Music Aloud Playback – Best Songs of 2022!

Welcome to Music Aloud’s annual roundup #14!  A couple of changes this time around, mostly incorporating feedback I have received for the previous editions. Firstly, I have included separate (but slightly smaller) lists for Telugu, Kannada and Marathi instead of bunching everything up into one “Other Language Films” set. On the flip side though, that didn’t leave me with enough time to do a web series list or an instrumental/BGM list (both of which had some great stuff this year). Secondly, instead of doing a 25 + 5 honorary mentions system, I have decided to go with a set of 30 in every such case, since some people have in the past been unhappy about the final 5 not being included in the playlists etc. Everything else remains the same – I have gone by movie release year as usual, and the format for all film music remains Song title (Movie title) – Music Director(s)|Lyricist(s)|Singer(s). And the artwork comes as always from the dearest and most amazing @cookydoh!

Hope you enjoy the roundup, and wish you all a happy and peaceful 2023!

In case you don’t scroll down till the end of the piece, all playlists have been consolidated into one 186-song long playlist on Apple (one song short) and Spotify, since some people asked for it. Perhaps you can run it on shuffle at your convenience – you might end up discovering some great songs from languages you don’t usually follow. 🙂

Apple Music   |   Spotify

 

Hindi

Playlist: Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

It wasn’t a very exciting year for Bollywood; we had good songs come out every now and then, but very few soundtracks that stood out as a whole. On a heartening note though, the drop in remix numbers since 2020, seems to be here to stay (touch wood!), since there were very few songs of the kind even after things returning to near-normalcy in the industry this year. Instead, there seems to be a love for the retro sound itself burgeoning – albums like Amit Trivedi’s Qala and Achint’s Monica O My Darling being prime examples, and this was not just a Bollywood thing either – I for one would not mind it at all if this were to replace the remix trend, especially along the lines of Qala.  The year saw Amit Trivedi compose for as many as 10 Hindi soundtracks (and a couple outside of it too), the most he has done in any year. And yet a large chunk of those albums went by without creating so much as a ripple – a notable exception being the brilliant Qala (I do look forward to catching up on Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat after this roundup – Amit with Anurag Kashyap has rarely disappointed). It was Pritam who instead owned the year delivering some incredible diversity across the four movies he worked on (of which you will find Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 missing in this list, since all my favourites from the album are recreations, and given a choice, I always pick originals over recreations 🙂 ). Man seems to be back in prime form, and I am particularly excited for his reunion with Anurag Basu in 2023. The other old timers mostly delivered an album apiece of note – it was nice to see even Shantanu Moitra do a full soundtrack in Hindi after a long gap. Among the newer crop, Parag Chhabra (Good Luck Jerry, An Action Hero), OAFF (Gehraiyaan) and Nilotpal Bora (Jaadugar) impressed with their first full Bollywood soundtracks – hoping to hear more from them in the coming years.

1  Rubaiyaan (Qala) – Amit Trivedi|Swanand Kirkire|Shahid Mallya, Sireesha Bhagavathula

2  Kahaani (Laal Singh Chaddha) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Mohan Kannan

3  Hum Thay Seedhe Saadhe (Badhaai Do) – Amit Trivedi|Varun Grover|Shashaa Tirupati

4  Beqaboo (Gehraiyaan) – OAFF, Savera|Kausar Munir|Savera, Shalmali Kholgade

Meri Jaan (Gangubai Kathiawadi) – Sanjay Leela Bhansali|Kumaar|Neeti Mohan

6  Baaki Sab Theek (Bhediya) – Sachin-Jigar|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Sachin Sanghvi, Jigar Saraiya & Amitabh Bhattacharya

7  Paracetamol (Good Luck Jerry) – Parag Chhabra|Raj Shekhar|Jubin Nautiyal, Parag Chhabra

Baadal Se Dosti (Jhund) – Ajay Atul|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Sid Sriram

