Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 94: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
23 songs, this week. All 23 in YouTube playlist, and 17 of them in JioSaavn.
PS: Weeklies returns after 2 weekends owing to my vacation and work-related travel last week. If, by any chance, you were curious about my vacation, here’s a travelogue, with a lot of photographs: 5 days in paradise.
Naah Goriye – Bala (Jaani/B Praak) – Punjabi: Not to be left behind T-series, Sony gets into the recreation game too, but at least they credit the original folks correctly and even rope them to join the recreation! Harry Sandhu’s chartbuster Latino-Punjabi mix Naah continues to sound incredibly catchy in the new version too.
Tere Sang – Satellite Shankar (Mithoon) – Hindi: Mithoon’s song is easy on the ear and Arijit handles it well. There’s a charming vocal chorus that accompanies the tune, adding to the feel. Aakanksha Sharma’s entry in the antara is a lovely touch, taking the melody to a nice new, energetic high.
Ajnabee – Bhuvan Bam (Indipop) – Hindi: Bhuvan continues his fantastic run! Ajnabee, and in particular the way he sings, took me back to Ali Haider’s style of music and singing (Sandesa came to my mind, though the tunes are totally different) that I used to be obsessed with in the 90s. Very warm and gentle tune, beautifully accompanied by guitars.
Kinna Sona – Marjaavaan (Meet Bros) – Hindi: T-series has credited Nikhil-Vinay for the original and that’s a HUGE facepalm moment! But Meet Bros’ new version of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s classic is not all that bad. Jubin Nautiyal’s singing sails along the original’s appeal effortlessly and the music is too nicely punchy too.
Maavuliyo Maavuli – Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu (Tenma) – Tamil: I wasn’t that impressed with the first song from the film, but the second song is completely a different case. Composer Tenma sings one part that is contrasting to the main tune sung by Shweta Mohan and that juxtaposition is fascinating! The hip-hop’ish backdrop adds to the song’s appeal.
I Want a Girl – Dhanusu Raasi Neyargalae (Ghibran) – Tamil: Anirudh Ravichander rules this one! Ghibran’s choice of singer wins easily. The energetic tune that Ghibran keeps consistently entertaining. Interestingly, the lyrics refer to, ‘PudikkaNUm oru Virgo dhaan’ despite the fact that Dhanusu (Sagittarius) and Virgo are hardly known to be compatible 
Malto Kithapuleh – Hero (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: Yuvan shows why and how he has sustained in the Tamil music industry for so long in a song that I would have guessed as being from Anirudh! It’s incredibly catchy, involves a neat layer of kuthu and Rokesh’s gibberish lyrics are a hoot! This is a winner!
Single Superstar – Ben Human (Indipop) – Tamil: There’s so much of Michael Jackson in Ben’s song and even he sounds a bit like Suresh Peters, who used to sound like Jackson back when he was in the scene! Catchy song.
Vaadi En Vaayadi – Aayiram Jenmangal (C.Sathya) – Tamil: Sathya creates a rollicking electronic kuthu much like Anirudh’s Aalumaa Dolumaa from Vedhaalam. It works, given the frenetic sound and excellent singing by
G.V. Prakash Kumar, Solar Sai and Rokesh.
Ramuloo Ramulaa – Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (Thaman S) – Telugu: A wonderfully lilting, faux-folk melody that I’d have guessed as Devi Sri Prasad’s had I not known the composer’s name Anurag Kulkarni is particularly fantastic with the singing.
Manasara Mansara – Tholu Bommalata (Suresh Bobbili) – Telugu: Composer Suresh Bobbili who recently scored a winner in Mouna Hrudaya Raagame from
Thipparaa Meesam performs an encore here! The song, in 2 versions – male version by Sid Sriram and female version by Chinmayi – is a whiff of fresh air, mildly harking back to early Rahman style. The background music, has a consistent, repetitive phrase that is very alluring!
La La La La – Iddari Lokam Okate (Mickey J Meyer) – Telugu: You Are My Heart Beat, the first song from the film, was less interesting and too templatized. But the second song is a lot better, thanks also to Sameera Bharadwaj, who sings the melody beautifully. The hook is really addictive.
Thakita Thakita & Sara Sara – Aayushmanbhava (Gurukiran) – Kannada: Veteran Kannada composer Gurukiran shows that he still has it in him. Thakita Thakita is a lovely melody that sounds a lot like some Adnan Sami song (owing to the rhythm), but is a fantastic listen. In Sara Sara, Vijay Prakash lifts the tune significantly with his singing even as Guru’s background music traverse a whole range of impressive sounds.
Life is Beautiful & Life of Partha – Mundina Nildana (Kaushik Shukla and Srinidhi Venkatesh) – Kannada: The film continues to be really interesting, musically, though with multiple composers! I wasn’t that taken to Vasuki Vaibhav’s 2nd single, but these 2 songs are fantastic! Life is Beautiful is Sanjith Hegde’s show and the breezy pop tune works perfectly for his signature style. Life of Partha is a pleasant surprise since it reuses Srinidhi Venkatesh’s (formerly A.R.Rahman’s sound engineer) debut single from 2015, Lonely Sound, in a newer, racier package! She sings it herself too. Both versions are incredibly ambient and alluring, with the music video of the former being a beautiful addition, directed by Shalini Shankar and animated spectacularly by Sandhya Prabhat.
Billo – Abrar Ul Haq (Coke Studio, Episode 2 – Season 12): Abrar’s mid-90s Billo was a subcontinental chartbuster, even copied in Bollywood as ‘Mera Dil Le Gayi Oye’ from Ziddi, in 1997. The latest Coke Studio revives the iconic song in a zingy new avatar and it continues to be incredible fun even beyond the nostalgia it evokes. Abrar’s many vocal nakhras keep it consistently endearing.
Saiyaan – Shuja Haider & Rachel Viccaji (Coke Studio, Episode 2 – Season 12): An incredibly engaging and lilting Punjabi duet! Even the expressions of Shuja and Rachel take on a performative tone as they so thoroughly enjoy singing their lines. The backgrounds are so lively and move in such interesting directions, but the somber nature of what they are singing keeps the song on its edge all the time!
Mubarik Mubarik – Atif Aslam & Banur’s Band (Coke Studio, Episode 3 – Season 12): A scintillating Baloch wedding song where Atif is almost an incidental player! Banur’s band, consisting of composer Usman Withd, benjo player Chakar Baloch and singer SM Baloch bring in such a wonderfully joyful feel to the song themselves that Atif’s otherwise less nasal and actually brilliant singing actually goes to the background (till he showboats, rightfully so, towards the end).
Pon Thaarame & Kaanaa Theeram – Helen (Shaan Rahman) – Malayalam: Pon Thaarame is a warm melody that Shaan is already known for. Vineeth’s handling of the tune is, as usual, exemplary, accentuating the warmth. Megha Josekutty is the star of Kaanaa Theeram, a really sweet melody! That ‘Sundaram ithu jeevitham’ phrase is such an addictive line!
Tula Japnar Aahe – Khari Biscuit (Amitraj) – Marathi: Khari Biscuit already had a fantastic title song (composed by Suraj-Dhiraj). The soundtrack returns with another winner here. Composer Amitraj’s choice of singers, Adarsh Shinde and Ronkini Gupta, scores darn well – the interplay between their voices in the alaap is brilliant, and so is the lush melody and the rhythm.