Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 198: On Spotify | On YouTube
22 songs this week, understandably so, since I’m back after 3 weeks! All the songs are available on YouTube, while Spotify is missing just one song – Andharaani, from Neetho.
Har Jagah Tu – Doctor G (Sultan Sulemani) – Hindi: I have always wondered if we would get the melodic high of Nadeem-Shravan’s 90s music again in India (given how those songs continue to be popular within specific segments of people in the North). This song took me straight to the 90s, to Saajan, in particular – observe the flow of ‘Kya galti hai’ and ‘Zindagi yeh kya hogi’ (Jiye toh jiye’s antara that goes, ‘Kaise kahoon, bina tere… zindagi yeh kya hogi’) 
In a way, Sultan Sulemani uses the melodic soul of Nadeem-Shravan’s music and adds a more modern layer of instrumentation around it. Raj Barman’s singing seals the deal!
Mera Love मैं – CHUP! (Amit Trivedi) – Hindi: To some extent, this goes back to Amit’s Dev.D’s form and this gets even more apparent in the antara that is racier. A return to Dev.D is great news Amit sings it with the necessary verve.
Orr Kadhal Kanaa – Farhana (Justin Prabhakaran) – Tamil: Justin more than makes up for the disappointing work in Radhe Shyam with this one single! Everything about the song is spellbinding! The choice of singers, for one: Harini Ivaturi, Adnan Sami, and Goldie Sohel. Then, the way the melody keeps layering each voice over the other in a completely cohesive way! When the rhythm kicks in, the song really takes off. The anupallavi too is a thing of beauty with the voices being interwoven to an even more nuanced effect, particularly that ‘Sandhathiley… nuzhaindhu… inbathile… ezhundhu’ phrase! Really looking forward to the other songs in this film.
Poovizhi Penne – Aattral (Ashwin Hemanth) – Tamil: This is the kind of song that would have me going, ‘Hey, who is the composer??’ instantly! My guess, without knowing that it is Ashwin Hemanth, would be Justin Prabhakaran… and I say this is as a compliment given Justin’s fantastic musical run. Ashwin gets many things right in the song – the tune has a fantastic uptempo feel. The musical background is very, very confident and polished, particularly the second interlude which makes excellent use of silences. The singers, Benny Dayal and Shweta Mohan, lift the song beautifully.
Maatram & Hi Hello – Coffee With Kadhal (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: There are 8 songs in the soundtrack and the songs that really work for me, unsurprisingly, are the ones that Yuvan thankfully doesn’t sing himself. Inno Genga’s Maatram is a good example. His singing elevates the song’s already throbbing sound and Yuvan’s sound offers a great contrast to the rising melody. Hi Hello’s lyrics are from a different era in Tamil cinema music with cringey Tanglish lyrics, but Yuvan’s catchy music offers much more to enjoy. As a bonus, it is sung by Kannada’s singing star Sanjith Hegde who is always more than dependable with his unique voice.
Jessica – Prince (Thaman S) – Tamil: Prince’s music, so far, has been disappointing, particularly coming on the back of better music from Sivakarthikeyan films (I’m including Doctor, but not Don). Jessica is perhaps the first serviceable song from the film. Thaman imports some of his Telugu-style musical charms here and it just about works in creating a fun song. The lyrics are, like the above song I referred to from Coffee With Kadhal, are from another era, generously sprinkling English words.
Paartha Nyabhagam – Kolai (Girishh Gopalakrishnan) – Tamil: Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy’s original, from Puthiya Paravai (1964) was itself inspired by the Bolero-Mambo song ‘Quien Sera’, composed by Mexican composers Luis Demetrio and Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. The latter recorded the song first with his orchestra in 1953, and they recorded it again with the singer Pedro Infante in 1954.
Of course, it’s more likely that the Tamil version was directly influenced by Dean Martin’s smashingly popular 1954 English version (lyrics by Norman Gimbel; backed by Dick Stabile’s orchestra) of Quien Sera, Sway The pacing of the original Mexican versions is different from the English version – the same languorous pace extends to the Tamil version too.
Girishh’s recreation does total justice to the Tamil version’s memory, given how it accentuates the highs of that song, particularly the background chorus elements. It’s almost like SS Rajamouli picking an old script and remaking it in his way Shreya Ghoshal, as always, towers over the recreation!
Pinju Pinju Mazhai – Naane Varuvean (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: First things first, thanks to Yuvan choosing not to sing this himself, or hand it over to Dhanush. Yugabharathi’s lines deserved a proper singer, not a star actor/composer doubling as a singer. And Sid does the honors beautifully. Yuvan’s music keeps the background busy and interesting throughout even for a soulful melody like this and that makes a big difference.
