Top Indian Songs of the week 9th March 2025

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Here are the best songs released in India across languages and genres for the week ending 9th March 2025

1. Chahte Hain

Vocals: Shilpa Rao, Raghav Chaitanya

Lyrics, Composition: Raghav Chaitanya

Arrangements: Vaibhav Pani

Language: Hindi

Genre: Pop

Mood: Romantic

I love the direction in which Raghav Chaitanya is heading, writing songs and delivering some fantastic melodies. 2025 has been a great start for this talented singer-songwriter as I am now featuring him for the second time this year. 'Begana' was the other song I reviewed earlier. Raghav writes the lyrics, and the melody and gets the amazing Shilpa Rao on board to perform the lead vocals along with him. The riffs on the keys create a nice background sound right through and Ishand Das accompanies on guitars.

Kudos to Vaibhav Pani for the endearing arrangements that ensure the song sounds cooler and more gratifying. The song moves into a very engaging Synth Pop mode with some fabulous keys and synth refurbishments. The lines "Jo tum chahte hain, woh hum chahte hain" feels so enriching to hear, especially with Raghav's timely vibrato. The clincher is the Sarangi solo that intervenes in the interlude, thanks to Dilshad Khan, and this feels like pop fusion heaven. The melody feels like a bit of Raag Maand to me. 

Shilpa joins in the verse soon after and she delivers the lines like having a piece of cake, effortless and stylish. The way she sings "khushi chahte hain, na hi gham" with a mild aalaap, followed by that delightful ghamaka while singing " tumhari nigahen karam chahte hain" sounds all to magical, especially with Ishan's free-flowing guitar interventions. How can anyone reject this offer when Shilpa sings "Khuda ke liye, humse nazarein mila lo"? Thank you Shilpa for making every note sound special with your vocals. 

Aniruddh Anantha is on backing vocals, and it sounds emphatic with the lines "tere bin jeena". The recording engineers are Partho and Nishant, with Shadab Rayeen on mixing and mastering duties. 

@raghavachaitanya @sanika17_official @shilparao @tseries.official @tru_makers

2. Abhi Kabhi Sabhi

Vocals, Composition: Rameez Khalid

Lyrics: Rameez Khalid & Sarmad Ghafoor

Music Production: Sarmad Ghafoor (SnM Studios , Islamabad)

Language: Hindi

Genre: Rock

Mood: Energetic

Music Sans Frontiers! Yes, what do man-made borders have to do with appreciating music? I do feature a few Pakistani songs from now and then in these weeklies, especially if they do turn up in some Indian-specific playlists on Spotify. The song straightaway generates great energy thanks to the tempo, the emphatic drums and the combination of the violin with Rich Millin and Ben Sarfas respectively.

Rameez Khalid is terrific on vocals here singing with such passion and the melody written by him is equally catchy and potent. The violins are brisk and the accompanying bass, guitars and drums make you tap your feet non-stop. I am not sure when exactly the song was released, because Spotify says 2024, but Youtube has a version from 5 years ago. Either way this song is worth listening to right now. Get hold of the scintillating solo on the violin by Ben as he carries you through a maze. 

"Bhoole hum sare ghum" is true when you hear such music. The lyrics are penned by Rameez and Sarmad Ghafoor, with the latter producing the music and handling arrangements as well. The interlude has some harmonies, with a drop in tempo, and marching style drums with Rameez singing "tere liye" as if saying this song is for my pleasure. What follows is an exhibition of vocal prowess by Rameez as he does some scat-singing with Ben equal to the task on this Jugalbandhi. 

@rameezkhalidofficial @sarmadghafoor @zparwez 

3. Maatikinaaru Orutharu

Vocals: Gana Apelow

Composition, Production: Leon James

Lyrics: Gana Apelow

Language: Tamil

Genre: Gana/Folk

Mood: Dance

Deva the composer has been the king of Gana thanks to his joyful and creative compositions over the last 4 decades. Gana is a subgenre of folk music popular in Chennai. In the last 10 years Santhosh Narayan has taken up this quite well and when there are movies that require songs in the genre, Santhosh has given us some pretty dazzling Gana songs with his usual flamboyance mix of Jazz, Funk, Pop and Hip Hop too. Now this song by Leon James will climb into that list of amazing Gana songs made in Tamil Cinema.