9  Tere Hawaale (Laal Singh Chaddha) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Arijit Singh, Shilpa Rao

10 Shauq (Qala) – Amit Trivedi|Varun Grover|Swanand Kirkire, Shahid Mallya, Sireesha Bhagavatula

11 Rasiya (Brahmastra) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Tushar Joshi, Shreya Ghoshal

12 Dil Ki Gali (Jayeshbhai Jordaar) – Vishal Sheykhar|Jaideep Sahni|Katyayani, Sheykhar Ravjiani

13 Beqaraar (Looop Lapeta) – Santanu Ghatak|Santanu Ghatak|Ronkini Gupta & Raghav Kaushik

14 Fitoor (Shamshera) – Mithoon|Karan Malhotra|Neeti Mohan, Arijit Singh

15 Dhoop Paani (Sherdil) – Shantanu Moitra|Gulzar|KK, Rituraj

16 Ghodey Pe Sawaar (Qala) – Amit Trivedi|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Sireesha Bhagavatula

17 Kaala Jaadu (Freddy) – Pritam|Irshad Kamil, Shloke Lal|Arijit Singh, Nikhita Gandhi

18 Jaadugari (Jaadugar) – Nilotpal Bora|Hussain Haidry|Tushar Joshi

19 Main Toh Main Hoon (Mili) – A R Rahman|Javed Akhtar|Abhilasha Sinha

20 La Ilaaj (Darlings) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Gulzar|Arijit Singh

21 Doobey (Gehraiyaan) – OAFF, Savera|Kausar Munir|Lothika

22 Jab Saiyaan (Gangubai Kathiawadi) – Sanjay Leela Bhansali|A M Turaz|Shreya Ghoshal

23 Meri Jaan (RK/RKay) – Sagar Desai|Hussain Haidry|Shaan

24 Kaisi Baatein (Modern Love Mumbai) – Jeet Gannguli|Sameer Rahat|Sonu Nigam

25 Love You So Much – I Want To Kill You (Monica, O My Darling) – Achint|Achint|Sarita Vaz

26 Ghere (An Action Hero) – Parag Chhabra|Vayu, D’Evil|Vivek Hariharan, Parag Chhabra, D’Evil

27 Tafriyan (Jogi) – Sameer Uddin|Shellee|Neha Bhasin, Devenderpal Singh

28 Rangi Sari (Jugg Jugg Jeeyo) – Kavita Seth, Kanishk Seth|Traditional|Kavita Seth, Kanishk Seth

29 Raat Bhar (Modern Love Mumbai) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Vishal Bhardwaj|Meiyang Chang

30 Jogan (Good Luck Jerry) – Parag Chhabra|Raj Shekhar|Romy, Rupali Jagga, Nikhita Gandhi & Parag Chhabra

Malayalam

Playlist:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

If I were to pick one favourite soundtrack from across all languages this year, it would be Vishnu Vijay’s Thallumaala. Having watched pretty much all the movies this year whose soundtracks I loved, I did not find another movie where the music was as integral and aligned with the visuals as it was in this one – and what a spectacle it was! Thallumaala’s folk-centric music represents a sort of peak of the steady rise in folk influence that has been seen in Malayalam music over the past couple of years – even outside of Thallumaala we have had some lovely folk flavoured songs this year, and as a lover of all things folk and classical, I couldn’t be happier about this trend. Another notable musical work of the year was Hridayam from Hesham Abdul Wahab – an album that brought with it some nice throwback elements like songs being released in cassettes and CDs, and even being released online as a Side A and Side B set. Two other highlights of the year were A R Rahman returning to the industry after about 30 years (Malayankunju) and Vidyasagar reuniting with director Lal Jose since 2013 (Solomonte Theneechakal). Justin Varghese, one of my favourite current gen composers, seemed to have finally garnered the attention of the industry this year (thanks in part to the national award he won for Joji‘s BGM I am sure) and delivered some great tracks across movies. The likes of Prashant Pillai, Jakes Bejoy, Govind Vasantha, Gopi Sunder and Ranjin Raj were busy across multiple South Indian languages, not just in Malayalam. Shaan Rahman ventured even further, debuting in Marathi! Alphons Joseph who sort of made a comeback two years back with Varane Aavashyamundu delivered some great music in Sundari Gardens and Panthrandu this year as well, hope that this is the start of a busy phase in the industry for the man.

