The number of good songs being released per year has been on a steady rise from the time this site began. Prompting me to start my annual round-ups every year with pretty much the same statements. But this year the number of songs has been so much more, that we decided to skip the composer-wise analysis post and focus instead on the song lists. As a result, this year we have three top 25 lists for you. Format is the usual: Song Title (Movie) – Composer(s)|Singer(s)|Lyricist(s).
Bollywood Top 25
A year which saw almost every leading composer deliver some of their best ever songs, we had to make some really heartbreaking choices to cull the list down to 25. Below are the songs in order of preference; click on the song title to listen to it. Like last year, we have only considered songs from movies released in 2012.
1 Pareshaan (Ishaqzaade) – Amit Trivedi|Shalmali Kholgade|Kausar Munir
2 Kyon (Barfi) – Pritam|Papon, Sunidhi Chauhan|Neelesh Mishra
3 Duaa (Shanghai) – Vishal Shekhar|Nandini Srikar, Arijit Singh, Shekhar Ravjiani|Kumaar
4 Abhi Mujhmein (Agneepath) – Ajay Atul|Sonu Nigam|Amitabh Bhattacharya
5 Moora (Gangs of Wasseypur 2) – Sneha Khanwalkar|Sneha Khanwalkar, Deepak Kumar|Varun Grover
6 Heer (Jab Tak Hai Jaan) – A R Rahman|Harshdeep Kaur|Gulzar
7 Motorwada (Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana) – Amit Trivedi|Tochi Raina, Amit Trivedi|Shellee
8 Aashiyan (Barfi) – Pritam|Shreya Ghoshal, Nikhil Paul George|Swanand Kirkire
9 Piya Tu Kaahe (Kahaani) – Vishal Shekhar|Javed Bashir|Sandeep Srivastava
10 Gustakh Dil (English Vinglish) – Amit Trivedi|Shilpa Rao|Swanand Kirkire
11 Paani Da Rang (Vicky Donor) – Ayushmann Khurana|Ayushmann Khurana|Ayushmann Khurana, Rochak Kohli
12 Bolo Na (Chittagong) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Shankar Mahadevan|Prasoon Joshi
13 Phir Le Aaya (Barfi) – Pritam|Arijit Singh|Saeed Qadri
14 Chee Chaa Leder (Gangs of Wasseypur 2) – Sneha Khanwalkar|Durga|Varun Grover
15 Jiya Laage Na (Talaash) – Ram Sampath|Sona Mohapatra, Ravindra Upadhyay|Javed Akhtar
16 Shah Ka Rutba (Agneepath) – Ajay Atul|Sukhwinder Singh, Anand Raj Anand, Krishna Beura|Amitabh Bhattacharya
17 Jhalla Wallah (Ishaqzaade) – Amit Trivedi|Shreya Ghoshal|Kausar Munir
18 Raabta (Agent Vinod) – Pritam|Aditi Singh Sharma, Arijit Singh|Amitabh Bhattacharya
19 Luttna (Cocktail) – Pritam|Masuma Anwar, Sahir Ali Bagga, Anupam Amod|Irshad Kamil
20 Dil Mera Muft Ka (Agent Vinod) – Pritam|Nandini Srikar, Muazzam, Rizwan, Shadab Faridi, Altamush Faridi, Shabab Sabri|Neelesh Mishra
21 Tore Bina (Kahaani) – Vishal Shekhar|Sukhwinder Singh|Amitabh Bhattacharya
22 Keh Ke Loonga (Gangs of Wasseypur) – Sneha Khanwalkar|Amit Trivedi, Sneha Khanwalkar|Varun Grover
23 Samay (Arjun the Warrior Prince) – Vishal Shekhar|Hemant Brijwasi, Shekhar Ravjiani|Piyush Mishra
24 Dil Ye Awaaz De (Aalaap) – Agnee|Meera Shenoy, Mohan Kannan|Panchhi Jalonvi
25 Le Chalo (Tutiya Dil) – Gulraj Singh|Meenal Jain, Jaswinder Singh|Manoj Yadav
26 Luni hasi (Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana) – Amit Trivedi|Harshdeep Kaur, Devendra Singh|Shellee
27 Jiya re (Jab Tak Hai Jaan) – A R Rahman|Neeti Mohan|Gulzar
28 Daaru Desi (Cocktail) – Pritam|Shalmali Kholgade, Benny Dayal|Irshad Kamil
29 Mahek Bhi (Aiyyaa) – Amit Trivedi|Shreya Ghoshal|Amitabh Bhattacharya
30 Ae Mere Mann (Ferrari Ki Sawaari) – Pritam|Shyamantan Das|Swanand Kirkire
And here are the top 25 in playlist format for your convenience.
