Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 78: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
20 songs this week. JioSaavn has 18 and is missing Aval from Kakshi: Amminippilla and Yenanno Helalu Hogi from Gubbi Mele Brahmastra. YouTube playlist has 17 songs and is missing 3 songs from Malaal (I have hence embedded the YouTube jukebox of the soundtrack below).
Nadhkula, Aai Shapat, Kathai Kathai, Zara Suno – Malaal (Shreyas Puranik, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shail Hada) – Hindi: Malaal is, in my view, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s best as a composer. He has 5 songs to his credit of the 7 songs, with the other 2 by Shreyas Puranik and Shail Hada). Nadhkula (which Shreyas seems keen on pronouncing as ‘Nadh kuzha’ (almost making it sound like a Tamil word!). The melody is delectable, with a jaunty rhythm keeping it company – the combo is enchanting! Shreyas’ singing is top notch, and the chorus that ends the song is perfectly layered too.
Shail Hada composes the wonderfully lilting Zara Suno that Aanandi Joshi sings really well, even as Rutvik Talashilkar has an odd edge that is a hit-or-miss. The melody keeps the song thoroughly enjoyable, though. Rutvik, however, is outstanding in Aai Shapat, handling the incredibly catchy folk tune, with a lovely spring-in-the-rhythm. And then there’s Shreya Ghoshal and Kathai Kathai! I have usually heard the word ‘Kathai’ (light brown?) used with the color of the heroine’s eyes (my favourite song being Duplicate’s Kathai Aankhon Waali Ek Ladki). Here, the hero’s eyes as being described, for a change! Shreya owns the song like only she can, with a particularly fantastic tune for the antara! Sanjay’s tune is endearing and very pleasant.
Paisa – Super 30 (Ajay-Atul) – Hindi: A lovely retro-twang like Kalyanji-Anandji’s Don title song is what makes this ‘item’ song work effortlessly. And Vishal Dadlani is a perfect choice, delivering it with panache.
Uthira Uthira – Pon Manickavel (D.Imman) – Tamil: A very, very unusual tune! The melody took me to ‘Suno Sajna papihe ne’ from Aaye Din Bahar Ke, with mind-blowingly beautiful music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. That song, I gather is Raag Nand (though some other websites claim it is Bilawal). Is the Tamil song on the same raga? I don’t know, but it sounds bewitching! Maria ‘Roe’ Roshni Vincent’s catchy vocal hook and the singing by Sreekanth Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal are spot on.
Sigarame – Raatchasi (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: Raatchasi is a surprisingly middling soundtrack from the otherwise super Sean Roldan! The one song that I thought has potential is Rahul Nambiar’s Sigarame that shines with a kind of edgy energy that the other songs lack, including the over-indulgent Rekka Namakku, which seems severely over-sung by Srinidhi.
Talapu Talapu – Brochevarevarura (Vivek Sagar) – Telugu: Phew! Vivek pauses bluegrass’y template to go back to his jazz’y template in which he has produced a fantastic range! Vandana Srinvas is very good with her vocals, and the guitar in the song is also a particularly good layer.
Gira Gira – Dear Comrade (Justin Prabhakaran) – Telugu: A new song from Dear Comrade that’s already bubbling with brilliant music! Of the 4 versions, I liked the Telugu the most, thanks largely to the singing by Yamini Ghantasala and Gowtham Bharadwaj. Justin’s tune sounded like the perfect melting point of M.M.Keeravani and A.R.Rahman’s music!
Maha Adhbhutham – Oh Baby (Mickey J Meyer) – Telugu: The song is something one can easily identify as Mickey’s music! The familiarity is both an advantage and a clutch. And as the anupallavi starts, the sound and tune go so mild that I thought the song was fading to an end! But it picks up tempo again, thankfully! Nutana Mohan’s serene vocals carry the gently sonorous melody.
Vanil Chandrika – Luca (Sooraj S Kurup) – Malayalam: After Ore Kannal, Sooraj strikes again with another winner! Arvind Venugopal’s lead vocals, Zia Ul Haq’s Hindi lines and Sooraj’s own haunting melody coated with the beautifully ambient orchestration! The build-up to the song is slow, steady and seductive, and the chorus by Pavithra Das and Pranavya Das too adds tremendous value!
Aval – Kakshi: Amminippilla (Arun Muraleedharan) – Malayalam: Arun Muraleedharan, of Adventures of Omanakuttan fame, has a better song than his earlier one from this film (Chandam Thikanjoro), even as he shares credit with Samuel Aby. That his melody is easy-on-the-ear with its lush tune is one thing, but where it scores is in Harisankar KS’s singing!
Yenanno Helalu Hogi – Gubbi Mele Brahmastra (Manikanth Kadri) – Kannada: The first song from the film, an odd fusion over Swagatham Krishna, didn’t work for me, this one is more like comfort food! Simple, hummable tune, delivered very well (expectedly) by Karthik. The chorus-like additions in second interlude was an interesting surprise.
Abbabba Ninna Kande – Preethi Irabaaradey (Sabu Varghese & Yelender Mahaveer) – Kannada: While the rest of the soundtrack is generally bad, this one song caught my attention sounding almost like that of Tamil composer Bharadwaj. Catchy and rhythmic, with a very interesting bridge from anupallavi to palavi that literally breaks down the melody. Santhosh Venky’s singing is one reason why the song works. Also interesting to see 2 composers listed for the whole soundtrack – did they compose all the songs together (they haven’t been a duo in the past as far as I recall), or did they compose some songs individually between them?
When You Know What Love Is – Craig David: An energetic melody that’s punctuated well by the equally energetic rhythm and house-style sound.
Ice Cream – Mika: Mika’s new song in 4 years, from his upcoming album, My Name Is Michael Holbrook (releasing in October). The falsetto, the whispery, throaty singing, the stylish pop sound that is straight out of George Michael’s repertoire… this is joyously vintage Mika!
Peace Of Mind, Heaven & Hold The Line: AVICII’s posthumous album Tim is an excellent compilation recalling the producer’s body of work. The bounce in the album, across multiple tracks and the vibrant, innovative musical flourishes (particularly in songs like Excuse Me Mr Sir and Hold The Line) are a testimony to the late DJ’s legacy. (Since I had earlier included SOS and Tough Love in Weeklies, not repeating them here).
Walk Me Home – P!nk: I first heard the song in the trailer of the upcoming film Peanut Butter Falcon and I was smitten with the ‘Walk me home in the dead of night’ hook!