Songs and credits at the end.

In a soundtrack marked by its rich instrumentation and vocal harmonies, Hope (Merku Karaiyil) – I really like how each song’s main title is a reference to the situation it represents, Power Paandi earlier this year had its songs titled similarly – is the most sparsely arranged track; composers Vedanth Bharadwaj and Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy crooning a gentle melody with just a banjo backing them for most part, played (by Vedanth) almost like an iktara. It is only towards the end that Mano Thangamani makes his entry with some beautiful sarangi. Baby Song (Kukkotti Kunaatti) is understandably about a child’s perspective, and the bit that is actually sung by a child (a lovely sounding Pranita Praveen Kumar with a playful ditty) is ensconced between some brilliantly harmonised portions layered with violins and ukulele, and the composers themselves delivering some of Kutti Revathi’s lines. The humming portions that open the song get developed into an entirely fresh sequence in Aruvi Theme (Moods of Aruvi) – one that Bindhumalini renders to a breezy setting, before passing the baton to the strings section in the second half to deliver the same piece even more effectively.

Though there are multiple lyricists credited for Aruvi, a lot of the soundtrack’s choicest portions are wordless. And the best instance of that is in Teen Track which Bindhumalini kicks off with a brief rendition of Oothakkaadu Venkata Subbaiyer’s simhendramadhyamam raga based Asaindhaadum Mayil before things turn jazzy with Naveen Nabeer Kumar’s bass (played almost like an upright bass – brilliant!), Fedrick Rosario’s accordion and the trumpet – both Balu’s actual one and Bindhumalini’s vocal imitation of one. More of the genre and vocal scatting follows in the gypsy swing styled Liberty Song (Cement Kaadu) – the singing of the lyrical portions here (Bindhumalini, Aditi Balan) is iffy at times, but the overall joie de vivre more than makes up for it. Ideally this is the song that should have been tagged Party Song. What is actually given that alternate title – Uchcham Thodum Anbin Kodi – is in fact a more sobre composition, more along inspirational lines. Here too the composers’ orchestration is exquisite, fusing rock flavour with world elements. Once again it is Bindhumalini leading the proceedings with a confident effort; I am guessing Vasu Dixit has been credited for those outlandish high-pitched bits towards the end. Watch out for Federick Rosario’s mad accordion improvisations from the 2:34 mark!

Aruvi. Brilliantly experimental composing debut from Vedanth Bharadwaj and Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy. And that’s two more indie musicians making a fine entry into the movie world.

Music Aloud Rating: 4/5

Top Recos: All songs!

Musician Credits

1. Baby Track (Kukkotti Kunaatti)
Singers: Vedant Bharadwaj, Bindhumalini & Praniti
Lyricist: Kutti Revathi
Musicians:
Ukelele Vedant Bharadwaj
Conductor B. Yanchoni
Violins M. Kalyan & Sasi
Violas Hemanth &Chandran
Cello V.R. Sekar

2. Teen Track (Asaindhadum Mayil)
Singer: Bindhumalini
Lyricist: Oothakkaadu Venkata Subbaiyer
Musicians:
Trumpet Balu
Accordian Fedrick Rosario
Bass Guitar Naveen Nabeer Kumar
Percussions Krishna Kishore

3. Liberty song (Cement Kaadu)
Singer: Bindhumalini
Lyricist: Kutti Revathi & Arun Prabu Purushothaman
Musicians:
Violin Niranjan
Bass Naveen Nabeer Kumar
Drums Joraj Stanley George
Trumpets Balu
Rhythm Guitar Vedant Bharadwaj
Lead Guitar Vedant Bharadwaj
Programming Support Prashant Techno

4. Party song (Uchcham thodum Anbin Kodi)
Singers: Bindhumalini, Vasu Dixit
Lyricist: Kutti Revathi
Musicians:
Acoustic Guitar Vedant Bharadwaj
Percussions Krishna Kishore
Drums Joeraj Stanley George
Accordian Fedrick Rosario
Banjo Vedant Bharadwaj
Programming Support Prashant Techno

5. Hope (Merku Karaiyil)
Singers: Bindhumalini, Vedant Bharadwaj
Lyricist: Arun Prabu Purushothaman
Musicians
Banjo Vedant Bharadwaj
Sarangi Mano Thangamani

6. Aruvi theme (Moods of Aruvi)
Singer: Bindhumalini
Musicians:
Acoustic Guitar Vedant Bharadwaj
Bass Naveen Nabeer Kumar
Conductor B. Yanchoni
Violins Hemanth & Chandran
Cello V. R. Sekar

Music Mixing and Mastering
Navneet Balachandran
Prashant Techno
Sindhu Ramji

Music Recording Studios
Voice and Vision
Sa ma

Songs at the end.

After forsaking Ram Sampath who composed music in the first instalment for the in-vogue multi composer format, Fukrey’s makers assign Sharib Toshi the duty of creating an Ambarsariya equivalent in Fukrey Returns. The duo fare admirably in their task with Ishq De Fanniyar, a likeable folksy ditty that they back with a simple, minimal arrangement. Kumaar’s well phrased ophidian metaphors of love are delivered well by the composers in the male version, but it is Jyotica Tangri who truly owns the soulful melody with her nuanced singing in the female version. Kumaar supplies lyrics to two more songs of the album, neither of which is anywhere as impressive as Ishq.. Mehbooba is Prem and Hardeep’s adaptation of Laxmikant Pyarelal, Anand Bakshi & Rafi’s O Meri Mehbooba. Forgettable track replete with standard issue remix elements (including Raftaar’s rap). And the title song is the soundtrack’s biggest let-down; had high hopes on this one since it is composed by the talented Gulraj Singh, but it turns out to be pretty banal electronic-dominated fare that even Siddharth Mahadevan and Shannon Donald’s vocal efforts aren’t able to save.

Jasleen Royal reprises her Nachde Ne Saare format for the (presumably also wedding themed, going by the general mood and the baari barsi reference) Peh Gaya Khalara. Barring the strong memory it evokes of the former, fun song that is delivered well by Royal along with Divya Kumar. Shree D writes, co-composes (along with his constant collaborator Ishq Bector) and sings Raina. While he does alright on jobs 1 and 3, Shree and Bector disappoint on the composing front, producing a rather dated melody.  Sumeet Bellary gets two songs, both of which are a remarkable display of the man’s arrangement skills. Tu Mera Bhai Nahi Hai has folk instruments like tumbi, algoza and sarangi embedded in a trippy 8 bit-ish electronic base. Unlike in Mehbooba, Raftaar’s rap sits well here amidst Gandhharv Sachdeav’s spirited rendition. Director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba himself lends his hand in penning the folksy lines (along with Satya Khare and Vipul Vig) of the zesty Bura Na Mano Bholi Hai which to me qualifies as a more effective title song. Gandhharv lends his voice here too, alongside Shahid Mallya.

Fukrey Returns. Not surprisingly, a multi-composer soundtrack in the sequel fails to match up to the single composer work in the first.

Music Aloud Rating: 2.5/5

Top Recos: Ishq De Fanniyar, Tu Mera Bhai Nahi Hai, Bura Na Maano Bholi Hai

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Songs and credits at the end.

Tu Jit Jawna carries a Tu Bhaag Milkha-ish feel about it, and not just because it is a motivational song like the latter. Daler Mehndi sounds in his element behind the mic, given that this is home turf for the man, the apparent processing in his voice is annoying though (this redundant processing in fact is my bugbear for a large part of the soundtrack). The title song is an effervescent package that rides on Sunidhi Chauhan’s vocal energy even as composer Jatinder Shah populates the backdrop with cheery Western folk elements (neat use of banjo and violins), and finishes with a twist in the form of an instrumental waltz outro.

The banjo makes its appearance in the arrangement of the Punjabi folk piece Sajna Sohne Jiha as well, led in the vocal department by Jyoti Nooran in her trademark style – a style that is slowly beginning to feel repetitive in these type of songs. Sahiba Russ Gaiya is the song more affected by the repetitiveness in rendition style, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan being the culprit here. The melody sounds better in its Unplugged version, beautifully sung by Shafqat Amanat Ali. Shah gets Mamta Sharma to voice the courtesan dance song Gulbadan that he sets to an entertaining folk-classical mix. Sharma too does well on her part, handling the nuances with ease.

Firangi. Assuming this is his film composing debut, this is a promising effort from Jatinder Shah.

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Oye Firangi, Gulbadan, Sahiba Unplugged

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Musician Credits

Song Name: Oye Firangi
Movie Name: Firangi
Music: Jatinder Shah
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan
Lyricist: Dr. Devendra Kafir
Arranger/Programmer: Sourav Roy
Mix & Mastered by Sameer Charegaonkar at SMS

Song Name: Sajna Sohne Jiha
Movie Name: Firangi
Music: Jatinder Shah
Singer: Jyoti Nooran
Lyricist: Dr. Devendra Kafir
Arrangers/Programmers: Bunty Rajput Rajiv Bhatt and Sourav Roy
Mix & Mastered by Sameer Charegaonkar at SMS

Song Name: Sahiba Russ Gayiya
Movie Name: Firangi
Music: Jatinder Shah
Singer: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Lyricist: Dr. Devendra Kafir
Arranger/Programmer: Sourav Roy
Mix & Mastered by Sameer Charegaonkar at SMS

Song Name: Tu Jit Jawna
Movie Name: Firangi
Music: Jatinder Shah
Singer: Daler Mehndi
Lyricist: Dr. Devendra Kafir
Arranger/Programmer: Sourav Roy
Mix & Mastered by Sameer Charegaonkar at SMS

Song Name: Gulbadan
Movie Name: Firangi
Music: Jatinder Shah
Singer: Mamta Sharma
Lyricists: Ashraf Ali & Krishna Bhardwaj
Arranger/Programmer: Sourav Roy
Mix & Mastered by Sameer Charegaonkar at SMS

Song Name: Sahiba (Male) – Unplugged
Movie Name: Firangi
Music: Jatinder Shah
Singer: Shafqat Amanat Ali
Lyricist: Dr. Devendra Kafir
Arranger/Programmer: Sourav Roy
Mix & Mastered by Sameer Charegaonkar at SMS

Songs at the end.

Vineeth Sreenivasan does a neat ulsavam announcer imitation in his introduction of Shekharankutty the baby elephant (who I am guessing is the movie’s central character), before handing the baton over to Vidhu Prathap and Sreya Jayadeep to deliver lyricist Manu Manjith’s ode to Shekharan. Interesting that we have had two elephant songs in Malayalam in the same month, the other one being the song from Punyaalan Private Ltd. Shekara is a super fun song that composer Shaan Rahman orchestrates well; kids’ chorus and the like. Following the temple song is an equally trippy Muslim festive song titled Sunnath Kalyaanam. Vineeth Sreenivasan’s lines seem to be based partially on traditional pieces, and the man does a fine job of contemporising it. Shaan’s arrangement too strikes an engaging balance between folk and Western elements, and he gets Gowri Lekshmi and Mithun Jayaraj who sound fab. Completing the religious triad is Sthothram, an upbeat Christian prayer song that Biju James sings, joined by the composer with the occasional chants.