Kudos to Leon for his arrangements and production as well which gets on board some amazing elements like the Nadaswaram in the interludes. The stuff written by Gana Apelow is too damn funny " Washing powder washing powder Nirma, konjam vaya su yum, pothikittu iru ma". Lyrics for Gana songs are much like the art of Trash-Talking, where all of it doesn't have to make perfect sense, but it should be witty and creative. Leon also gets the energy going with his rhythm programming that mainly has the Dhol, Mridangam and Dholak sounds. 

Since I watched the movie in theatres I can comprehend the placement of the song and its message and intention. The amazing chorus singers are Shenbagaraj, Narayan Ravishankar, Renjith Unni and Jithinraj. Kindly make some time and watch this video, which has the most creative and funny choreography by Master Sandy. The Gen Alpha phrases in the interlude are quirky and relevant as well, and lines like " Suthinan da scene a pottu sokka, ippo aagiputtan gas u pona Coke a, Dragon aga suthiniye Fire a, aitta keenji pona puncture ana tyre a" make this one helluva of number. 

Ravi G is the vocal producer with David Joseph is the creative consultant. The recording engineer is Sai Sri Ram at Shambala Studios. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Avinash Satish at Jovi Records, Chennai. 

@gana_apelow @leon.james @agsentertainment @khan_harshath_khan @iamsandy_off @ashwath_marimuthu @kayadu_lohar_official @pradeep_ranganathan @shenbagarajg @singer_narayananravishankar @jithinrajofficial @renjithunniofficial

4. Mi Amore

Vocals: INGA (Aishwarya Sridharan), Hanu Dixit, Gaia Meera Chandy, Suneep A Jamir 

Composition, Production: Shor Police (Clinton Cerejo & Bianca Gomes)

Lyrics: Shellee

Language: Hindi

Genre: Alt-Pop

Mood: Inspiring

When the new season of NEXA Music begins, it is customary to start the contest with a new track featuring the 4 winners of the previous year. We have had Mikey McCleary compose and produce the songs in the past, and now Shor Police (Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes) are taking over. The guitars and Ukulele by Clinton make the intro feel like a gentle pop number with Shor Police handling both composition and music. On vocals, we have the stars of last season who came to the last 4 viz. INGA (Aishwarya Sridharan), Hanu Dixit, Gaia Meera Chandy and Suneep A Jamir. 

The baritonish/bass styled singing "Yesh Kissa hai meraa, baaki kuch hai teraa" hits you hard straight away. Shelle is the lyricist. I have featured all these artists in their solo indie work before and are deserved winners in their own rights. The line "Mahiye Mahiye" feels like a mild rush of blood to the head and the energy slowly seeps into something more impactful as we head further into the song. The singing is pretty stylish and potent by the vocalists. The melody is written beautifully by Clinto and Bianca and you can see their intent to create something nuanced and fresh when we hear lines like " ab ruko, ruko naa kahi pe, aasmaan naa zameen pe", as the chord progression can be cherished. 

The accompanying acoustic guitars, Keys and rhythms are strong and purposeful giving the sound design some exquisite push. The mixing and mastering is done by Shaksham Dhar. 

@shorpolice @gloamless @nexamusicexperience @suneptuc @hanudixit @ingaishere @

5. Buddy

Vocals, Composition: Priya Mali

Lyrics: Vivek

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music/ Pop

Mood: Pathos

Priya Mali goes almost entirely solo here in creating this dreamy pop single. She writes the melody, arranges, produces and performs the lead vocals with some memorable suave. Chris Jason provides the lush accompaniments on acoustic guitars and the style oozes from his bass. Priya's vocals feel like a whiff of Shilpa Rao and that generates so much oomph when you listen in a calm environment and with your headphones on. 