Top 25 film songs outside Bollywood
Since I don’t listen to enough songs in each language outside of Hindi to compile a top 25 in each, this one is a mixed bag, comprised mostly of Malayalam and Tamil songs. Again, only movies released in 2012 so you will find some big names missing. And please excuse if I have missed any major one released this year; I have chosen the favs from those I heard.
1 Ennodu Vaa Vaa (Neethaane En Ponvasantham: Tamil) – Ilayaraja|Karthik|Na. Muthukumar
2 Aande Londe (Ivan Megharoopan: Malayalam) – Sharreth|Remya Nambeeshan|ONV Kurup
3 Muthuchippi (Thattathin Marayathu: Malayalam) – Shaan Rahman|Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sachin Warrier, Remya Nambeeshan|Anu Elizabeth Jose
4 You and Me (Paanch Adhyay: Bengali) – Shantanu Moitra|Usha Uthup|Pratim D Gupta
5 O Ponthoovalai (Ee Adutha Kaalathu: Malayalam) – Gopi Sundar|Rahul Nambiar, Sithara Krishnakumar|Rafeeq Ahmed
6 Vaangum Panathukkum (Dhoni: Tamil) – Ilayaraja|SP Balasubramanyam|Na. Muthukumar
7 Nila Malare (Diamond Necklace: Malayalam) – Vidyasagar|Nivas|Rafeeq Ahmed
8 Malarmanjariyil (Karmayogi: Malayalam) – Ouseppachan|Chinmayi, Ranjith Govind|Shibu Chakravarthy
9 Kaatrai Konjam (Neethaane En Ponvasantham: Tamil) – Ilayaraja|Karthik|Na. Muthukumar
10 Ekhon Onek Raat (Hemlock Society: Bengali) – Anupam Roy|Anupam Roy|Anupam Roy
11 Anuraagathin Velayil (Thattathin Marayathu: Malayalam) – Shaan Rahman|Nivin Pauly, Vineeth Sreenivasan|Vineeth Sreenivasan
12 A Lady and the Violin (Kumki: Tamil) – D Imman|Aditi Paul, Karthik (Violin)|Yugabharathi
13 Enthe Hridayathaalam (Thalsayam Oru Penkutty: Malayalam) – Sharreth|Madhu Balakrishnan, Jinsha K Naanu|Murukan Kaattaakkada
14 Nalla Nanban (Nanban: Tamil) – Harris Jayaraj|Ramakrishnan Murthy|Na. Muthukumar
15 Roopkathara (Aparajita Tumi: Bengali) – Shantanu Moitra|Shreya Ghoshal|Anindya Chattopadhyay, Chandril Bhattacharya
16 Appangalembaadum (Usthad Hotel: Malayalam) – Gopi Sundar|Anna Katharine Valayil|Rafeeq Ahmed
17 Chillaane (22 Female Kottayam: Malayalam) – Avial|Tony, Neha Nair|R Venugopal
18 Or Mirugam (Paradesi: Tamil) – GV Prakash|Pragathi Guruprasad, VV Prasanna|Vairamuthu
19 Idhayam (Billa 2: Tamil) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Shweta Pandit|Na. Muthukumar
20 Mozhikalum (Padmasree Bharat Dr. Saroj Kumar: Malayalam) – Deepak Dev|Haricharan|Kaithapram
21 Rudhira Sooryan (Theevram: Malayalam) – Roby Abraham|Vijay Yesudas|Rafeeq Ahmed
22 Shyam Hare (Arike: Malayalam) – Ouseppachan|Shwetha Mohan|Shiby Chakravarthy
23 Kaarmukilin (Bachelor Party: Malayalam) – Rahul Raj|Shreya Ghoshal, Nikhil Mathew|Rafeeq Ahmed
24O Marimaayan (Ivan Megharoopan: Malayalam) – Sharreth|Mridula, Krishnachandran|Kavalam Narayanapanicker
25 Chandrachooda (Karmayogi: Malayalam) – Navaneeth Sundar|Anoop Shanker|Purandara Dasa, Anoop Shanker
Five more honorary mentions.