Shaan adopts a choir-based structure for Shaanthi which is essentially a rant against the current day communal chaos, presented in a delightfully melodic package. Vineeth Sreenivasan leads the vocals here, and is splendid on his part (his shariyaavum..shariyaavuo? dilemma is an excellent touch). Composer gives the soundtrack’s best to Sachin Balu – the incredibly soothing Neeyum Njaanum. While there is an undeniable evocation of Colonial Cousins’ Feel Alright here, the quality of singing and the tranquillity is bound to win you over.

He may have created his most popular song earlier this year (Jimikki Kammal) but to me Aana Alaralodalaral is Shaan Rahman‘s best work this year – an engaging, light-hearted soundtrack, like most of his choicest works have been. Going by its tongue-twister title, it seems the movie will follow in the same vein.

Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5

Top Recos: Neeyum Njaanum, Sunnath Kalyanam, Shekara

Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor passed away earlier today. Though he did not have as rich a musical portfolio as his brothers, Kapoor was part of a sizeable number of memorable songs. And as a musical tribute to the man, we present a playlist of some of those songs from Hindi films.

Songs (5 + 1 BGM piece that came out a while back) and complete credits at the end.

Since the music covered in the review includes background pieces that are entwined with the movie’s storyline, a spoiler alert for the benefit of anyone who is yet to watch Jagga Jasoos.

The movie begins – as Anurag Basu & Ranbir Kapoor’s last one did – with the Ala Barfi-esque Picture Shuru ditty, except here a bunch of kids replace Swanand Kirkire, arrangement turns a-cappella and Amitabh Bhattacharya’s modified lyrics a preface of sorts to the movie itself (It will be fun if variations of this track become the theme piece for all Picture Shuru Entertainment movies in future!). After a quick peek into the Purulia arms drop incident (with part-musical news debates) and establishment of the protagonist’s Tintin influences, we are taken to Jagga’s past. Anurag Basu’s work in Jagga Jasoos often harks back to Barfi in multiple ways, but it is in the childhood sequence that Pritam’s music most discernibly feels like an extension of the magical world Barfi was set in. And the best track from this phase is the one introducing the affable kid – Aaya Jagga (led by Neeti Mohan who sings a big chunk of the BGM songs) – marked by some beautiful use of harmonies and orchestral flourishes. The Laakhon Mein Ek refrain from the song becomes a recurrent motif through the movie, making an appearance in some of its most poignant moments. Three more endearing songs follow (and fleeting musical touches like the boy’s musical by-hearting of his lessons, and the farewell moment) – two establishing Jagga’s relationship with the tooti taang aur footi kismat waala Tooti Footi and one built around the evolution of his investigative habits (sung by Nikhita Gandhi), as the film proceeds to his youth.

A wordless piece constituted by an assortment of intriguing sounds (a bathroom orchestra, a kitchen orchestra among them) herald Jagga’s school life, the setting for first of the comic book stories – The Mystery of the Clock Tower. The 12-minute segment goes through multiple musical movements representing different stages of the story, often doubling back to the Miss Mala theme. While the rhyming is exquisite throughout this part (not sure who wrote it; opening credits mention Anurag Basu, Samrat Chakraborty and Debatma Mandal apart from Bhattacharya), musical high point is the brilliantly choreographed enactment of the fall from the tower with the tick-tocks, violins et al. Further elaboration of Jagga’s relation with Tooti Footi follows, and brings with it the first “song” of the album – Phir Wahi. Arijit Singh expectedly nails the pensive rendition while Nyzel D’lima and Roland Fernandes rule the backdrop with their guitar work.

Murder on the Giant Wheel, the second book, takes the story further east and North Eastern folk music influences start flowing in – first of the tracks being the short folksy piece Milan Ki Bela. A gamelan (I think) orchestra forms the backdrop of Ranbir’s rap-based enquiry that follows as well (again some ace rhyming – gondokol vs role etc). Second song to make its appearance is the breezy Jhumritalayya (mild Main Kya Karoon vibes here) penned by Neelesh Mishra, beautifully building on the those-destined-to-meet-shall-meet concept, one of the movie’s key plot devices. Interesting distinction in the movie version of the song is the dotara that beautifully underlines the arrangement throughout its length (and in the sequence that follows), even during the angry outburst that divides the song in half. The story ends with another of the album’s full tracks – Galte Se Mistake, one that has faced some plagiarism allegations (though I personally just find it as built on one of Pritam’s oft-used dance templates – last instance of which was Naach Meri Jaan from Tubelight). Fun song, made even more so by its visuals.

A haunting cello solo accompanies the introduction (sort of) of the villain Bashir Alexander, one that segues into a stirring ensemble piece as Jagga learns about Tooti Footi. The cheery Humko Usse Kya that follows, while cutely presented, is an apt representation of the increasing lack of empathy in present-day world. Another instance of a fun song turning philosophical happens soon after that – the brilliantly written (by Bhattacharya in this case) Khaane Khaake, the only BGM track so far that T Series deemed fit to release officially. Music enters the African territory with the third story set in the fictional country of Mombaka – a lot of percussion, ethnic chants and some amusing rap. The best musical piece from this segment (in fact the best song from the soundtrack) however has a dominant European flavour – Ullu Ka Pattha sung by Arijit Singh and Nikhita Gandhi. While the singing is top notch, it is the guitars by Daniel Garcia Diego (flamenco) and Roland Fernandes that truly lend the song its irresistible charm. Multiple little musical nuggets later comes another of the prominent background pieces, the exhilarating Tukka Laga where even Saurabh Shukla chips in with some rapping.  Among the other musical highlights of this story are the Russian folk song Kalinka (the one that Vishal Bhardwaj adapted for his song Darling in 7 Khoon Maaf) and the throwbacks during sequences featuring Tooti Footi, particularly during the reunion scene. Finally, there is the serene Musafir, the only song to not feature Arijit’s voice (Tushar Joshi is the singer here; presenting an equally effective rendition). The song gives me a very Imagine-esque vibe, for its use of piano and the message of peace that plays out in the movie towards the end of it.

In its entirety, Jagga Jasoos is without doubt the most incredible work of music that composer Pritam has produced to date. It is just sad to see that five months since its release, a large chunk of the music is yet to see an official release.

Music Aloud Rating: 4.5/5

Top Recos: Too many to name!

PS: A big thank you to the folks from @IndianMovieBGMs for showing the love to the OST that the movie’s producers don’t seem to share.

Musician Credits

Songs at the end.

Composers Vishal Shekhar use Julius Packiam’s Tiger’s Theme from Ek Tha Tiger – which also appeared in the trailer of Tiger Zinda Hai – as the basis for Swag Se Swagat, the “swag-laden” paean to love and fraternity penned by Irshad Kamil (I am not quite sure what the song’s choreography has to do with the message though). Passable song that is just about makes the cut because of its arrangement along with Vishal Dadlani and Neha Bhasin‘s vocal prowess. And definitely more effective than the second song that has its roots in the Tiger Theme – Zinda Hai that has Sukhwinder Singh and Raftaar doing vocal honours. In Dil Diyan Gallan the composers sort of reprise a combination they employed in their previous Salman Khan project (Sultan) – a folksy track with a main version sung by a (Pakistani) male singer and a female unplugged version sung by Neha Bhasin. Though not as effective as Jag Ghoomeya, Dil Diyan is still a pretty charming tune – in fact the folk aspect is accentuated here as Kamil’s lines are in Punjabi. While Atif Aslam does a neat job of rendering the lead version of the song, like with Jag Ghoomeya, here too it is the unplugged variant that works better.

Singing for Vishal Shekhar after a long gap, Shreya Ghoshal gets the prayer song titled Daata Tu in the soundtrack. The lady treats the poignant melody to a characteristically nuanced and soulful rendition, while a competent chorus supports her with some fine harmonies. The surprise shift in rhythm towards the end too is a nifty touch. The album’s best track goes to the vocal powerhouse Jyoti Nooran – a pulsating sufi fusion piece Tera Noor. Fab singing by Nooran, and groovy arrangement highlighted by the searing guitars and drums.

Tiger Zinda Hai. Vishal Shekhar’s only release for 2017 is a definite improvement over the first instalment of the Tiger series.

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Tera Noor, Daata Tu, Dil Diyan Gallan (Unplugged)

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

It’s that time of the year again, when you get inundated with year-end roundup articles. If you still have it in you for another musical review of the year from across multiple languages, I present Music Aloud’s best of 2017 compilation. Continuing my routine from the last few roundups, there are lists representing Hindi films, Malayalam films, Tamil films, Indie/Indipop songs and a final list containing an assortment of songs from Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali and Punjabi films. As usual, I have considered only movies/albums that released this year. Not going to write much, will let you enjoy the songs – each list has associated playlists both on Youtube and Apple Music, linked at the end of the respective list. I did write about the Hindi music scene on The Hindu and Film Companion, if you are keen on reading up.

Usually this exercise tends to be the most strenuous one that I undertake every year, but 2017 has been the year of massive lists for me. First there were the “Best of Music Mojo” lists created for Music Aloud’s eighth birthday, where I picked up eighty of the show’s best songs from across four seasons. And then the even bigger project for Film Companion, selecting favourite Bollywood albums between 1940 and 2016. In short, it has been an exhausting year! Hoping for a less hectic 2018. Wish you all an amazing year ahead as well! The lists, then.