Lalanaa & Andharaani – Neetho (Vivek Sagar) – Telugu: Lalanaa has Hariharan singing it! I’m not sure when Hariharan sang last in Telugu (update: he apparently did, in Sita Ramam, recently), but his voice, for Vivek’s zingy tune works wonders. Andharaani is, tonally, Lalanaa’s opposite. Gowtham Bharadwaj’s soaring vocals carry this song and it’s good to see Vivek looking beyond his comfort zone musically.
Nee Chaaredu Kalle – Swathimuthyam (Mahati Swara Sagar) – Telugu: That they use the title of an iconic 1985 film with Ilayaraja’s stellar music is a bold move Musically, this is a vastly different film, obviously. The song in the 3-song soundtrack that worked for me is Nee Chaaredu Kalle, thanks to the singing by Arman Malik and Sanjana Kalmanje. The composer’s breezy pop-rock sound is punchy and easy on the ears.
Avunanavaa – Ori Devuda (Leon James) – Telugu: Leon hasn’t been very impressive in recent times and his Telugu outing has been relatively poorer compared to his Tamil work. Thankfully, this song makes me look forward to more. The melody is simple and predictable, but Sid’s sweet singing really sells it.
Kuttikkalam Thotte – Visudha Mejo (Justin Varghese) – Malayalam: Justin Varghese scores again effortlessly in the song with an unusual soundscape that stands out—and calls attention—more than everything in the song, including the solid singing by Abhijith Damodaran. It’s a lovely package, though!
Mazha Pattu – Padavettu (Govind Vasantha) – Malayalam: Aah, this is Govind’s home ground! He has a fantastic melody that starts off as a solo, takes a break, and then merges into a chorus’ish flow that comes out of nowhere! The music is enchanting, Keba’s guitars are superb, but it is Govind’s own singing that actually mars the experience a bit, surprisingly.
Aadharanjali – Romancham (Sushin Shyam) – Malayalam: Sushin concocts a funky dance number that is mighty glitzy, delivered really well by Sushin himself, along with Madhuvanti Narayan.
Rebel song, Karma song & Varaha Roopam Daiva Va Rishtam – Kantara (B. Ajaneesh Loknath) – Kannada: The only song in the film’s soundtrack that evokes Ajaneesh’s lush melodic style is Singara Siriye about which I had lavished praise earlier when it first released. The other 3 songs are more thematic. To some extent, Karma song too comes close, with stupendous use of chorus. The tune is haunting and affecting, thanks to Venkatesh DC’s singing. Rebel song’s South Kanara folk sound took me to how Jakes Bejoy used Kerala’s Attapadi folk sound in Ayyappanum Koshiyum’s Kalakkatha. But Ajaneesh does something totally unexpected at the 2-minute mark very briefly that made my jaw drop The song is consistently rhythmic and catchy. That brings me to the magnificent Varaha Roopam. It’s obvious that it evokes a recall of Thaikkudam Bridge’s stellar song Navarasam, but beyond the similarities, Ajaneesh owns the song with an equally haunting and different melody, delivered brilliantly by Sai Vignesh. The underlying sound is very similar to Navarasam though, with the profusion of the pulsating guitar. Beyond the sound, the themes are very similar too – spirit worship in the form of Theyyam in North Kerala and Bhoota Kola in Tulunadu.
Kaarana Helu & Vaikuntake Savaari – Nodi Swamy Ivanu Irode Heege (Prasanna Sivaraman) – Kannada: I liked the overall sound of the entire soundtrack of the film, though the 2 songs that really stood out for me are Kaarana Helu and Vaikuntake Savaari. The former is almost an Ilayaraja’ish melody, exquisitely adorned with Narayan Sharma’s violin and Chandreyee Acharya’s superb singing. Vaikuntake Savaari is a spirited rock number that infuses bits of semi/faux classical phrases very well within it. Mahesh Raghunandan’s singing is the lifeline of the song.
Avarisu – ŠKODA Deccan Beats (Neehar Kiran Dabade) – Kannada: Since I last added a song from this musical series in my Weeklies 196, I have heard many other songs within this series but none of them really stood out. There were songs in Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil too. The only song that worked among the many is this Kannada song composed by Neehar Kiran Dabade. The song has the feel of a Sandeep Chowta song, and is sung darn well by Sunil Nakod and Nivas.