1  Ole Melody (Thallumaala) – Vishnu Vijay|Mu.Ri|Haricharan Seshadri, Benny Dayal, Salim Kumar, Vishnu Vijay

2  Pottu Thotta Pournami (Hridayam) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Kaithapram|Sachin Balu, Megha Josekutty

Parudeesa (Bheeshma Parvam) – Sushin Shyam|Vinayak Sasikumar|Sreenath Bhasi

O Manuja (Djinn) – Prashant Pillai|Santhosh Varma|Sithara Krishnakumar

Aadalodakam (Nna Thaan Case Kodu) – Dawn Vincent|Vaisakh Sugunan|Soumya Ramakrishnan, Shahabaz Aman

Angane (Jack N Jill) – Gopi Sunder|Harinarayanan B K|Sithara Krishnakumar

7  Mannum Niranje (Malayankunju) – A R Rahman|Vinayak Sasikumar|Shweta Mohan

8 Theeyaanu (Pathrosinte Padappukal) – Jakes Bejoy|Joe Paul|Kapil Kapilan

9  Aanandamo (Solomante Theneechakal) – Vidyasagar|Vinayak Sasikumar|Abhay Jodhpurkar, Anwesshaa

10 Ashubha Mangalakaari (Super Sharanya) – Justin Varghese|Suhail Koya, J’mymah|Sarath Chettanpady, Meera Johny, J’mymah

11 Madhura Jeeva Ragam (Sundari Gardens) – Alphons Joseph|Joe Paul|Mridula Varrier

12 Shilakal (Kumari) – Jakes Bejoy|Kaithapram|Vaiga Nambiar, Akhil J Chand

13 En Kanavil (4 Years) – Sankar Sharma|Ranjith Sankar|Arun Alat, Sony Mohan

14 Mazha Paattu (Padavettu) – Govind Vasantha|Anwar Ali|Govind Vasantha, Anne Amie

15 Darshana (Hridayam) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Arun Alat|Hesham Abdul Wahab, Darshana Rajendran

16 Pyali Reprise (Pyali) – Prashant Pillai|Shreekumar Vakkiyil|Preeti Pillai

17 Manavaalan Thug (Thallumaala) –  DABZEE|DABZEE & SA|DABZEE & SA

18 Ambili Raavum (Palthu Janwar) – Justin Varghese|Suhail Koya|Arun Ashok

19 Aaraam Naal (Visudha Mejo) – Justin Varghese|Suhail Koya|Vipin Lal, Meera Johnny, Justin Varghese

20 Badharile (19(1)(a)) – Govind Vasantha|Anwar Ali|Veetraag

21 Chaayum Veyil (Saudi Vellakka) – Palee Francis|Anwar Ali|Bombay Jayashri

22 Paathi Paathi (Night Drive) – Ranjin Raj|Murukan Kattakada|Kapil Kapilan, Nithya Mammen

23 Sancharare (Sayanna Varthakal) – Sankar Sharma|Anu Elizabeth, Rzee|Bhadra Rajin, Rzee

24 Akasham Pole (Bheeshma Parvam) – Sushin Shyam|Rafeeq Ahammed|Hamsika Iyer, Kapil Kapilan

25 Etho Vaathil (Djinn) – Prashant Pillai|Anwar Ali|Preeti Pillai, KS Harishankar

26 Thallumaala Paattu (Thallumaala) – Vishnu Vijay|Mu.Ri|Hrithik Jayakish, Neha Girish, Eshaan Sanil, Thejas Krishna, Vishnu Vijay

27 Enthaanithu Engottithu (Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey) – Ankit Menon|Manu Manjith|Vaikom Vijayalakshmi

28 Maaran (Kudukku 2025) – Bhoomee|Titto P Thankachen|Sid Sriram, Bhoomee

29 All Alone In the Ocean (Panthrand) – Alphons Joseph|Lillys Thaddeus|Hector Lewis

30 Minnalkkodi (Hridayam) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Kaithapram|K.S. Chithra, Mohammad Maqbool Mansoor, Sachin Warrier, Hesham Abdul Wahab

 

Tamil

Playlist:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

While A R Rahman’s presence in Hindi was peripheral this year, it was for Tamil that he reserved his best – Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, Cobra, Iravin Nizhal and the grandest of them all, Ponniyin Selvan. It was his best year in the industry, both in quality and quantity. Also having a strong year was Anirudh, with the likes of Vikram, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal, Beast and Thiruchitrambalam (although I do fear the repetitiveness in his music will catch up with him at some point). The result of which is that I have had to set aside a sizeable portion of my Tamil list to these two! Of course there were others who had a good year as well – G V Prakash Kumar, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Dhibu Ninan Thomas and Govind Vasantha especially catching the eye (ear?). Ilaiyaraaja had a handful of movies as well, including Maamanidhan where he worked with his sons Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja, but only Maayon really stood out.