(The artwork has been designed, as usual, by the awesomest @cookydoh)

Bollywood Top 25

1. Safar (Jab Harry Met Sejal) – Pritam|Arijit Singh|Irshad Kamil
2. Barfani (Babumoshai Bandookbaaz) – Gaurav Dagaonkar|Armaan Malik|Ghalib Asad Bhopali
3. Rafu (Tumhari Sulu) – Santanu Ghatak|Ronkini Gupta|Santanu Ghatak
4. Khol De Baahein (Meri Pyaari Bindu) – Sachin Jigar|Monali Thakur|Kausar Munir, Rana Mazumder
5. Benazaara (Mom) – A R Rahman|Sudeep Jaipurwale|Traditional
6. Kanha (Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan) – Tanishk-Vayu|Shashaa Tirupati|Vayu
7. Ullu Ka Pattha (Jagga Jasoos) – Pritam|Arijit Singh, Nikhita Gandhi|Amitabh Bhattacharya
8. Yeh Ishq Hai (Rangoon) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Arijit Singh|Gulzar
9. Sahiba (Phillauri) – Shashwat Sachdev|Romy|Anvita Dutt
10. Sunn Bhavra (OK Jaanu) – A R Rahman|Shashaa Tirupati|Gulzar
11. Ghar (Jab Harry Met Sejal) – Pritam|Nikhita Gandhi|Irshad Kamil
12. O Re Manwa (Secret Superstar) – Amit Trivedi|Meghna Mishra|Kausar Munir
13. Chal Tu Apna Kaam Kar (Newton) – Rachita Arora|Amit Trivedi|Irshad Kamil
14. Majaa Ni Life (Simran) – Sachin Jigar|Shalmali Kholgade|Vayu
15. Udi Udi Jaaye (Raees) – Ram Sampath|Sukhwinder Singh, Bhoomi Trivedi, Karsan Sagathia|Javed Akhtar
16. Dheemi (Trapped) – Alokananda Dasgupta|Tejas Menon|Rajeshwari Dasgupta
17. Jhumritalaiya (Jagga Jasoos) – Pritam|Arijit Singh, Mohan Kannan|Neelesh Mishra
18. Udanchoo (Qaidi Band) – Amit Trivedi|Arijit Singh, Yashita Sharma|Kausar Munir
19. Hai Zaroori (Noor) – Amaal Mallik|Prakriti Kakar|Kumaar
20. Iss Tarah (Meri Pyaari Bindu) – Sachin Jigar|Clinton Cerejo, Dominique Cerejo|Kausar Munir
21. Badnaam Jiya (Anaarkali Of Aarah) – Rohit Sharma|Rekha Bhardwaj|Ravinder Randhawa
22. Tukda Tukda (Mirza Juuliet) – Krsna Solo|Asees Kaur|Sandeep Nath
23. Mere Miyan Gaye England (Rangoon) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Rekha Bhardwaj|Gulzar
24. Chal Kahin (Mom) – A R Rahman|Shashaa Tirupati|Irshad Kamil
25. Jaane De (Qarib Qarib Singlle) – Vishal Mishra|Atif Aslam|Raj Shekhar

Honorary Mentions

1. Ishquiya (Lipstick Under My Burkha) – Zeb Bangash|Neeti Mohan|Anvita Dutt
2. Meer-e-Kaarwaan (Lucknow Central) – Rochak Kohli|Amit Mishra, Neeti Mohan|Adheesh Varma
3. Dhoondlo (Tu Hai Mera Sunday) – Amartya Rahut|Arijit Singh|Milind Dhaimade
4. Na Jaa (Jia Aur Jia) – Nisschal Zaveri|Nandini Srikar|Raqeeb Alam
5. Bandook Meri Laila (A Gentleman) – Sachin Jigar|Ash King, Jigar Saraiya, Raftaar|Vayu

Malayalam Top 25

1. Chenthar Nermozhi (Kambhoji) – M Jayachandran|K S Chithra, Sreevalsan J Menon|O N V Kurup
2. Ayalathe (Angamaly Diaries) – Prashant Pillai|Shreekumar Vakkiyil|Rafeeque P S
3. Kannile Poikayil (Thondimuthalum Driksaakshiyum) – Bijibal|Bijibal|Rafeeq Ahammed
4. Kasavu (Udaharanam Sujatha) – Gopi Sunder|Gayathri Varma|D Santhosh
5. Sita Kalyanam (Solo) – Sooraj S Kurup|Sooraj S Kurup, Renuka Arun|Sooraj S Kurup, Sangeeth Ravindran
6. Nanavere (Njandukalude Naatil Oridavela) – Justin Varghese|Tessa Chavara, Vipin Lal|Santhosh Varma
7. Pranavaakaram (E) – Rahul Raj|Saritha Ram|Vinayak Sasikumar
8. Oru Puzhayarikil (Munthirivallikal Thalirkumbol) – Bijibal|Shweta Mohan|Rafeeq Ahammed
9. Akasham Panthalu Ketti (Rakshadhikari Baiju) – Bijibal|Sudeep Kumar|B K Harinarayanan
10. Ekayai Nee (Kaattu) – Deepak Dev|Unnikrishnan|Rafeeq Ahammed
11. Jimikki Kammal (Velipaadinte Pusthakam) – Shaan Rahman|Vineeth Sreenivasan, Renjith Unni|Anil Panachooran
12. Ormakal (Parava) – Rex Vijayan, Neha Nair, Yakzan Gary Pereira|Dulquer Salmaan|Vinayak Sasikumar
13. Aigiri Nandini (Solo) – Thaikkudam Bridge|Govind Menon, Meera|Thaikkudam Bridge, Dhanya Suresh
14. Do Naina (Angamaly Diaries) – Prashant Pillai|Shreekumar Vakkiyil|Preeti Pillai
15. Kaattil (Mayaanadhi) – Rex Vijayan|Shahabaz Aman|Vinayak Sasikumar
16. Ozhukiyozhuki (Oru Cinemaakkaaran) – Bijibal|Shweta Mohan, Haricharan|Rafeeq Ahammed
17. Kaayalirambile (Paipin Chuvattile Pranayam) – Bijibal|Anne Amie Vazhappilly, Bijibal|Santhosh Varma
18. Ethetho Swapnamo (Avarude Raavukal) – Sankar Sharma|Vaisakh C Madhav|Siby Padiyara
19. Enthavo (Njandukalude Naattil Oridavela) – Justin Varghese|Sooraj Santhosh|Santhosh Varma
20. Thambiraan (Ezra) – Sushin Shyam|Vipin Raveendran|Anwar Ali
21. Ivalaro (Oru Mexican Aparatha) – Manikandan Ayyappan|Vijay Yesudas|Rafeeq Ahammed
22. Aaro Nenjil (Godha) – Shaan Rahman|Gowry Lekshmi|Manu Manjith
23. Kiliye (Mayaanadhi) – Rex Vijayan|Neha Nair|Rafeeq Ahammed
24. Olathin (Clint) – Ilayaraja|Shreya Ghoshal|Prabha Varma
25. Sunnath Kalyanam (Aana Alaralodalaral) – Shaan Rahman|Mithun Jayaraj, Gowri Lekshmi|Vineeth Sreenivasan

Honorary Mentions

1. Akale Oru Kaadinte (Ramante Edanthottam) – Bijibal|Shreya Ghoshal|Santhosh Varma
2. Sajan Morey (Solo) – Filter Coffee|Jahnvi Shrimankar, Mahesh Vinayakram, Swarupa Ananth|Traditional
3. Anguli Sparsham (Kambhoji) – M Jayachandran|Bombay Jayashree|Vinod Mankara
4. Madhumathiye (Sakhavu) – Prashant Pillai|Shreekumar Vakkiyil|Shabareesh Varma
5. Aaromale (C/o Saira Banu) – Mejo Joseph|Chinmayi|B K Harinarayanan

Tamil Top 25

1. Sarattu Vandiyila (Kaatru Veliyidai) – A R Rahman|A. R. Reihana, Nikhita Gandhi, Tippu|Vairamuthu
2. Vaanam (Power Paandi) – Sean Roldan|Ananthu|Selvaraghavan
3. Asaindhadum (Aruvi) – Vedanth Bharadwaj, Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy|Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy|Kutti Revathi
4. Nee Uravaaga (Paambhu Sattai) – Ajeesh|Haricharan, Shreya Ghoshal|Yugabharathi
5. Uyiraagi (Solo) – Agam|Shashaa Tirupati|Mohan Raj
6. Yaanji (Vikram Vedha) – Sam C S|Anirudh Ravichander, Shaktisree Gopalan, Sathyaprakash|Mohan Raj
7. Nee Paarkum (Thiruttu Payale 2) – Vidyasagar|Sathyaprakash|Pa Vijay
8. Paarthen (Power Paandi) – Sean Roldan|Sean Roldan, Shweta Mohan|Selvaraghavan
9. Ithu Varai Naan (Padai Veeran) – Karthik Raja|Chinmayi|Priyan
10. Azhagiye (Kaatru Veliyidai) – A R Rahman|Arjun Chandy, Haricharan, Jonita Gandhi|Madhan Karky, Navneet Virk
11. Ammukkuttiye (Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Rajanum) – D.Imman|Pradeep Kumar|Yugabharathi
12. Megamo Aval (Meyaadha Maan) – Santhosh Narayanan, Pradeep Kumar|Pradeep Kumar, Anandhu|Vivek
13. Kukkotti Kunatti (Aruvi) – Vedanth Bharadwaj, Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy|Vedanth Bharadwaj, Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy, Praniti Praveen Kumar|Kutti Revathi
14. Roshomon (Solo) – Prashant Pillai|Ashwin Gopakumar, Niranj Suresh, Arun Kamath|Mohan Raj
    Yendi Unna Maanagaram
15. Yendi Unna (Maanagaram) – Javed Riaz|Karthik|Lalithanand
16. Nee Kavidhaigalaa (Maragatha Naanayam) – Dhibu Ninan Thomas|Pradeep Kumar|GKB
17. Yaenadi (Adhagappattathu Magajanangalay) – D.Imman| Karthik, Shreya Ghoshal|Yugabharathi
18. Haiyo Konjam (Hara Hara Mahadevaki) – Balamurali Balu, Vishal Chandrasekhar|Gaana Kadal, Sindhuri Vishal Chandrashekar|Santhosh P Jayakumar, Gaana Kadal
19. Rail Aaraaroo (Nenjil Thunivirundhal) – D.Imman|Pradeep Kumar, Shreya Ghoshal|Yugabharathi
20. Tasakku Tasakku (Vikram Vedha) – Sam C S|Mugesh, M. L. R. Karthikeyan, Guna|Muthamil
21. Mella Mella Sollava (Maayavan) – Ghibran|Shweta Subram, Abshek|Soundararajan K
22. Idhayane (Velaikkaran) – Anirudh Ravichandar|Anirudh Ravichander, Neeti Mohan|Madhan Karky
23. Azhagile Enai (Kathiruppor Pattiyal) – Sean Roldan|Pradeep Kumar|Yugabharathi
24. Gubu Gubu Gubu (Magalir Mattum) – Ghibran|Karthi|Vivek
25. Innum Enna (Kootathil Oruthan) – Justin Prabhakaran|Haricharan, B. Mac|Kabilan, B. Mac

Honorary Mentions

1. Paathum Paakkaama (Kurangu Bommai) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Shankar Mahadevan|J Francis Kiruba
2. Nenje Nenje (Sema) – G V Prakash Kumar|Siddharth Mahadevan, Shashaa Tirupati|Yugabharathi
3. Laali Laali (Theeran) – Ghibran|Ghibran, Sathyaprakash, Pragathi Guruprasad|Raju Murugan
4. Semparuthi (Indrajith) – KP|Bombay Jayashree|Pulavar Pulamaipithan
5. Nee Paadhi (Kanavu Variyam) – Shyam Benjamin|Guna, Mahalakshmi Iyer|Arun Chidambaram

