Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 135: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
14 songs, this week. YouTube has all the song, while JioSaavn is missing only 2 – the Tinder ad jingle by Mike McCleary and the Anubavam Pudhumai recreation (both embedded below).
Khushmizaaj, Rang Bhariya & Dil Bandar – Darbaan (Amartya Bobo Rahut) – Hindi: The last time I recall hearing Amartya Bobo Rahut’s music in films was in Drive, last year, if I recall correctly. He has been producing his own pop songs recently too (like Shaam Simti and Chup Chup that did not quite work for me. On his own YouTube page – in case you are interested) and I do keep track of this body of work. So, it comes across as a wonderful surprise to hear 3 new songs from him in a Zee film called Darbaan.
Khushmizaaj is easily the song of the album! It has Arijit’s comfortably addictive singing, and Amartya’s tune is wonderfully breezy with a constantly uplifting background. Rang Bhariya features yet another woefully underrated composer, Gulraj Singh, as singer, along with Amrita Singh, and Amartya’s tune this time is lively, rhythmic and effortlessly likeable! Dil Bandar is totally whimsical and I would have mistaken it for a Vishal Bhardwaj song! Tushar Joshi handles the ebullient, fun melody with his lively singing.
Aise Kyun – Mismatched (Anurag Saikia) – Hindi: Very-Anurag melody – soft, whispery (sung by Anurag Saikia, Raghav Chaitanya, Nikhita Gandhi) and makes for easy listening.
In Our Own Way – Tinder India (Mikey McCleary) – Hinglish/Advertising: Mikey, already well-known for his retro-inspired sounds and albums, indulges in a lush recreation of the 80s Hindi film music style for a Tinder brand film! It’s short, but within that duration, there’s so much reference, originally – and not merely aping – to the period it alludes to (not in-film, but only as an attention-seeking device) that it effortlessly brings Parveen Babi in a shimmering costume to your mind!
Moner Moto & Main Hi Hoon – JL50 TV Series (Aseem Trivedi, Keshav Dhar) – Bangla, Hindi: Moner Moto is a meticulous recreation of a classic Bangla song – the third such attempt this week, after the new Tinder ad jingle and Kim Kim (Malayalam)! Composers Aseem Trivedi and Skyharbour lead Keshav Dhar focus more on getting the atmospherics right even as the show’s director Shailender Vyas nails the nuances in the singing. Main Hi Hoon is singer Jubin Nautiyal show given how he owns the pensive melody with his fabulous singing! Aseem’s sound is soft-rockish and aptly mounted to depict the moodiness in the theme.
Baras Baras – Durgamati (Tanishk Bagchi) – Hindi: The song sounds almost like Tanishk deconstructed Kalyug’s (2005) Jiya Dhadak (composed by Rohail Hyatt and Faisal Rafi) and reconstructed it to a slightly different package! The mood, setting and melody are remarkably similar, yet new! Considering Tanishk’s repertoire in known-recreations, this isn’t surprising anymore. The soul of the song is B Praak’s stupendous voice!
Anubavam Pudhumai – Staccato & El Fé + Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy (Recreation): Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy’s famous recreation of the Spanish classic Besame Mucho (inspired Kalyanji-Anandji’s Yeh Sama too, from Jab Jab Phool Khile) gets a lovely recreation by the 2 Chennai-based bands, Staccato and El Fé. The music improvises on the original tantalizingly and Niranjana Ramanan holds sway with the vocals wonderfully.
Neethone Vasthunna – Boyfriend For Hire (Gopi Sundar) – Telugu: The 2nd single from the film is as charming as the first one. This one is less of anything dramatically different as I had observed in the first one, but is comfortably likeable. Sravana Bhargavi’s singing and the persistent sitar backdrop lift the song.
Kim Kim – Jack N’ Jill (Ram Surendar) – Malayalam: The makers clearly announce that the song is inspired by an older song, ‘Kantha Thookunnu Thoomanam’ from the Musical Drama ‘Paarijaathapushpaaharanam’. I wanted to hear the original, but there are scant references to the original film/drama online, dating back to 1932, directed by Raja Sandow! I don’t know if I got the right film. The recreation/inspiration wears its retro-style on its sleeve, much like Ilayaraja’s Naan Siritthaal Deepavali or O Party Nalla Paarthydhaan (from Nayakan and Idhayam, respectively). The song’s charm is primarily due to Manju Warrier’s uninhibited singing and she pulls it off beautifully.
Oru Kuri Kandu Naam – Vellam (Bijibal) – Malayalam: Tune-wise, the song is rather predictable and falls right under Bijibal’s familiar repertoire, but much like DSP’s style, Thaman’s style or Gopi Sundar’s templates, that familiarity too offers comfort at times. The rhythmic backdrop and the new singer Viswanathan’s singing help the song stand out.
Ati Chendada – Window Seat (Arjun Janya) – Kannada: Arjun choice of evoking the train sound is a bit too synthetic, but taken as a song, the rhythm works well for the melody. A large part of the song’s appeal is Vijay Prakash’s stellar singing.
Premachi Kahani – Vinod Bansode, ft. Hariharan (Indipop/Marathi): The contrast between the song’s language and the video’s setting (Kerala!) is quite unusual! Vinod’s melody seems mounted specifically for Hariharan’s singing – pleasant and is particularly good in the antara.