1  Alaikadal (Ponniyin Selvan Part-1) – A R Rahman|Siva Ananth|Antara Nandy

2  Paapam Seiyaathiru (Iravin Nizhal) – A R Rahman|Kaduveli Siddhar|Niranjana Ramanan, Keerthana Vaidyanathan

3  Naan Pizhai (Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vignesh Shivan|Ravi G, Shashaa Tirupati

4  Mallipoo (Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu) – A R Rahman|Thamarai|Madhushree

5  Vikram (Vikram) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vishnu Edavan|Anirudh Ravichander

6  Neel Koadugal (Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee) – Darbuka Siva|Keerthi, Dima El Sayed|Bombay Jayashri, Dima El Sayed

7  Megham Karukkaadha (Thiruchitrambalam) – Anirudh Ravichander|Dhanush|Dhanush

8  Soraka Poove (Sardar) – G V Prakash Kumar|K Ekadesi|Adithya RK, Bhadra Rajin

9  Maayonae (Maayon) – Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja|Ranjani-Gayatri

10 Thozhi (Hey Sinamika) – Govind Vasantha|Madhan Karky|Pradeep Kumar

11 Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (Natchathiram Nagargiradhu) – Tenma|Arivu|Arivu, Sharanya Srinivas

12 Vaanam Yaavum (O2) – Vishal Chandrashekhar|Dharan KR|Pradeep Kumar

13 Raatchasa Maamaney (Ponniyin Selvan Part-1) – A R Rahman|Kabilan|Shreya Ghoshal, Palakkad Sreeram, Mahesh Vinayakram

14 Anbarey (Gulu Gulu) – Santhosh Narayanan|Vivek|Dhee

15 Naandhaana Naan Needhaana (Kathir) – Prashant Pillai|Uma Devi|Gowtham Bharadwaj, Keerthana Vaidyanathan

16 Arabic Kuthu (Beast) – Anirudh Ravichander|Sivakarthikeyan|Anirudh Ravichander, Jonita Gandhi

17 Mayava Thooyava (Iravin Nizhal) – A R Rahman|Madhan Karky|Shreya Ghoshal

18 Adheera (Cobra) – A R Rahman|Pa Vijay, thoughtsfornow|Vagu Mazan, thoughtsfornow

19 Parandhu Pogindren (Kuthiraivaal) – Pradeep Kumar|Prasath Ramar|Pradeep Kumar, Kalyani Nair

20 Pacha Elai (Love Today) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Pradeep Ranganathan|Mathichiyam Bala

21 Thoovi Thoovi (Gargi) – Govind Vasantha|Karthik Netha|Ravi G

22 Kadavul Thandha Kavithai (Yugi) – Ranjin Raj|Kabilan|Pradeep Kumar, Saindhavi Prakash

23 Pesaadha Mozhiye (Kombu Vatcha Singamda) – Dhibu Ninan Thomas|Arunraja Kamaraj|Chinmayi Sripaada, KS Harisankar

24 Sol (Ponniyin Selvan-1) – A R Rahman|Krithika Nelson|Rakshita Suresh

25 Porkanda Singam (Vikram) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vishnu Edavan|Ravi G

26 Dippam Dappam (Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vignesh Shivan|Anthony Daasan, Anirudh Ravichander

27 Kanne Kanne (Visithiran) – G V Prakash Kumar|Yugabharathi|Roshan Sebastian

28 Chellamey (Poikkaal Kuthirai) – D Imman|Madhan Karky|Sid Sriram

29 Pogadhey (Nadhi) – Dhibu Ninan Thomas|Thamarai|Anila Rajeev

30 Oonjal Manam (Laththi) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Karthik Netha|Shweta Mohan, Ranjith Govind, Yuvan Shankar Raja

 

Indian Indie/Pop

Playlist:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

This list, as usual, is a compilation of my favourites among the non-film songs I managed to hear this year, and is not necessarily an accurate representation of the indie/pop scene of the year itself. I have also snuck in a couple of songs from last year, like Agnee’s Maahi Ve (good to hear them after long), because I discovered them late.