Non Film Top 25

1. North Star (The Last Analog Generation) – Blackstratblues
2. Dil Haare (Side B) – Ankur Tewari
3. Naadu (Single) – Varkey & Friends, Sooraj Santhosh, Aparna Balamurali
4. Sleep Awake (Zia) – Aswekeepsearching
5. Uproar (Single) – Rasika Shekar
6. The Awakening (Change Fiction) – Palindroma
7. Herua Batot (Notun Puhor) – Papon
8. Bas Teri Raah (Single) – Srinidhi Ghatate
9. Ankahee (Single) – Sona Mohapatra
10. You Want (Make It Happen) – Tejas
11. Aaftaab (Single) – The Local Train
12. City Slums (Single) – Raja Kumari feat. Divine
13. Tukde Utha Rahe Hai (Ghazal Gaze) – Gayathri Ashokan
14. Firefly (Joy of Little Things) – When Chai Met Toast
15. A World gone Mad (Single) – Thermal And A Quarter
16. Here’s To You (As Written in the Stars) – Easy Wanderlings
17. Kannamma (Single) – Sachin Warrier
18. Kalapila (Single) – Street Academics
19. Dhadkane Azaad Hai (Single) – Shreya Ghoshal
20. Boogie (Single) – Everafter
21. Tiranga (The Flying Lotus) – A R Rahman
22. Suede Gully (Single) – Various
23. Agla Savera (Single) – Swarathma, Clinton Cerejo feat. Bianca Gomes
24. Never Wanted You (Unbound) – Roshni Baptist
25. Pesaamal (Mounam Sollum Vaarthaigal) – Amrita Jayakumar, Nithin Raj

Top 25 – Other Language Film Songs

1. Priyakara (YZ) – Hrishikesh, Saurabh, Jasraj|Ketaki Mategaonkar, Swapnil Bandodkar|Amaru (Amarushataka) & Kalidas (Shakuntal)
2. Badal Jo (Ti Ani Itar) – Vasuda Sharma|Ankita Joshi, Aditi Paul|Mandar Cholkar
3. Gandha Ajunahi (Baapjanma) – Gandhaar|Jaydeep Vaidya|Kshitij Patwardhan
4. FaFe Song (Faster Fene) – Troy – Arif| Riteish Deshmukh|Prashant Ingole
5. Apanehi Rang Mein (Hampi) – Narendra Bhide|Rahul Deshpande|Vaibhav Joshi
6. Marugelara O Raghava (Hampi) – Aditya Bedekar|Rupali Moghe|Omkar Kulkarni
7. Virlya Kevha (Mala Kahich Problem Nahi) – Hrishikesh-Saurabh-Jasraj|Abhay Jodhpurkar, Priyanka Barve|Guru Thakur
8. Ashi Kashi (Dry Day) – Ashwin Srinivasan|Jonita Gandhi & Ash King|Jai Atre
9. Hich Amuchi Praarthana (Ubuntu) – Kaushal Inamdar|Ajit Parab & Mugdha Vaishampain|Sameer Samant
10. Ya Re Ya (Ventillator) – Rohan, Rohan|Rohan Pradhan|Manoj Yadav & Shantaram Mapuskar
11. Chukatay (Muramba) – Jasraj Jayant Joshi, Saurabh Bhalerao & Hrishikesh Datar|Amey Wagh|Vaibhav Joshi
12. Aga Aika Na (Muramba) – Shailendra Barve|Rohit Raut & Anandi Joshi|Jitendra Joshi
13. Bharbharat Bardi (Barad) – Rohan Rohan|Rohan Pradhan|Dr. Mithila Kapadnis
14. Sabhovati Tujhe Hasu (Hostel Days) – Ajay Kishor Naik|Kumar Sanu & Bela Shende|Manndar Cholkar
15. Motte Song (Ondu Motteya Kathe) – Midhun Mukundan|Sooraj Santosh, Mridula Mukundan|Raj B Shetty
16. Chanda Avalu (Ondu Motteya Kathe) – Midhun Mukundan|Midhun Mukundan|Vishwajith Rao, Raj B Shetty
17. Mugilu Belmugilu (Pushpaka Vimana) – Charan Raj|Hari Charan|K. Kalyan
18. Kanna Hani (Urvi) – Manoj George|K.S. Chithra|Suvarna Sharma
19. Thili Prema (Urvi) – Manoj George|Madhushree Narayan and Charan Raj|Suvarna Sharma
20. O Sanjeya Hoove (Chamak) – Judah Sandy|Haricharan, Priya Himesh|Vishwajith
21. Kanna Nidurinchara (Baahubali 2) – M.M. Keeravaani|Sreenidhi, V. Srisoumya|M.M. Keeravaani
22. Hamsa Naava (Baahubali 2) – M.M. Keeravaani|Sony,Deepu|Chaithanya Prasad
23. Telisiney Na Nuvvey (Arjun Reddy) – Radhan|Revanth|Rambabu Gosala
24. Bhalobhasar Gaan (Samantaral) – Inrdraadip Das Gupta|Parambrata Chattopadhyay|Consuelo Velázquez & Lalon
25. Hawa Vich (Super Singh) – Jatinder Shah|Diljit Dosanjh & Sunidhi Chauhan|Ranbir Singh

Songs and credits at the end.

Composer Rex Vijayan’s singing is the only low point of the wonderfully immersive Uyirin Nadhiye. It is only past the halfway mark that the vocal department gets a facelift with the entry of Neha Nair. The song’s winning aspect is of course, its synth-led arrangement (synth handled by Shekhar Menon and Arun Suradhaa), peppered with some neat dilruba phrases (also played by Suradhaa). Neha goes solo in Kiliye whose orchestration is more associable with the composer’s usual style, but is delectably exotic – the hang drum (Athul P M) and oud (Benny Abraham) especially giving the song an ethereal touch.

The soundtrack’s other two songs are Shahabaz Aman’s show through and through. First of them, Mizhiyil Ninnum (lovely lines by Anwar Ali), is set in line with the singer’s Hindustani sensibilities – the ghazal-esque orchestration highlighted by Kishore Kumaar’s sarod and Chandrajith’s tabla. Beautiful melody as well, set to the comforting seven beat cycle that rarely fails to impress. Kaatil is the album’s most imaginative track (Aman shares composing credits with Vijayan on this one) – while the melody itself goes through unpredictable twists and turns, the rich backdrop sees some fab use of strings (arranged by Sushin Shyam, who also plays melodica for the song), lovely placement of Neha Nair’s backing vocals and an amazing bass line from Naveen Napier.

Mayaanadhi. Barring that misstep in Uyirin Nadhiye, stellar work from Rex Vijayan! What a year the man has had, churning out two of his career-best works in the only two movies he worked for in 2017.

Related Read: This interview where Rex Vijayan speaks about how he went about creating the songs for the movie (link via @milliblog).

Music Aloud Rating: 4/5

Musician Credits

Kaatil

Music – Rex Vijayan and Shahbaz Aman
Vocals – Shahabaz Aman
Lyricist – Vinayak sasikumar

Backing vocals – Neha S Nair
String arrangements & melodica – Sushin Shyam ,
Keys- Yakzan Gary Periera ,
Bass- Napier Naveen
Guitars – Rex Vijayan,
Recorded at 20db Studios by Avinash ,
Mixed by Abin Paul,
Mastered by Steve Smart
Recording engineer – Sai Prakash at My Studio Kochi

Kiliye

Music : Rex Vijayan
Lyrics : Rafeeq Ahammed
Singers : Neha S Nair

Hang Pan – Athul P M (Munna )
Oud : Benny Abraham
Electric Violin : Raghavasimhan
String Arrangement : Arun Suradhaa
Male Vocal : Nivas Raghunathan
Keys : Yakzan Gary Perier
Guitars : Rex Vijayan
Mixed By : Abin Paul
Mastered By : Steve Smart

Mizhiyil Ninnum

Music : Rex Vijayan
Lyrics : Anwar Ali
Singers : Shahabaz Aman

Female humming – Neha Nair,
Piano- Yakzan Gary Pereira ,
Guitars & Ukelele – Rony George ,
Sarod – Kishore kumaar,
Tabla -Chandrajith ,
Mixed by Abin Paul ,
Mastered by Steve Smart ,
Recorded at 20db sound studios by Avinash
Recording Engineer – Sai Prakash at Mystudio kochi

Uyirin Nadhiye

Music: Rex Vijayan
Lyrics: Vinayak Sasikumar
Singers: Rex Vijayan, Neha S Nair

Dilruba, Synths: Arun Suradhaa
Synths & Co-Producer: Shekhar Menon
Mixed By: Abin Paul
Mastered By: Steve Smart

Songs and musician credits at the end.

The only thing missing from the “pragmatic” love song Aaj Se Teri is probably a mention of the Aadhaar card! Kausar Munir’s light-hearted words are absolutely on point throughout the song, even as Amit Trivedi adorns the lines with an incredibly addictive raag bhimplaasi based melody (the raaga also takes your mind back to songs like Bol Na Halke Halke – on a related note, here is a multi-lingual playlist of bhimplaasi based film songs I created on Apple Music a few days back) and a folk-rich orchestration that sees some beautiful use of shehnai (Omkar Dhumal) and mandolin (Tapas Roy). And delivering the song in style is Arijit Singh. The ode to the movie’s protagonist, The Pad Man Song is characterised by another instrument Trivedi has been known to make splendid use of – harmonium (Akhlak Hussain Varsi the man, as usual). Fun song that derives quite a bit of its jollity from Mika Singh’s singing of Munir’s description of Padman’s “supper hero” qualities. The ladies’ chorus backing Mika does a fine job too.

It is in the rest of the soundtrack that the composer increasingly gravitates towards his tried and tested formulae. Sayaani comes with the Navrai Majhi-esque celebratory vibe, salvaged by some good singing from Yashita Sharma, Jonita Gandhi, Yashika Sikka and Rani Kaur. Composer himself gets behind the mic for the dance track Hu Ba Hu that is strictly functional. And Mohit Chauhan leads the best of the three – Saale Sapne. The pop rock base is sure to evoke memories of albums like Udaan in your head, but  a few deft touches from the composer prevent the song from getting completely bogged down by familiarity.

Composer Amit Trivedi’s work for Pad Man is more or less propped up by one brilliant melodic piece.

