Top Indian songs of the week 24th July 2022

1. Naan Ninage Kaavalugaara

Composed – Charan Raj

Produced – Charan Raj, Narayan Sharma

Singers – Ankita Kundu, Sanjith Hegde

Lyrics – Chethan Kumar

Musicians - Narayan Sharma, Sunil Sylvester, Narayan Sharma, Nathan, Shruthiraj, Shadaj Godkindi

Genre – Melody

Language - Kannada

He is known as ‘Power Star’, and he passed away, way too young in his 40s. Puneeth Rajkumar, is the son of a mega star Kannada actor and he had become a massive figure, but when he died people from all over India and the world poured their commiserations because he was a simple, modest man and that was his biggest asset. Anyway, this song is a tribute to the man and is composed beyond brilliance by Charan Raj. Charan is one of my favourites from South India and he proves exactly why! The song is slow but it hardly takes a few seconds to impress and woo the listener. The reason lies in the quality of vocalists and the array of live musicians on board, in the project. I remember Ankita Kundu from one of the Indian singing reality shows she was quite good as a young girl, and here her vocals are next to perfect. 

Sanjith Hegde is a vocalist who according to me comes in the top 3 Indian singers are the moment, so I was not surprised even a bit by what I was hearing from him. Even before Ankita utters a note, there is so much happening with the Piano by Narayan Sharma and strings which Narayan himself arranges in a mind-blowing fashion. Ankita brings in those delicate ghamakas and I couldn’t control the mild tear that rolled down my cheek in pure joy and admiration for the music. Only after Ankita rocks you to sleep with her vocals do we get the title line sung by the majestic Sanjith, accompanied by the delicate Tabla played by Shruthiraj. Sanjith’s fabulous vocals are also aided by well-arranged harmonies. The interlude hits you hard with an Ilaiyaraja-styled flute solo played with extreme finesse by Shadaj Godkindi and your heart swells with love listening to the glorious notes. Nathan handles the Woodwind arrangements and Sunil Sylvester can be heard playing the acoustic guitars, especially in the stanza as all the percussion stops for a while. 

The stanza ends nicely with that line from the anupallavi and this time both Ankit and Sanjith sing it together. Narayan Sharma is also the bassist in the song and the mixing is done by Charan, with Sujith Sreedhar on mastering. I love the title line in the end sung by Ankita where she modifies the notes a bit and all I can feel is sadness in that the song is coming to end. Deepesh Krishnamurthy is the music supervisor and Divine Joseph, Kashyap, and Sree Shankar are the recording engineers. When I was listening to this, I felt some resemblance to “Sonnathu Nee thaana” by MS Viswanathan, and hence believed this to be a Raag Jaunpuri influence. However, when I had a word with Narayan Sharma he tells me this is more of a Natabhairavi influence.

2. Rithuragam

Music: Kailas

Lyrics: Vinayak Sasikumar

Singers : Keshav Vinod, Sruthy Sivadas

Music Production: Ebin Pallichan, Kailas

Musicians – Rithu Vysakh

Language – Malayalam

Genre – Pop, R&B

A few weeks ago Kailas Menon’s amazing number “Yathonnum Parayaathe” was on this list among the best songs in the country and more than 1 song from the same album rarely appears on my list. Kailas does that handsomely as, after “Rithuragam”, there will be one more song also featured in the subsequent weeks. This song is funky, and groovy, and makes you want to slow dance, thanks to its tone, scintillating keyboard programming, and bass guitars. A round of applause to Ebin Pallichan and Kailas for their production and Keshav Vinod for all the additional programming is necessary. The male lead vocalist is Keshav and he is cool in his delivery. 

The interlude has the backing harmonies performed by Keshav, Kailas, and Sruthy Sivadas. The stanza is where Sruthy makes the entry as the female lead vocalist, but the harmonies and bass guitars give a texture of R&B to the song. Rithu Vysakh takes over in the second interlude and he is the single man playing the String Quartet adding a very classical flavour to the song. Sruthy singing in the lower scales and Keshav opting for the higher scales is the game-changer for the song and when you hear the outro over the last 1 minute or so, the song just elevates itself with the humming, and Piano all coming together. 

Now, this is fantastic 1-minute music. The track is mixed by Balu Thankachan and mastered by Gethin John, with Midhun V Dev, Vimal John, Vipin G Kumar, Ebin Pallichan, and Amal Mithu as recording engineers.