1  Fly (Demons) – Dhruv Visvanath

Ashes – Mali

Gagan Dhuan Dhuan – B Prasanna, Bombay Jayashri

The Nightingale – Parekh and Singh

5  Ghalib Hona Hai (Sukoon) – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, A M Turaz, Armaan Malik

6  Har Ek Baat (Sukoon) – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ghalib, Pratibha Singh Baghel

7  What World – Thermal And A Quarter

8  Bandish Blues – Darshan Doshi Trio, Varijashree Venugopal

9  Parai (Think Originals) – Roja Adithya, Sean Roldan

10 K Rap (Ta Dhom Project) – Viveick Rajagopalan, MC DEHAATI, MC Khoj, Ashwin Srinivasan

11 Jao Piya – Maatibaani, Ambi Subramaniam, Abhay Nayampally

12 Kahaani – Santanu Ghatak, Anirban Chowdhury

13 Ye Nadi Chali Kahaan (Songs of the River – Ganga) – Shantanu Moitra, Tanveer Ghazi, Sid Sriram

14 Vaarkadal – The Non violinist Project, KS Harishankar

15 Centre of the Universe (Caught in a Parade) – Easy Wanderlings

16 Oceans – Hanita Bhambri

17 Trishna Bandhan Ki (Trishna) – Nihira Joshi Deshpande, Mayukh Sarkar, Tejas Ranade

18 Wo Noor (Two Hearts Never Break The Same) – AP Dhillon 

19 Mohabbat Zindagi – Lucky Ali, Ankur Tewari, Mikey McCleary 

20 Maahi Ve – Agnee

21 Thymmei (PaDa Project) – Dalariti, Vasu Dixit

22 Rubaab – Kaam Bhaari, Bhaari Beatz

23 Sun Maahi – Armaan Malik, Amaal Mallik

24 Paper Boats – Chirag Todi, Gouri and Aksha

25 Pehli Baar Mile – Rochak Kohli, Gurpreet Saini

26 Tera Nishaan – Pina Colada Blues, Anumita Nadesan

27 Friendly Voices (Daybreak – EP) – Dualist Inquiry

28 Sajni – The Yellow Diary

29 Jaan Leke Gayi (Jadu Salona) – Amit Trivedi

30 Rashah (Hard Drive Vol.1) – Raftaar, Badshah

 

Telugu

Playlist:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

It is obviously all about RRR and Naatu Naatu this year, with all the international fervour around it. On the contrary though, Telugu films had better music elsewhere, topped by Vishal Chandrashekhar’s outstanding work in Sita Ramam and Vivek Sagar’s in Ante Sundaraniki. There were two remake movies that featured great music as well – Ori Devuda which had Leon James emulating his work for the original, Oh My Kadavule, and Bheemla Nayak where Thaman created a folk-heavy soundtrack in line with Jakes Bejoy’s critically acclaimed Ayyappanum Koshiyum. This list (and the lists that follow after) is shorter than the previous ones, as I do not follow Telugu, Kannada and Marathi as extensively as the others.

1  Kaanunna Kalyanam (Sita Ramam) – Vishal Chandrashekhar|Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry|Sinduri Vishal, Anurag Kulkarni

2  Entha Chithram (Ante Sundaraniki) – Vivek Sagar|Ramajogayya Sastry|Anurag Kulkari, Keerthana Vaidyanathan

3  Adavi Gusagusalu (Bheemla Nayak) – Thaman S|Kasarla Shyam|Manisha Eerabathini, Sri Krishna

4  Evariki Vaarae (Ori Devuda) – Leon James|Ramajogayya Sastry|Harish Sivaramakrishnan

5  Naatu Naatu (RRR) – M M Keeravani|Chandrabose|Rahul Sipligunj, Kaala Bhairava

6  Kalaavathi (Sarkaru Vaari Paata) – Thaman S|Ananth Sriram|Sid Sriram

7  Neelambari (Acharya) – Mani Sharma|Ananth Sriram|Anurag Kulkarni, Ramya Behara

8  Nagumomu Thaarale (Radhe Shyam) – Justin Prabhakaran|Krishna Kanth|Sid Sriram

9  Kothaga Ledhendi (Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga) – Devi Sri Prasad|Shree Mani|Armaan Malik, Hari Priya