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Aaj Se Teri, The Padman Song, Saale Sapne

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Musician Credits

Song – Aaj Se Teri
Singer – Arijit Singh
Backing Vocals – Rajiv Sundaresan & Suhas Sawant
Music – Amit Trivedi
Lyricist – Kausar Munir

Song – The Pad Man Song
Singer – Mika Singh
Additional Vocals – Pragati Joshi , Deepti Rege & Mayuri Kudalkar
Music – Amit Trivedi
Lyricist – Kausar Munir

Song – Hu Ba Hu
Singer – Amit Trivedi
Backing Vocals – Rajiv Sundaresan & Suhas Sawant
Music – Amit Trivedi
Lyricist – Kausar Munir

Song – Saale Sapne
Singer – Mohit Chauhan
Backing Vocals – Rajiv Sundaresan & Suhas Sawant
Music – Amit Trivedi
Lyricist – Kausar Munir

Song – Sayaani
Singers – Yashita Sharma, Jonita Gandhi, Yashika Sikka & Rani Kaur
Backing Vocals – Anita Gandharva, Meghna Mishra & Vaishnavi Mishra
Music – Amit Trivedi
Lyricist – Kausar Munir

Crew Names:-
Produced & Arranged by Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed by Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Mastered by Donal Whelan, Masteringworld – U.K.
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula

Musician Names:-
Programmed by Amit Trivedi, Gourab Dutta, Vineeth Jayan & Raja Rasaily
Dholak & Percussions – Sanket Naik
Harmonium – Akhlak Hussain Varsi
Mandolin, Rabab, Saz & Bouzouki – Tapas Roy
Shehnai – Omkar Dhumal

Nucleya’s guest composition Paintra works perfectly as a theme song for the sport drama that Mukkabaaz is. While the arrangement goes through familiar motions instantly identifiable as belonging to the musician – the motley percussion-heavy mix – but still makes for a heady listen thanks to Divine’s impassioned rapping. The song gets even better in its Extended Version (which strangely is the exact same length as the original version) which features timely incorporation of Vineet Kumar Singh’s quotes. Singh, who has co-written the movie, also turns composer cum lyricist with the soulful folksy piece Adhura Main. With a minimal arrangement comprised of just a harmonium, the song depends almost entirely on Deepak Thakur’s vocal skills, and he delivers splendidly (it appears that Thakur is the same singer credited as Deepak Kumar in Gangs of Wasseypur’s Humni Ke Chhodi, a song that incidentally had a similar setting). Enter lead composer Rachita Arora, who handles the remaining five songs. First of the five has her producing an incredibly trippy folk-based song out of Dr. Sunil Jogi’s poem Mushkil Hai Apna Meil Priye where he presents the familiar poor guy-rich girl divide theme in hilariously analogy-ridden detail. Jogi’s poem seems to be old (I found this blogpost from 2009 that transcribes the whole poem, and dates it to early 2000s) but it has undergone some contemporary modifications – “Tum Tendulkar ka shatak priye, main follow-on ki paari hoon” for instance has become “Tum Kohli ka Virat shatak”. Brijesh Shandilya is in top form behind the mic as well, striking a fine balance between exuberance and wackiness.

Bahut Hua Sammaan’s mellow prelude belies the rage that characterises the rest of the song. Hussain Haidry, who pens the second half of the eight-song soundtrack, conveys the rebellious emotion in fabulous fashion, and Swaroop Khan does an equally splendid job leading the vocals. Rachita’s melody and arrangement here – along with the song’s general vibe – took me back occasionally to Pritam-Amitabh Bhattacharya’s Haanikaarak Bapu. Engaging song, nevertheless. Haidry rewrites a traditional piece for Saade Teen Baje which Arora sets to a regular folk arrangement – the song is more Khushbu Raj and her backing vocalists’ show. Chhipkali and Bohot Dukha Mann are where Rachita Arora delivers her best as composer. The former, which once again features superbly written lines, has the composer go retro with the melody while the quirky arrangement goes through some brilliant turns, ending on a jazzy note. And Bohot Dukha Mann has a dark, haunting classical-flavoured melody (puriya dhanasri/hamsanandi raga based, presumably) that Arora herself delivers beautifully alongside Dev Arijit.

Anurag Kashyap extracts yet another fab musical work out of yet another offbeat composer. After Chal Tu Apna Kar for Newton last year, Rachita Arora continues to show tremendous promise! Of course, here it is also owing to the generous support she receives from the lyricists.

Music Aloud Rating: 4/5

Top Recos: Chhipkali, Bohot Dukha Mann, Mushkil Hai Apna Meil Priye

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Songs and musician credits at the end.

Akshay Verma (one half of the composing pair Abhishek Akshay, who debuted with Vicky Donor and were lead composers for Running Shaadi last year – NOT to be confused with the movie’s director Akshat Verma) is in sparkling form in the trippy Swagpur Ka Choudhary performing both of his roles – lyricist and vocalist. Not to take anything away from composer Samir Uddin’s work in the backdrop which is equally instrumental in the song’s allure. Samir is equally brilliant in Aa Bhi Jaa (love that electronic groove!) written by Anvita Dutt that has Vishal Dadlani and Abhishek Nailwal handling the vocals. Nailwal does a solo act in Samir’s third song, the infectious electro swing track Jive With Me that might perhaps have worked better with another singer.

In Kaala Doreya the composer gives a contemporary twist to the traditional Punjabi composition. Not as high up on the quirkiness quotient as the previous songs, but an engaging piece nevertheless, thanks also to Neha Bhasin’s singing and Raxstar’s rap. The title song comes from guest composer Shashwat Sachdev, fresh from his successful 2017 debut Phillauri. His musical partners remain largely the same here too – Anvita Dutt as lyricist, Romy and Vivek Hariharan as vocalists etc. And while this song too has a folk base like his compositions in the last movie, he layers it well with contemporary elements – especially liked the way he employed the horns and Satwinder Pal Singh’s sarangi.

Kaalakaandi. Samir Uddin and Shashwat Sachdev produce a worthy musical successor to Delhi Belly (written by Kaalakaandi’s director Akshat Verma), rating lower to the latter only for its lesser number of songs.

Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5

Top Recos: Swagpur Ka Choudhary, Aa Bhi Jaa, Kaalakaandi

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Musician Credits

Song – Swagpur Ka Chaudhary
Singer – Akshay Verma
Music – Sameer Uddin
Lyricist – Akshay Verma
Co-Production – Samrat Bharadwaj
Recorded At Pluginn Studio
Mixed By Kenneth Basumatari
Assisted By Nikhil Pakhare
Mixed At 5AM Audio
Producer – Rashi Bagai (5AM Audio)

Song – Kaala Doreya
Singer – Neha Bhasin Featuring Raxstar
Music – Sameer Uddin
Lyricist – Folk
Co-Production – Raghav Mehta
Recorded At 5AM Audio
Mixed By Kenneth Basumatari
Assisted By Nikhil Pakhare
Mixed At 5AM Audio
Producer – Rashi Bagai (5AM Audio)

Song – Jive With Me
Singer – Abhishek Nailwal
Music – Sameer Uddin
Lyricist – Anvita Dutt
Violins – Jitendra Thakur
Trumpets – Kishore Sodha
Recorded At 5AM Audio
Mixed By Kenneth Basumatari
Assisted By Nikhil Pakhare
Mixed At 5AM Audio
Producer – Rashi Bagai (5AM Audio)

Song – Kaalakaandi
Singers – Shashwat Sachdev, Vivek Hariharan, Romy & Arun Kamath
Music – Shashwat Sachdev
Lyricist – Anvita Dutt
Programmed, Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Shashwat Sachdev
Executive Music Producer – Vivek Hariharan
Guitar – Youngmin Kim
Bass Guitar – Youngmin Kim & Shashwat Sachdev
Piano & Keys – Shashwat Sachdev
Additional Keys – Siddharth Pandit
Rhythm Section & Percussions – Shashwat Sachdev, Kutle Khan Barna & Pappu
Dholak – Manoj Kumar Hela
Sarangi – Satwinder Pal Singh
Additional Mixing – Romy
Recorded at Virasat Studios

Song – Aa Bhi Jaa
Singers – Vishal Dadlani & Abhishek Nailwal
Music – Sameer Uddin
Lyricist – Anvita Dutt
Recorded At Vishal Shekhar Studio
Recording Engineers Kunvar Anshith & Kallol Ghosh
Mixed At 5AM Audio
Producer – Rashi Bagai (5AM Audio)

Songs and partial album credits at the end.

Like Tattad Tattad in Ramleela and Malhaari in Bajirao Mastani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali creates Khalibali in Padmaavat which in all likelihood is the song for Ranveer Singh to shake his leg to. The Arabic touches in the orchestration of this one make it a more appealing piece than the aforementioned two. A M Turaz’s lines too feature a smattering of foreign words (Persian, I am guessing, since it is Khilji) amidst Hindi lyrics, and Shivam Pathak and Shail Hada deliver them commendably. Bhansali and Turaz do even better with the other, more exotic sounding Binte Dil – the sultry song sounds almost like a world music piece, rather than a Bollywood song. While Arijit Singh’s Arabic modulations don’t always hit the mark, he does a wonderful job of conveying the passion in Turaz’s lines. Ek Dil Ek Jaan is the composer’s offering in one of his favourite ragas (here’s an anecdote regarding his love for the raga) yaman/kalyani. Of course, that comes with the drawback of the song carrying a heavy hangover of Bhansali’s previous songs in the raga. A soothing listen nevertheless, highlighted by Shivam Pathak’s well nuanced singing.

Holi is, as its title suggests, is a Holi song – another of Bhansali’s regular entries in his song lineup. This time he goes for a traditional folk composition though, from the Manganiyar/Langa tradition. The best thing about the song is the perennially under-utilised Richa Sharma leading the vocals, sounding as solid as ever. Shreya Ghoshal’s Ghoomar sounds as addictive as it did the day it released (thanks also to its elaborately choreographed video). While the singing by Ghoshal and the chorus is top notch, equally splendid is SLB’s orchestration dominated by the folk percussion. The instrumental overdrive towards the final minute of the song is an excellent touch, giving it a trancey feel. Siddharth and Garima, Bhansali’s lead lyricists for his last two movies, feature in just one song for Padmaavat – Nainowaale Ne. But that turns out to be the top song of the soundtrack. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has a fabulous melody in place for this one (that for a change does not bear any resemblance to his past songs), and Neeti Mohan sounds her finest delivering it. Equally alluring is Dhimant Varman’s sitar that dominates the backdrop (seemingly carrying shades of raag darbari).

Padmaavat. Shortest soundtrack for a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie in a very long time, but is still largely identifiable with the man’s usual musical style. And one of the better albums he has delivered as composer.

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Nainowale Ne, Ghoomar, Binte Dil

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Musician Credits

1. Song – Ghoomar
Singers – Shreya Ghoshal, Swaroop Khan
Lyricist – A M Turaz
Rajasthani Lyrics by Swaroop Khan
Composer – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Song Produced by – Shail- Pritesh
songs Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Tanay Gajjar at Wow & Flutter Studio.
Assisted by Rupak Thakur
Music Label – T-Series

2. Song – Ek Dil Ek Jaan
Singer – Shivam Pathak
Lyricist – A M Turaz
Composer – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Song Produced by – Sanchit Balhara,
Qawwali Singers – Mujtaba Aziz Naza, Kunal Pandit, Farhan Sabri
songs Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Tanay Gajjar at Wow & Flutter Studio.
Assisted by Rupak Thakur
Music Label – T-Series
3. Song – Khalibali
Singers – Shivam Pathak, Shail Hada
Lyricist – A M Turaz
Composer – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Song Produced by – Shail- Pritesh
songs Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Tanay Gajjar at Wow & Flutter Studio.
Assisted by Rupak Thakur
Music Label – T-Series
4. Song – Nainowale Ne
Singer – Neeti Mohan
Lyricists – Siddharth – Garima
Composer – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Acoustic and Bass Guitar – Rutvik Talashikar
Sitar – Dhimant Varman
Percussions – Shyam Edwankar
Backing vocals – (Male) Shreyas Puranik, Shashi Suman, Saurabh Wakhare, Kunal Pandit. (Female) Meenal Jain, Prajakta Shukre, Aditi Paul
Song Produced and Arranged by – Shail Hada
Songs Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Tanay Gajjar at Wow & Flutter Studio.
Assisted by Rupak Thakur
Music Label – T-Series

5. Song – Holi ( Manganiyars & Langa’s folk song )
Singers – Richa Sharma, Shail Hada
Composer – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Song Produced by – Shail Hada
songs Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Tanay Gajjar at Wow & Flutter Studio.
Assisted by Rupak Thakur

6. Song – Binte Dil
Singer – Arijit Singh
Lyricist – A M Turaz
Composer – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Song Produced by – Jackie Vanjari
songs Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Tanay Gajjar at Wow & Flutter Studio.
Assisted by Rupak Thakur
Music Label – T-Series

Songs and credits at the end.

