam Sasi’s earthy voice and the anupallavi riffing on delightful Kerala folk tunes is a great touch. Kaathu Kaathe too has its soul in its foot-tapping rhythm, and Sithara Krishnakumar is really good in handling the rhythmic melody that comes alive with lovely Kerala-centric instruments.
Anivaga Poothoren – Neermathalam Pootha Kaalam (Sangeeth Vijayan) – Malayalam: The serene melody took me back to Vidyasagar’s Priyam song, ‘Udayaadha Vennilla’, but the tunes are different, don’t worry. The sound is resonant and beautifully orchestrated. Harisankar K S’s singing is a special highlight.
Pularum Vare – Shibu (Sachin Warrier) – Malayalam: This is the 2nd song sung by Harisankar K.S this week. Composer Sachin Warrier already had impressed hugely with Aliyukayayi/Suhara Song from this film, and he has another winner here. The Ni Sa Ma chorus is a lovely touch, and the main tune has enough strength to become and earworm!
Pretend – CNCO: Latin American boy band, CNCO doesn’t do anything dramatically new here, but whatever they do is catchy and good enough. It’s the age-old Ricky Martin-style Spanish-English pop mix that continues to work.
Tudo Bom – J Balvin, Static & Ben El: Israeli singer Liraz Russo, better known as Static made a splash in 2017 with his reggaeton flavored Hebrew track Tudo Bom. Now, they produce an English crossover of the song that also features J.Balvin. It’s an insanely catchy song featuring multiple genres that seamlessly blend. Here’s the original, just in case: Static and Ben El – Tudo Bom.