10 Natavara/Chiru Song (Ante Sundaraniki) – Vivek Sagar|Sanapati Bharadwaj Patrudu|Mano

11 Thokachukka (Modern Love Hyderabad) – M M Keeravani|M M Keeravani|M M Keeravani

12 Oh Sita (Sita Ramam) – Vishal Chandrashekhar|Ananth Sriram|SPB Charan, Ramya Behara

13 Antha Ishtam (Bheemla Nayak) – Thaman S|Ramajogayya Sastry|K S Chithra

14 Dhada Dhada (The Warriorr) – Devi Sri Prasad|Shree Mani|Haricharan

15 Komuram Bheemudo (RRR) – M M Keeravaani|Sudhala Ashok Teja|Kaala Bhairava

16 Nannaya Rasina (18 Pages) – Gopi Sunder|Shree Mani|Prudhvi Chandra, Sithara Krishnakumar

17 Kolu Kolu (Virata Parvam) – Suresh Bobbili|Chandrabose|Divya Malika, Suresh Bobbili

18 Amma Song (Oke Oka Jeevitham) – Jakes Bejoy|Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry|Sid Sriram

19 Nene Aa Nene (Sita Ramam) – Vishal Chandrashekhar|Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry|Hariharan, K S Chithra, Sinduri Vishal

20 Promo Song (Ante Sundaraniki) – Vivek Sagar|Ramajogayya Sastry|Shankar Mahadevan, Shweta Mohan

21 Avunanavaa (Ori Devuda) – Leon James|Ramajogayya Sastry|Sid Sriram

22 Ento Enteynto (Thank You) – Thaman S|Ananth Sriram|Jonita Gandhi

23 Snehame (Modern Love Hyderabad) – Kaala Bhairava|Kittu Vissapragada|Hymath Mohammed

24 Andala Raasi (Pakka Commercial) – Jakes Bejoy|Krishna Kanth|Saicharan Bhaskaruni, Ramya Behara

25 Automatic Dharwaja (Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Meeku Cheppali) – Vivek Sagar|Ramajogayya Sastry|Sahithi Chaganti

 

Kannada

Playlists:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

This section has to start with Varaha Roopam for obvious reasons – regardless of the court ruling, I still maintain that there are undeniable similarities between this and Thaikkudam Bridge’s Navarasam – in my opinion, the makers of the movie could just have followed what the Soorarai Pottru team did not so long back with this song (incidentally also involving Thaikkudam), to begin with. In any case, what’s done is done. There is no denying the impact of Varaha Roopam on the movie itself, however, and as a result, had to be featured on this list as well. Like with the previous list, I have just compiled this based on the high profile movies and Kannada composers I know of and keenly follow.

1  Varaha Roopam (Kantara) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Shashiraj Kavoor|Sai Vignesh

2  Naa Ninage Kavalugaara (James) – Charanraj|Chethan Kumar|Ankita Kundu, Sanjith Hegde

3  Lullaby Song (Vikrant Rona) – Anup Bhandari|Anup Bhandari|Vijay Prakash

4  Haage Aada Aalingana (Vijayanand) – Gopi Sunder|Dhananjay Ranjan|Vijay Prakash, Keerthana Vaidyanathan

O’Ga (777 Charlie) – Nobin Paul|Saiesh Poi Panandikar|Dhiti S Lotlikar

6  Sangaathi (Sakutumba Sametha) – Midhun Mukundan|Chandrajith Belliappa|Siri Ravikumar

7  Sakkare Putta (Head Bush) – Charanraj|Nagarjun Sharma|Meghana Bhat

8  Ee Seethege (Garuda) – Raghu Dixit|Bharath M Venkataswamy|Sruthi VS, Raghu Dixit

9  Singara Siriye (Kantara) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Pramod Maravanthe|Vijay Prakash, Ananya Bhat, Nagraj Panar Valtur

10 Yes It’s You (One Cut Two Cut) – Nakul Abhyankar|Lavita Lobo|Benny Dayal (Find it very annoying that this song gets over in a minute!)