Just weeks after the incredibly infectious Sodakku, Anthony Daasan gets another equally energetic foot tapping number in Kannada. And while Daasan delivers Tagaru Banthu Tagaru in his usual style, composer Charan Raj does an equally fine job in the backdrop, seamlessly switching from electronic elements to kuthu around the title hook. The other dance track of the album, Mental Ho Jawaan, is patchy though, despite once again featuring some interesting classical fusion touches from the composer. The classical singing (not sure who among Ananya Bhat, Meghna Bhat and Sree Raksha Achar has done it) is good though. Ananya leads the sprightly Hold On as well, a song whose melody carries a slight heard before feel but it is hard not to bob your head along to the Rajasthani folk-laden arrangement. The brief Carnatic digression in between (that bilahari raga-ish flute especially, either by Varijasree Venugopal or Vishnu Vijay, pleasant surprise seeing the former’s name in credits – I quite miss her singing and flute-playing, she hardly seems active in the music scene of late) is a nice touch.

The composer gives the soundtrack’s two best songs to singer Siddhartha Belamannu. Badukina Bannave has a sedate melody (jog raaga based, perhaps) that the singer delivers brilliantly, while Charan supplies a groovy backdrop (fine guitars by Santhosh Chandran and Naveen Napier) that leads up to a folksy crescendo of sorts (fun fact: the distant shouting sound that is heard first at the 23 second mark and then keeps making the occasional reappearance through the song, is the same sample employed by A R Rahman in his 127 Hours song Acid Darbari). The other song – Balma – is a darker and more frenzied fusion piece that really takes off at the 1:25 mark with a pulsating electronic beat and Kishore and Suma Rani’s sitar sprucing up the arrangement even as the singer (joined here by Charan) does a finely nuanced rendition that ends with a brief but effective sargam bit (shubhapanthuvarali raga, I think).

Tagaru. Charan Raj continues to deliver highly imaginative work in Kannada. I do hope he comes to Malayalam at some point.

Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5

Top Recos: Badukina Bannave, Balma, Tagaru Banthu Tagaru

Musician Credits

Track : Tagaru Banthu Tagaru
Singer : Anthony Daasan
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Dr V Nagendra Prasad
Backing Vocals: Aniruddha Sastry, Nikhil Partha Sarathy, Chethan Naik, Shwetha Devanahally, Nagaranjini, Harsha Ranjini

Musicians:
Guitars:Sunil Silvester, Rony
Bass Guitar: Napier Peter Naveen Kumar
Percussion Arrangement: Shruthi Raj
Brass instruments: Trumpet Babu

Track : Mental Ho Jawa
Singers : Ananya Bhat, Sree Raksha Achar, Meghna Bhat
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Kiran Kaverappa, Vaardhik Joseph
Backing Vocals: Lakshmi Vijay, Meghana Kulkarni, Prarthana MA, Charanraj

Musicians:
Guitars:Josh Markraj, Sumesh Parameshwaran
Bass Guitar: Napier Peter Naveen Kumar
Shehnai: Balesh

Track : Hold On Hold On
Singer : Ananya Bhat
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Yograj Bhat
Backing Vocals : Ala P Bala, Manasa Holla, Madhuvanthi, Nincy, Lakshmi Vijay, Prarthana MA

Musicians:
Guitars:Josh Markraj
Mandolin,Ukelele,Prim and Ruan: Prakash Hariharan
Flute: Varijashree Venugopal and Vishnu Vijay
Saarangi: Ustaad Fayaz Khan
Percussion: Shruthiraj and Venkat

Track : Badukina Bannave
Singer : Siddhartha Belmannu
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Jayanth Kaikini
Backing Vocals : Sanjith Hegde, Charanraj

Musicians :
Guitars: Santhosh Chandran
Percussion: Sruthiraj and team
Bass Guitar: Napier Naveen Kumar

Track : Balma
Singer : Charanraj, Siddhartha Belmannu
Music : Charanraj
Lyricist : Jayanth Kaikini

Musicians:
Sitar – Kishore, Suma Rani

Recorded at 2barq, Krimson Avenue, Voice and Vision, Audiokraft, Tapas Studio, Balaji Studios, Taala studios and Contrabase
Recording Engineers: Sujith Sreedhar, Lijesh Kumar, Mani Ratnam, Dil, Rahul Govinda, Ivis John, Praveen Francis and Rajashekar
All songs Composed and Arranged by Charanraj
All songs mixed by Sujith Sreedhar at 2barQ studios
Music Programmed by: Anoop R Nair, Charanraj, Rahul Govinda and Praveen Francis
Assistant Music Director: Kiran Kaverappa
Music Supervisors: Dhanush, Kiran Kaverappa, Sharath Srinivasa Sharma and Deeksha Ramakrishna
Music Co-ordinators: Mr Babu and M Ananth Kamath

Music on PRK Audio
Digital Partner : Divo

Songs and credits at the end.

If you have listened to Mangoes from Monsoon Mangoes and Paisa Paisa from Kavi Uddeshichathu, you will find something of a similar combination going on in composer Jakes Bejoy’s arrangement of Saare (alternately titled Backbencher Song/First Year Song). This one is a richer and more youthful product though, aided by Joe Paul’s lines. The backdrop sees, aside of guitars (Donan Murray, Naveen Napier) and horns (Babu), some nice violin from Balaji and Shravan (Shridhar?). Podi Paarana doesn’t sound anything like an Onam song (which is what it is said to be), but it does make for a pretty engaging listen thanks to a spirited rendition by Ajaey Shravan, Kesav Vinod and Jakes. Jakes and William Francis do a neat job on the arrangement as well – Bala’s naadaswaram hook in particular is really effective. The composer has a very likeable melody in place for Vennilave and a set of skilled singers delivering it (Harishankar, Sooraj Santhosh, Zia ul Haq, Ajaey Shravan). The Bollywood filmi qawwali style packaging he gives the song is a bit of a turn off though.

The album has two more “anthems” – first is a musical take on the age old Royal Mech Anthem, Aaraanda. Pretty functional, this one. The other one titled Lal Anthem – an ode to actor Mohanlal is slightly better off musically with the horns, chendamelam etc, though even that is too short to make much of an impact. The movie’s best song is a solo act by Neha S Nair titled Ponnum Kasavinte. Lilting piece that the singer sings superbly and the composer subjects to a tender treatment (led by Sumesh Parameshwar and Naveen Napier on guitars).

Queen. Another promising soundtrack from composer Jakes Bejoy.

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Ponnum Kasavinte, Saare, Podi Paarana

Musician Credits

Song : Ponnumkasavittu
Film : Queen
Singer – Neha S Nair
Music – Jakes Bejoy
Lyrics – Joe Paul
Directed by : Dijo Jose Antony
Produced by Shibu K Moideen & Rinshad Vellodathil
Written by: Sharis Mohammed & Jebin Joseph Antony
DOP: Suresh Gopi
Music by Jakes Bejoy
Editor: Sagar Dass
Art: Vinesh Banglan
Makeup: Ronex Xavior
Costumes: Stephy Zaviour
Associate Director : Binto Stephan
Executive Producer: Naufal M Thameem
Production Controller: Hochimin K. C
Design: Thought Station
Sound design : sync cinema
Film mixing : Rajakrishnan M R
Bass : Napier Naveen Kumar
Guitar : Sumesh Parameshwar
Percussion: Hubert Maran, Bharath
Music Programming and Arrangement : Jakes Bejoy
Mixed and Mastering : Balu Thankachan at 20dbStudios Chennai

“Saarae – The Backbencher Song”
Singers: Benny Dayal, Jakes, Zia Ul Haq, Kavita Gopi, Zonobia
Song Composed, Arranged and Programmed by Jakes Bejoy
Lyrics: Joe Paul
Directed by : Dijo Jose Antony
Produced by Shibu K Moideen | Rinshad Vellodathil | T R Shamsudeen
Written by: Sharis Mohammed & Jebin Joseph Antony
DOP: Suresh Gopi | Music : Jakes Bejoy | Editor : Sagar Dass | Executive Producer : Naufal M Thameem

Production Controller : Hochimin K.C | Associate Director : Binto Stephan | Song Choreographer : Dijo Jose Antony

Sound design : Sync Cinema | Film Mixing : Rajakrishnan M R

Whistler – Leonard Jude

Acoustic & Elec Guitar: Donan Murray. | Bass: Napier Naveen Kumar | Drums: Vasanth David

Percussion: Hubert Maran | Trumpet and Mandolin: Babu | Violin: Balaji, Shravan | Voice Correction: Avinaash 20db SoundStudios.

Additional Arrangement: Samson Jayapal Raj |
Songs Mixed and Mastered by Balu Thankachan, 20db SoundStudios, Chennai.