The way she sings the lines written by Vivek "Unakku Paathi, Enakku Paathi Uyir Pothume" touches you deep and with tenderness. The violin solo by Aniirudh Kasyap is fascinating as he plays it in the background along with Priya's lines "Azhagana orithayam veesum osaigalai kettu nanum rasippen". The Cello in the stanza can be heard accompanying Priya's vocals and is played by Sekar VR and all the tracks are mixed and mastered by the brilliant Sujith Sreedhar. 

As a melody the song keeps getting better and the line "thinam thinam nee pogum vazhi, kaal pogum ini naan kooda varuven" leaves a lasting mark, especially when there is a pause after this line. 

@thisispriyamali @iamkhusheeraviofficial @j.sathiyaseelan @khyati_prabhu @warhorseproductions @dheepaprabhu @apinternationalfilms @christhejason @aniirudh_kasyap 

6. Kaise Din

Vocals: Swatantra Pandey 

Composition, Lyrics: Shivargh Bhattacharya

Music Production: Naman Kasturi

Language: Hindi

Genre: Pop

Mood: Pathos

Navneet R plays the mild acoustic guitar and Abhishek Ranjan's bass, and the Keys invite us into the song as Siddhant Varma and Alka Pandey perform the backing vocals in the intro. Siddhant also has arranged all the harmonies and the strings in this song. Swatantra Pandey performs the lead vocals and the message is loud and clear, with his tone, the lyrics by Shivargh Bhattacharya and the gentle tempo. It is a song that generates feelings of longing and some mild pathos.

"Kaise din main kaat raha hoon" asks the protagonist. The strings are equally generating sadness in the background as we hear Swatantra sing "Kahaan gaya jo tha saath mein". The interlude feels like an uplifting piece and changes the mood a bit from the verse. The jaunty harmonies and the electric guitar solo evoke a bit of renewed spirit. The stanza opens with a flourish thanks to the melody and lyrics both written by Shivargh. "Bikhri yaadon ke moti se, main ab geet banata hoon" sings Swatantra with a passionate aalap to follow, making the song touch the heart deeper.  

One cannot forget to appreciate the arrangements, and music production done by Naman Kasturi who leads from the front and gives us a wholesome, enjoyable number. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Debojit Sengupta at Polyphony, the MIx Room at Kolkata, with all the artwork done by Ayushi Khare. 

@ranjan2311_ @swatantrapandeyy @navneetrsingh @namankasturimusic @alka__.pandey @walkterharmonies @_ayushikhare_ @shivargh_bhattacharya

7. Umad Ghumad

Vocals, Composition: Saptak Chatterjee

Arranged and Produced by: Nakul Chugh 

Language: Hindi/Traditional

Genre: Tumri Fusion

Mood: Happy

This is a wonderful collaboration, between the fantastic singer-songwriter Saptak Chatterjee and the young talented producer Nakul Chugh. Saptak has been featured numerous times for his glowing melodies soaked in Indian classical music and Ragas, and Nakul too has been reviewed quite several times and is known to elevate the good to great. The melody in purity and beauty feels like Raag Desh to me. The engaging rhythms and keys are thanks to Nakul's ingenious work. Can you feel the amazing embellishments on production as we hear Saptak sing " Ja Re Ja, Ja Re Ja"?

Shrikant Biswakarma is killing it on guitars and bass and the interlude is solid with his solo, tantalising and energising. The sound design must be praised as Nakul gets so many creative elements going well and in sync, like when we hear "jiya re mura thadape thadape". The closing stages of the verse have some nicely arranged lo-fi elements and harmonies as well. The video is shot and edited and all the artwork credit goes Richa Agarwal, and the tracks are mixed and mastered by Prathmesh Dudhane. 

@richa55agarwal @nakulchughh @saptakchatterjeeofficial @strings_of_karma @prathmeshdudhane @firstwav @raghavmeattle 

8. Dil Ka Pata

Vocals: Razik Mujawar

Composition: Masala Coffee

Lyrics: Razik Mujawar

Language: Hindi

Genre: Pop

Mood: Romantic

As good as my morning filter coffee, that is how fabulous the band Masala Coffee is turning out to be with their consistency and quality of releases. This song's beautiful-sounding words are written by Razik Mujawar, and he also performs the lead vocals. I remember featuring Razik a couple of years ago for a fine indie single written and performed by him. The intro has these teasing acoustic guitars played by Anurag and Razik. It reminds me of the riffs that play in "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears, the band. 