11 Rangamandira (Man of the Match) – Vasuki Vaibhav|V Manohar|Puneeth Rajkumar

12 Jr Monalisa (Harikathe Alla Girikathe) – Vasuki Vaibhav|Trilok Trivikrama|Vasuki Vaibhav

13 Ra Ra Rakkamma (Vikrant Rona) – Anup Bhandari|Anup Bhandari|Nakash Aziz, Sunidhi Chauhan

14 Monster Song (KGF 2) – Ravi Basrur|Adithi Sagar|Adithi Sagar

15 Gelathiye (Buddies) – Judah Sandhy|Gurutej Shetty|Aishwarya Rangarajan, Varun Ramachandran

16 Torture Song (777 Charlie) – Nobin Paul|Nagarjun Sharma|Vijay Prakash

17 Aa Kanasu (Sakutumba Sametha) – Midhun Mukundan|Nagarjun Sharma|Haricharan

18 Helalu Hoodare (Harikathe Alla Girikathe) – Vasuki Vaibhav|K Kalyan|Pradeep Kumar

19 Kanna Muchhale (Garuda) – Raghu Dixit|Dhananjaya|Sruthi VS, Nakul Abhyankar

20 Habibi Habibi (Head Bush) – Charanraj|Daali Dhananjaya|Vagu Mazan, Aishwarya Rangarajan

 

Marathi

Playlist:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

This set was primarily driven by the very innovative AV Prafullachandra’s Godavari and Ajay Atul’s Chandramukhi, and in the process of compiling this I ended up discovering more gems from some of my favourite Marathi composers, thankfully enough for a sizeable playlist. One of the best finds was Rahul Deshpande’s magnum opus Me Vasantrao (a biopic of his grandfather Vasantrao Deshpande) that took me back to Katyar Kaljat Ghusli from a few years back, a project that Deshpande was incidentally part of as well. Like in Telugu, here too was a remake movie that featured an impressive soundtrack – Ved, which was a remake of Majili (incidentally a Telugu movie). There was also a promising Marathi debut for Malayali composer Shaan Rahman, with Roop Nagar ke Cheetey.

1  Kojagiri (Godavari) – AV Prafullachandra|Jitendra Joshi|Shreyas Puranik, Aanchal Tyagi

2  To Chand Rati (Chandramukhi) – Ajay Atul|Guru Thakur|Shreya Ghoshal

3  Sur Sangat (Me Vasantrao) – Rahul Deshpande|Traditional|Pt. Vijay Koparkar, Anjali Gaikwad, Saurabh Kadgaonkar

4  Tu Ani Mi (Zombivli) – AV Prafullachandra|Vaibhav Deshmukh|Nakul Abhyankar, Kasturi Wavare

5  Ogha Oghani (Autograph) – Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj|Abhishek Khankar|Jasraj Joshi, Aanandi Joshi

6  Besuri (Ved) – Ajay Atul|Ajay Atul|Vasundhara Vee

7  Khal Khal Goda (Godavari) – AV Prafullachandra|Jitendra Joshi|Rahul Deshpande

8  Thambli Kashi Kahani (Roop Nagar Ke Cheetey) – Shaan Rahman|Jai Atre|Sunidhi Chauhan

9  Chaal Ka Badalaleli (Medium Spicy) – Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj|Jitendra Joshi|Abhay Jodhpurkar

10 Tere Dar Se (Me Vasantrao) – Rahul Deshpande|Vaibhav Joshi|Himani Kapoor, Rahul Deshpande

11 Bai Ga (Chandramukhi) – Ajay Atul|Ajay Atul, Guru Thakur|Aarya Ambekar

12 Sukh Kalale (Ved) – Ajay Atul|Ajay Atul|Shreya Ghoshal

13 Takladu (Roop Nagar Ke Cheetey) – Shaan Rahman|Jai Atre|Narayani Gopan

14 Ka Pahije (Medium Spicy) – Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj|Jitendra Joshi|Jasraj Joshi

15 Angaat Aalaya (Zombivli) – Rohan Rohan|Prashant Madpuwar|Rohan Pradhan

 

Coke Studio Season 14

Playlist:   Apple Music   |   Spotify   |   YouTube

I had missed doing a roundup of the latest season of Coke Studio when it happened, so decided to cram in a “best of” list for that as well, since I did quite enjoy this season with its new look and style; the interest in the show had admittedly been waning a bit in recent seasons. Of course there weren’t a lot of songs this season, so six seemed like a fair number to choose from a set of 13. So below are my favourites from this season of Coke Studio, starting of course with Pasoori.

Pasoori – Ali Sethi x Shae Gill

Thagyaan – Zain Zohaib x Quratulain Balouch

Kaana Yaari – Kaifi Khalil x Eva B x Abdul Wahab Bugti

Peechay Hutt – Justin Bibis x Talal Qureshi x Hasan Raheem

5 Tu Jhoom – Naseebo Lal x Abida Parveen

6 Mehram – Asfar Hussain x Aroof Aftab

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