Special Thanks to Sethu Thankachan, 20dB Soundstudios

Engineers: Rohith Gopalakrishan @ Mindscore Chennai,
Vijeesh @ RaagaStudio Cochin, | Jinto&Divine @ Geetham Cochin, Nishanth @ Nhq Cochin

Song : Podipaarana
Film : Queen
Singer – Ajaey Shravan, Kesav Vinod, Sunil Kumar
Music – Jakes Bejoy
Lyrics – Joe Paul
Directed by : Dijo Jose Antony
Produced by Shibu K Moideen & Rinshad Vellodathil
Written by: Sharis Mohammed & Jebin Joseph Antony
DOP: Suresh Gopi
Music by Jakes Bejoy
Editor: Sagar Dass
Art: Vinesh Banglan
Makeup: Ronex Xavior
Costumes: Stephy Zaviour
Associate Director : Binto Stephan
Executive Producer: Naufal M Thameem
Production Controller: Hochimin K. C
Design: Thought Station
Sound design : sync cinema
Film mixing : Rajakrishnan M R
Bass : Napier Naveen Kumar
Arranged by: William Francis and Jakes Bejoy
Additional production : Praveen Kuruvilla Ninan
Nadaswsram: Bala
Guitars: Napier Naveen Kumar
Vocal Tuning: Avinaash Sathish
Mixed and Masterd by Balu Thankachan @ 20 dB SoundStudios, Chennai
Mix Coordination: Sethu Thankachan
Engineers : Rohith Gopalakrishnan @ Mindscore, Chennai

Song : Vennilave
Film : Queen
Singers : Harisankar, Sooraj Santhosh, Zia Ul Haq, Ajaey Shravan
Music by Jakes Bejoy
Lyrics: Jyothish T Kasi
Directed by : Dijo Jose Antony
Produced by Shibu K Moideen | Rinshad Vellodathil | T R Shamsudeen
Written by: Sharis Mohammed & Jebin Joseph Antony
DOP: Suresh Gopi | Music : Jakes Bejoy | Editor : Sagar Dass | Executive Producer : Naufal M Thameem

Production Controller : Hochimin K.C | Associate Director : Binto Stephan | Song Choreographer : Vijay Master

Musicians
Arranged by William & Jakes
Acoustic & Elec Guitar: Sumesh Parameshwar
Bass : Napier Naveen Kumar
Tabla/Dholak & Perc : Sunil
Strings : Cochin Strings
Artist Coordination: Aju Bhai
Mixed at 20db Soundstudios-Chennai & Mastered at My Studio- Cochin by Balu Thankachan
Mix Coordination : Sethu Thankachan
Vocal Tuning : Avinaash @20db Studios Chennai
Engineers : Rohith @Mindscore Chennai |Vijeesh @ Raaga Studio Cochin |Nishanth @ Nhq Cochin

Song: Aaraanda
Music by Jakes Bejoy
Editor: Sagar Dass
Art: Vinesh Banglan
Makeup: Ronex Xavior
Costumes: Stephy Zaviour
Associate Director : Binto Stephan
Executive Producer: Naufal M Thameem
Production Controller: Hochimin K. C
Design: Thought Station
Sound design : sync cinema
Film mixing : Rajakrishnan M R

Singers : Ajaey Shravan, Keshav Vinod, Jakes
Lyrics: Unkown
Additional Lyrics: Joe Paul
Bass : Napier Naveen Kumar
Guitar : Donan Murray
Percussion: Hubert Maran, Bharath
Music Programming and Arrangement : Jakes Bejoy
Mixed and Mastering : Balu Thankachan at 20dbStudios Chennai

Song: Lal Anthem
Singers : Jakes Bejoy, Dijo Jose Antony
Music Composed, Arranged and programmed by Jakes Bejoy
Lyrics: Sharis Mohammed and Joe Paul
Chorus : Balu Thankachan , Sethu Thankachan, Ajaey Shravan
Bass and guitar: Napier Naveen Kumar
Brass: Babu
Percussion: Sunil, Hubert Maran
Mixed and Mastered by Balu Thankachan @ 20db Soundstudios ,Chennai
Vocal Tuning: Avinaash Satish
Mix co-ordination : Sethu Thanckachan

Engineers: Rohit Gopalakrishnan@ Mindscore, Chennai | Praveen @ Aroha Studios, Thrissur

Songs and musician credits at the end.

It is interesting how eggs have inspired fun songs across time, from NECC campaigns to Hindi film songs like Ande ka Funda. In Rosapoo composer Sushin Shyam creates one more song to add to that list, Mutta Paattu. While the song gains immensely from guest lyricist Vinayak Sasikumar’s (rest of the soundtrack is penned by Santhosh Varma) smartly written tongue-in-cheek verse, the groovy arrangement (that sees particularly good use of keys, especially melodica) complements the lines very well. Jassie Gift and Anthony Daasan are credited as lead vocalists, but I could discern only the former’s voice aside of the chorus. The melodica finds a dominant presence in the title song that carries a charming European sound (love the guitar work by the amazing Santhosh Chandran). It is only in the composer’s own limited vocal skills that the song faces the occasional hiccup. Sushin is backed by Neha Nair here.

Average singing turns out to be the bane of Munniloru Swargam as well, in fact the effect is even more detrimental here. Suchith Suresan is the man behind the mic for an otherwise decently crafted retro disco-styled composition. Composer adopts an Arabic soundscape for the lament-of-the-destitute that is Padinjaattodiyaal Kadalu, penned really well by Santhosh Varma. The lyrics and frenzied arrangement prop up the ordinary melody that is passionately delivered by Maqbool Mansoor. It is in another celebratory maappilapaattu that Sushin gives his best of the album. Kochiloru Kappaladuthe has a beautifully earthy tune that is sung with utmost earnestness by Munna. And the singer is backed by a fine chorus and a neatly layered folk orchestration from the composer.

Rosapoo. Sushin Shyam’s debut as a solo composer. And a pretty entertaining one at that, though I missed something as haunting as the songs he produced in his last two films.

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Kochiloru Kappaladuthe, Mutta Paattu, Rosapoo Maala Tharaam

Musician Credits

Kochiloru kappaladuthe

Singer -.  Munna

Lyricist –  Santhosh Varma

Chorus – Nezer ahamed, Irfan amir, Sadiq, Sushin shyam

Tabla –  Chandrajith(Recorded @20db studio)

Oud/Guitars- Bonny Joseph Abraham

Melodica – Sushin Shyam

Song mixed – Abin Paul

Song mastered – Donal whelan ( Mastering world,U.K)

Padinjattodiyal kadalu

Singer -.  Maqbool Mansoor

Lyricist –  Santhosh Varma

Chorus – Nezer ahamed, Sushin shyam

Oud – Bonny Joseph Abraham

Derbuka/Frame drum – Munna

Acoustic Guitars – Nezer ahamed

Song mixed – Abin Paul

Song mastered – Donal whelan ( Mastering world,U.K)

Munniloru swargam

Singer – Suchith suresan

Lyricist –  Santhosh Varma

Backing vocals – Nezer ahamed, Sushin shyam

Female Chorus – Latha, Malathi, Ressmi

Song mixed – Abin Paul

Song mastered – Donal whelan ( Mastering world,U.K)

Rosappo malatharam – 11:03

Singer – Sushin Shyam

Lyricist –  Santhosh Varma

Backing vocals – Neha Nair

Guitars – Santhosh chandran

Song mixed – Abin Paul

Song mastered – Donal whelan ( Mastering world,U.K)

Mutta Pattu

Singer – Jassie Gift, Anthony daasan

Lyricist –  Vinayak Sasikumar

Bass/Guitars – Nezer Ahamed

Backing vocal – Sushin shyam, Vipin Ravindran

Song mixed – Abin Paul

Song mastered – Steve Smart (Studio 301, Australia)

Music Label – Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.

You can listen to the songs on Saavn. Music credits at the end.

Yela La La is identifiable as a Gopi Sunder creation right from the opening notes. And I don’t know if it just me, but the Yela La La seems to appear sooner than I expect it to, every time. Despite these, the song still is quite enjoyable – the melody is a really hummable one and Sumesh Parameswar is in fine form with the plucked strings in the backdrop. And despite the processing in his voice, Madhav Nair’s rendition works – really liked the drawl in his voice. Contributing the second song to Hey Jude’s western soundscape is Rahul Raj. In fact, in this multi-composer soundtrack, director Shyamaprasad brings together four music directors who have worked with him at different points – Gopi (Ivide), Rahul (Rithu), M Jayachandran (Akale) and Ouseppechan (the national award winning Ore Kadal, and Arike) – seemingly apportioning the songs in the same ratio as the number of movies he has worked with them on! Coming back to Rahul’s song, Hey Don’t Worry Jude is a groovy track delivered well by Kavya Ajit (supported by the composer himself). The “breathe easily” phrase that follows the titular line sounds weird.

M Jayachandran composes Nisha Shalabhame that sounds its best during its minimal, ambient segments where the melody and Shaktisree Gopalan take centre-stage. Once the other electronic elements kick in, the song loses its allure. Great singing by Shaktisree throughout though. I was wary about Ouseppachan’s Rock Rock given its title, but it turned out to be a quite a fun retro-style rock and roll piece. While Sayanora Philip sounds her vibrant best behind the mic (Shyamaprasad himself writes the lines for this one), the instrumentalists do an equally commendable job on their part (always a sucker for the double bass, and this one sees some ace guitar playing too). Ouseppachan’s other song, Meenukal Vannupoy, is the album’s best. Going at a leisurely pace for just over half its length with Amal Antony singing the lines in a minimal setting, the song takes a surprisingly wonderful turn post that with the harmonies kicking in. Rest of the song has Amal Antony repeating the lines alongside Sayanora Philip with the acappella backing. While the harmonies have been really nicely done, it also reminded me occasionally of the opening harmonies in this Carol of the Bells cover by Pentatonix.

Five songs, with four different composers and five different lyricists. Not the kind of formula that works often, but Hey Jude manages to beat the odds. But then Shyamaprasad has been fairly consistent with his movies’ musical quality.

Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5

Top Recos: Meenukal Vannupoy, Yela La La, Rock Rock

Musician Credits

Song: Yela La La
Singer: Madhav Nair
Lyrics: Harinarayanan BK
Music: Gopi Sunder
Arranged & Programmed by: Gopi Sunder
Additional Programming: Anoop Nirichan
Guitars, Mandolin & Bass: Sumesh Parameswar
Backing Vocals: Niranj Suresh, Abhaya Hiranmayi, Gopi Sunder
Music Production Manager: Babu V.K.
Recorded @ Sunsa Digital Workstation, Chennai & Cochin
Engineered by: Midhun Anand, Krishnalal BS, Nikhil Mathews, Gopi Sunder
Mixed & Mastered by: Midhun Anand @ Sunsa Digital Workstation, Chennai & Cochin

Song: Hey Don’t Worry Jude
Singer: Kavya Ajit, Rahul Raj
Lyrics: Vinayak Sasikumar
Music: Rahul Raj

Song: Nisha Shalabhame
Singer: Shaktisree Gopalan
Lyrics: Prabha Varma
Music: M Jayachandran

Song: Meenukal Vannupoy
Singer: Amal Antony, Sayanora Philip
Lyrics: Dr. Madhu Vasudevan
Music: Ouseppachan

Song: Rock Rock
Singer: Sayanora Philip
Lyrics: Shyamaprasad
Music: Ouseppachan

Songs and musician credits at the end.

Rajiv Bhalla, a name I last saw in Onir’s 2011 anthology film I Am (where he composed that beauty sung by KK called Bojhal Se) composes the title song of My Birthday Song (incidentally co-produced by the movie’s leading man Sanjay Suri, who also co-produced I Am). Bhalla himself handles the vocals and live guitars for the brooding piece, and does a fab job on all fronts. Singer-composer Joi Barua and guitarist Pawan Rasaily (who plays guitars for all the remaining songs, and has also done the background score for the movie) create the sensual Rain, dividing the key roles between themselves – Barua handles the English lyrics and the singing, while Rasaily plays guitars that dominate the laidback arrangement. Once again, good show by both the musicians; the only issue is that the song lasts just over two minutes.