Razik is calling you out with words like "dhun koi dhun koi hai bula rahi", and the voice is like a breeze that just brightens the mood. Pranav KS is on the Piano and Amal Sivan plays us like the puppeteer with the solo violin notes. As we head into the chorus segment that goes "mila tere dil ka pata", the female backing vocalists add so much style and suaveness. The performers here are Anila Rajeev, Christa Jyothi and Sony Mohan. 

The interlude on the solo violin is stunning, adding some melancholy as well and kudos to the band for some super arrangements and production. The guitars, bass harmonies and keys come and go at will creating a strong sense of attachment to the song. Varun Sunil and Steve Kottoor do the additional programming for the song. The recording engineers are Gerrald and Shiamal, with Jaykrishnan Nalinkumar on mixing and mastering duties. The violin solo is an outstanding contributor to the beauty of this song. 

@masalacoffeeband @amalsinvan_official @anila.rajeev @dayasankarm @razikmujawar20 @christa_jyothi @jk_theaudioguy @varun.sunil @sonymohanp @pranavks95 @bassmanpaulie @sabith.alie 

9. Hota Hai Aisa Kahaan

Vocals, Composition: Anurag Mishra

Lyrics: Alok Ranjan Srivastava, Anurag 

Music Production: Aditya Bisht

Language: Hindi

Genre: Tumri Fusion

Mood: Romantic

This fabulous track is from a new album called "Behad." In a touching style that reflects his discography, Anurag Mishra blends Indian classical music and some very palatable pop flavours. The song is composed and performed by Anurag, with lyrics by the talented Alok Ranjan Srivastava(Anurag co-writes). Ustad Farooque Latif Khan pierces the heart with the Sarangi solo in the intro. Anurag's ghamakas and his voice will haunt you most nicely.

This is what I am talking about, the combination of the Tabla by Kalpa Jyoti Bania and Siddharth Mesta's harmonium is reminiscent of Tumri-styled music of Hindustani classical music, and the melody is probably set in Raag Khamaj. Aditya Bhisht is the one who elevates the song thanks to his worthy music production and arrangements. The sound design is perfect, making it minimal in segments and never overpowers the beauty of the melody or vocals. 

I love the notes when Anurag sings " Dil basa leta jahaan" with the mild Piano in the background. The heart just blooms in joy listening to this endearing melody. Aditya does all the mixing and mastering of the tracks. 

@anuragmishramusic @addy_music @hashtag.jazbaat @komalmunshii @blahh_man @oceanmotionpictures @kalpa_jyoti_bania @siddharth_mesta7 @farooquelatif 

10. Tere Naina

Vocals: Suraj Bhartti

Lyrics: Maria Raza Sohni 

Composition: Fakhar Abbas

Music Production: Fakhar Abbas

Language: Hindi

Genre: Tumri-fusion

Mood: Pathos

Is it the Sarangi, Esraj or the Ravanahatha that is playing in the intro? Whatever it is, it straightaway grabs my attention. The melody is written by Fakhar ABbas and he also has produced this like a marvel. Maria Raza Sohni pens the lyrics, but it is Suraj Bhartti's voice that keeps you hooked. There is the amazing effect of Raag Yaman in every note and the heart responds to the beauty of the melody by swlling and growing fonder. The flowy acoustic guitars accompany Suraj's soothing delivery.

I am having tears of joy when he sings, and the accompanying rhythm guitars and bass enhance the effect. The solo violin in the interlude extends an arm of melancholy, and the introduction of the Tabla gives the song more of the traditional Tumri and classical music flavours. I feel the pathos when he sings " teri tasveer thi, abhi kahin bhi nahi". The melody is simple, and straightforward with the striking beauty of Yaman and it drowns you in its goodness. The sitar in the second interlude is playful and the melody after the interlude continues to make one bask in the bliss of the pure melody. 

@theaaarecords @mariarazasohni @sbhartti