26 Amma Ani Kothaga (Life is Beautiful: Telugu) – Mickey J Meyer|Shashikiran, Shravana Bhargavi|Vanamali
27 Doore Engo (Grandmaster: Malayalam) – Deepak Dev|Sanjeev Thomas|BK Harinarayanan
28 Olathil Chaanchaadi (Friday: Malayalam) – Roby Abraham|Vijay Yesudas|Beeyar Prasad
29 Akkare Ninnoru (Spanish Masala: Malayalam) – Vidyasagar|Vineeth Sreenivasan|R Venugopal
30 Pudikkala Maamu (Neethaane En Ponvasantham: Tamil) – Ilayaraja|Suraj Jagan, Karthik|Na. Muthukumar
Playlist of the top 25:
Top 25 Indie songs
And finally 25 of our favorite songs from the Indian Indie world, including TV shows. Since the focus has been on original music, cover songs have been avoided in the compilation. Not all songs here are available online in entirety, we have provided relevant links everywhere in any case. For the same reason you will find some songs missing in the YT playlist at the end as well.
1 Yatra (Coke Studio @ MTV S02E03) – Amit Trivedi|Mili Nair, Shriram Iyer|Swanand Kirkire
2 Swans of Saraswathi (The Inner Self Awakens) – Agam
3 Yere Yere (MTV Sound Trippin’ S01E03) – Sneha Khanwalkar|Siddi Tribe|Siddi Tribe, Sneha Khanwalkar
4 Jaagi Jaagi Raina (Attuned Spirits) – Vasuda Sharma
5 Boondan Boondan – Maatibaani|Nirali Karthik, Ankita Joshi|Maatibaani
6 Chaand Hai (Piya Basanti Again) – Sandesh Shandilya|Ustad Sultan Khan, Chithra|Mehboob
7 Baarish Ki Boondein (The Story So Far) – Papon
8 A Stranger Here (No Stranger Here) – Business Class Refugees|Shubha Mudgal, Ursula Rucker|Sant Kabir, Ursula Rucker
9 Shondhe Naame (Monkemoner Station) – Joy Sarkar|Shreya Ghoshal|Srijato
10 The Violin Song (Rumbadoodle) – Arun Shenoy
11 Kathagaan (Rangeele) – Kailasa
12 Tumba Wajda (Teri Rehmatein) – Harpreet Singh|Sanam Marvi|Rajeev Pal Rana
13 Husna (Coke Studio @ MTV S02E02) – Piyush Mishra, Hitesh Sonik|Piyush Mishra|Piyush Mishra
14 The Gypsy (The Dewarists S02E05) – Anoushka Shankar, Sanjeev Shankar, Pirashanna Thevarajah
15 Iss Tasavvur (Ek Din) – Jagdish Prakash|Kavita Seth|Kavita Seth
16 Nirmohiya (Coke Studio @ MTV S02E03) – Amit Trivedi|Harshdeep Kaur, Devendra Singh|Amitabh Bhattacharya
17 Brahma’s Dance (The Inner Self Awakens) – Agam
18 Mo Funk (The Silent Sea) – Advaita
19 Banjara (Coke Studio @ MTV S02E01) – Clinton Cerejo|Vijay Prakash, Nandini Srikar|Manoj Yadav
20 Tungg Tungg (MTV Sound Trippin’ S01E01) – Sneha Khanwalkar|Jyoti Nooran, Sultana Nooran|Sneha Khanwalkar
21 Tera Naam (Ganaraj Adhiraj 2012) – Gulraj Singh|Nandini Srikar, Gulraj Singh|Manoj Yadav
22 Aaiyo re (Colonial Cousins Once More) – Colonial Cousins
23 Din Guzrein (The Story So Far) – Papon
24 Chattis Baar Suna – Sifar
25 Topiwalleh (Topiwalleh) – Swarathma
And the playlist (only those available on YT of course)
Alrighty then! Here’s hoping for many more lovely songs in time for our 2013 roundup.
@Akshay: Thanks a lot. 🙂 And ya, had to make some tough choices.
🙂 Heavily impressed with the list. Though i miss Ishaqzaade, Dhak Dhuk, Womaniya in the list.
@Arvind: Like I wrote at the start, I have gone by release date. And MPMK is a 2013 release afaik, hence. Will feature in the 2013 list, there is no way Aaha Kaadhal can be avoided.
@Akshay: Corrected it, thanks a lot for pointing out.
@Broken Heart: Daaru Desi is there in the 5 that just missed the top 25. Was not very impressed with Tumhi Ho Bandhu.
I love most the song KYON by papon
“Tumhi ho bandhu” and “daru desi” from cocktail deserve in top 25 . But why they are not included in the list ?
The lyrics of Phir Le Aaya Dil were penned by Sayeed Quadri and not Swanand Kirkire.
You completely missed Moondru per Moondru Kadhal in this list which you had praised in your review. .