Barua handles vocal duty for one more song in the album, but for the movie’s third set of music directors – Nitin Krishna Menon and Ajay Govind (also lyricist for the three songs they have composed). Bhaag does not have a great melody, but the guitar-led arrangement (handled by Rasaily again) manages to convey the intrigue the song aims at, albeit mildly evocative of Aao Na from Haider. Menon-Govind do a better job in the other two songs, both sung by Mohan Kannan. Ajnabi’s melodic progression at times reminded me of the opening verse of Jiyein Kyun from Dum Maaro Dum, but the simplicity of the song and arrangement (once again guitar dominating the soundscape, with really nice solos by Pawan Rasaily in the interludes) makes the song work, as does Mohan Kannan’s soulful rendition. Ghayal is a more intense piece that once again has Kannan and Rasaily leading the pack, with an interestingly long interlude that lasts nearly two minutes.

My Birthday Song. A decent soundtrack that maintains a consistently engaging sound (a dominantly indie-inclined one at that) despite the involvement of multiple composers, each of whom deserves to be heard more. And yet, the Youtube jukebox has 828 views, while atrocities like Judwaa 2 clock up millions. (Confession: I myself am guilty of being unaware of the album until yesterday; thanks to @shiivz for pointing me in its direction).

Music Aloud Rating: 3/5

Top Recos: Ghayal, My Birthday Song, Rain

Musician Credits

MY BIRTHDAY SONG
Singer & Composer Raajeev V Bhalla
Lyricist Akshay K Saxena
Music production & all live guitars Raajeev V Bhalla
Mixed by Jarvis Marcedo at Shankh Studios (Mumbai)

AJNABI
Composers Ajay Govind & Nitin Krishna Menon
Singer Mohan Kannan
Lyricist Ajay Govind
Music Arrangement Ajay Govind and Nitin Krishna Menon
Music production and Guitars Pawan Rasaily
Mixing & Mastering Eric Pillai
Dubbing Geet Audio Craft Studio (Mumbai)
Dubbing engineers Abani Tanti and Pankaj Kaushik
Special Thanks Niharika Ghai (SoundBound Productions, New Delhi)

GHAYAL
Composers Ajay Govind & Nitin Krishna Menon
Singer Mohan Kannan
Lyricist Ajay Govind
Music Arrangement Ajay Govind and Nitin Krishna Menon
Music production and Guitars Pawan Rasaily & Mark Aranha
Mixing & Mastering Eric Pillai
Dubbing Geet Audio Craft Studio (Mumbai)
Dubbing engineers Abani Tanti and Pankaj Kaushik
Special Thanks Niharika Ghai (SoundBound Productions, New Delhi)

BHAAG
Composers Ajay Govind & Nitin Krishna Menon
Singer Joi Barua
Lyricist Ajay Govind
Music production and Guitars Pawan Rasaily
Music Arrangement Pawan Rasaily
Mixing & Mastering Eric Pillai
Dubbing Geet Audio Craft Studio (Mumbai)
Dubbing engineers Abani Tanti and Pankaj Kaushik
Special Thanks Niharika Ghai (SoundBound Productions, New Delhi)

RAIN
Composer Pawan Rasaily & Joi Barua
Singer Joi Barua
Lyricist Joi Barua
Music production and Guitars Pawan Rasaily
Mixing & Mastering Abani Tanti
Dubbing Geet Audio Craft Studio (Mumbai)
Dubbing engineers Abani Tanti and Pankaj Kaushik

BACKGROUND SCORE
Pawan Rasaily

You can listen to the songs on Saavn. Have included a couple of song videos and partial credits at the end.

As the visuals of Neer Maathalam flit between the idyllic Kerala village and the streets of Calcutta where Aami’s subject Madhavikutty aka Kamala Das aka Kamala Surayya grew up (the song’s title is a nod to one of her most popular works, for the uninitiated), so too does composer M Jayachandran’s predominantly Malayali soundscape see the occasional introduction of Bengali folk elements. While it is Shreya Ghoshal’s honeyed voice taking you through a large chunk of the delightfully rustic tune in spotless fashion, Arnab Dutt joins the singer for the brief Bengali phrases. The Malayalam-peppered-with-Bengali structure of the song took me back to this Debojyoti Mishra composition from Calcutta News. Shreya does an even finer rendition of the melancholic and more nuanced Pranayamayi Radha; here too she takes up majority of the song; Vijay Yesudas chipping in occasionally with a short but effective supporting role. Lyricist Rafeeq Ahammed is in fab form here as well, while the composer embellishes the winsome melody with a lush backdrop of violins and Dilshad Khan’s sarangi.

Making his debut in Malayalam nearly twenty years after his brother did (Vaanaprastham – 1999) composer Taufiq Qureshi creates his three songs out of Gulzar’s poems. I managed to find older instances of Chand Hoga (a version sung by Manna Dey in 1967) and Umr Saalon Se (from Jagjit Singh’s 2006 album Koi Baat Chale), both sung here by Javed Ali. Qureshi’s treatment of both songs is different from the aforementioned versions of course – the pleasantly lilting Chand Hoga’s arrangement once again sees the sarangi employed brilliantly and prominently. Ali’s rendition isn’t without lapses, but it works. The singer does a better job in Umr Saalon Se which is more sparsely orchestrated (once again the sarangi taking lead) and largely relies on his free-form rendition. I have not been able to figure out if the final song Aadhi Raat also has appeared in some other form before this, but this too finds an elegant tune at Taufiq Qureshi’s hands. Roop Kumar Rathod leads the vocals here (credited as just Roop in most places, oddly), and not sure if it is owing to the slow pacing of the song, but the man’s singing sounds oddly laboured here and that works against the song big time.

So barring the misstep in that last song, wonderful album from Taufiq Qureshi and M Jayachandran. Not sure how the movie will turn out to be, but director Kamal does manage to add yet another fine soundtrack to his illustrious portfolio, in fact his best in a while.

Music Aloud Rating: 4/5

Top Recos: Neer Maathalam, Pranayamayi Radha, Chand Hoga

Musician Credits

Neer Maathalam

Lyrics : Rafeeq Ahammed
Music : M Jayachandran
Singers : Shreya Ghoshal & Arnab Dutta
Movie : Aami
Movie Director : Kamal
Producer : Raphael Thomas
Banner : Reel and Real Cinema
programmed by Midhun Ashok, Sushinsyam & Gulraj Singh.
Orchestra conducted by Unni Elayaraja
Orchestra manager: Vincent
Mixed & Mastered by Ranjith Rajan at Muzik lounge studios Chennai

Pranayamayi Radha

Lyrics: Rafeeq Ahammed
Music: M Jayachandran
Singers: Shreya Ghoshal & Vijay Yesudas
Song programmed by Mithun Ashok
Song conducted by Unni Elayaraja
Voice recorded by Amey londhe at
Aravind audio garage,Mumbai.
Flute: Naveen
Sarangi: Dilshad Khan
Song mixed & mastered by Renjith Rajan at
Muzic lounge studios & assisted by Midhun Manoj.

Chand Hoga

Lyrics: Gulzar
Music: Taufiq Qureshi
Singer: Javed Ali

Umr Saalon Se

Lyrics: Gulzar
Music: Taufiq Qureshi
Singer: Javed Ali

Aadhi Raat

Lyrics: Gulzar
Music: Taufiq Qureshi
Singer: Roop Kumar Rathod

Songs and credits at the end.

Director Neeraj Pandey’s lyricist of choice for his last two directorial ventures – Manoj Muntashir – is retained in his role for Aiyaary’s short soundtrack. In Yaad Hai he is joined by composer Ankit Tiwari, who has had a rather quiet 2017. The long break doesn’t seem to have helped his creativity a lot unfortunately – Yaad Hai is the slow, atmospheric paean of longing that we have heard multiple times in the recent past in mildly varying forms. Not to say that it is not nice; it still has some allure to it, thanks partly to Muntashir’s lines and the vocal efforts by the very Shreya Ghoshal-esque Palak Muchhal and Tiwari himself, but it is also as easily forgotten (ironic when you consider the song’s title). The album’s remaining two songs are composed by Rochak Kohli, getting a promotion from guest composer in Pandey’s last (M S Dhoni – The Untold Story) to lead composer (incidentally he was also lead composer for the 2017 Baby spin-off movie Naam Shabana that had screenplay by Pandey). Kohli’s first track Shuru Kar is an attempt at an inspirational anthem of sorts, but ends up being a tedious listen instead. Amit Mishra and Neha Bhasin handle the singing in this one. The only really interesting aspect about the song is the fact that the songs arranger-programmer Aditya Dev plays the harpejji in the song (couldn’t discern the sound of it much though); this is the first time that I have come across the instrument being played in films by someone aside of A R Rahman. The composer however scores a winner in his other song, the romantic Lae Dooba. While this song too is not particularly fresh in its melody or the acoustic guitar-led treatment, there is enough going on here to make you like Lae Dooba despite that. Primary thing in the song’s favour is the spectacular rendition by Sunidhi Chauhan – there is something really comforting about the way she sings the title phrase!

Aiyaary. Short soundtrack with just one standout song, supplied by Rochak Kohli, Manoj Muntashir and Sunidhi Chauhan. Then again, director Neeraj Pandey’s movies aren’t really remembered for their music.

Music Aloud Rating: 2/5

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

Musician Credits

Song – Lae Dooba
Singer – Sunidhi Chauhan
Composer – Rochak Kohli
Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir
Additional Vocals by Asees Kaur
Programmed by Sourav Roy
Mixed and Mastered by Shadaab Rayeen @ New Edge – Mumbai
Guitars and Plucks by Mohit Dogra & Ankur Mukherjee
Percussion by Sanket Naik
Vocals Recorded by Manasi Tare (Supervised by Shantanu Hudlikar) @Yash Raj Studios
Guitars Recorded by Pankaj Bohra @ Neo Sound
Percussion recorded by Alok Punjani @ Studio208
Additional guitars and vocals recorded at Rochak Kohli Music Studio
Mix Assistants Abhishek Sortey and Dhananjay Khapekar
Music Assistant: Singh Dhruva

Song – Yaad Hai
Singers – Palak Muchhal & Ankit Tiwari
Composer – Ankit Tiwari
Lyricist – Manoj Muntashir
Music Arranged & Produced by DJ Phukan
Music Co-Produced by Jim Satya & Bitupan Phukan
Pianist – Zafar Iqubal Ansari
Piano Recorded by Julien at ENZY Studios

Song – Shuru Kar
Singers – Amit Mishra, Neha Bhasin, Rochak Kohli
Music – Rochak Kohli
Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir
Programmed and Arranged by Aditya Dev
Guitars Performed by Mohit Dogra, Kalyan Baruah
Harpejji Performed by Aditya Dev
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge – Mumbai
Mix Assistants – Abhishek Sortey and Dhananjay Khapekar
Vocals Recorded at Wow and Flutter Studio by Rupak Thakur
Vocals Recorded at Rochak Kohli Music Studio