3. Meherbaan

Composer, Producer – Sagar Dhote 

Singer: Sneha Astunkar, Abhay Jodhpurkar

Lyrics: Aditya Kalway

Musicians – Shomu Seal, Satyajit Jamsandekar, Shweta Srivastava

Language - Hindi

Genre – Indie Pop

When you see a certain logo, you are bound to form an opinion even before trying it out, and this is based on established trust. Yes, and when I see the ‘M’ stylized in red, I know that the Merchant Records label will ensure this song is of wonderful quality. Sagar Dhote is having his stock price rise with every song release and my respect and admiration for him as a composer is not looking back at all. A couple of months ago he composed and produced a very melodious number called “Bas Yun Hi” sung by Sneha Astunkar and he uses her again along with an additional force that goes by the name of Abhay Jodhpurkar. When you hear the first line maybe you won’t even be that thrilled, as it seems like a very run-of-the-mill melody. But wait for Sneha to finish singing “Do aankhon ka yeh silsila”, as she traverses like a step-function into the higher scale. The subtle ghamakas are so beautiful and sound very difficult to execute. Shomu Seal plays the guitars and Sagar does all the keyboard programming. 

The stanza has Abhay singing in his usual serenading style with some gentle delivery and an even gentler Tabla played by Satyajit Jamsandekar. Sagar exhibits skill in scoring some very unpredictable notes from here as Sneha’s segment has twists and turns with the Keys and acoustic guitars guiding and aiding, and he cleverly lands back in the opening lines of the song. Let us appreciate Shweta Srivastava, the singer-songwriter, who has designed all the vocal harmonies, and Sneha and Abhay who have just added layers of beauty to the tune through their expressive vocals. The track is recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ajinkya Dhapare with assistance from Virat Bhushetty. Two more wonderful young talents have worked on this project viz. Aditya Kalway is the lyricist and Shivansh Jindal is the executive producer.

4. Faqueera

Composer: Anand Bhaskar

Singers: Jatinder Singh, Anand Bhaskar

Lyrics: Ginny Diwan

Music Production: Ajay Jayanthi

Musicians – Hrishi Giridhar, Ajay Jayanthi , Mihir Desai

Language – Hindi

Genre – Folk Fusion

Ignore him at your peril! Well, that is what I can say, about Anand Bhaskar. If you think you can ignore his music, we know who is losing out. He is one of the finest composers I have been reviewing since I began doing this and It gives me great satisfaction that a guy of his abilities is finally getting a lot of real opportunity in the movie/web-content space. The album ‘Masoom’ has some excellent singles along with a terrific background soundtrack. This song to me seems like possessing an influence of Raag Jog (Naatai in Carnatic) in the beginning but as we go along, there is some Raag Bhimpalasi according to my understanding. Jatinder Singh is emphatic and explosive in his vocals and he holds the song on his shoulders. 

Ajay Jayanthi who is part of the team ‘Anand Bhaskar, is scintillating on the strings and he also produces this number. The Violins work very well with the thumping rhythms. Hrishi Giridhar plays all the Ukulele, Mandolin, and Guitars that we hear constantly in the background. The sound of this song is quite rustic and Jitender uplifts the song through his vocals which have a lot of similarities to Sukhwinder Singh. Mihir Desai provides all the additional music inputs, and Krina Shah is the recording engineer. The track is mixed and mastered by Prathamesh Dudhane and Ginny Diwan is the lyricist. The closing segment has some exciting solos on the guitar bits and in the background.

5. Sadha Nannu Nadippe

Singers - Shubhankar, Savaniee Ravindrra

Music - Shubhankar

Lyrics - Sri Ram Tapaswi

Musicians – Ritesh Ohol, Yugendra, Chithrinie Wijayakulathilaka, Manas Gosavi, Ishan Devasthali Anil Robin, Pratheek Prem Karan

Genre – Melody

Language - Telugu

This composer has been busily composing songs in many languages and I have heard most of them, even featuring his Tamil project the last time. Here Shubhankar is scoring for a Telugu film and this single is smashing and impressed me the very first time I heard it. Subhankar himself takes over as the vocalist along with Savaniee Ravindrra. The interlude is truly enchanting with guitars by Ritesh Ohol in the beginning but then Yugendra follows up on the flute solo. The programming and arrangements are grand and feel like an Orchestra in full flow thanks to Shubhankar himself. Pratheek Prem Karan does the rhythm programming and arrangements and they too are crucial to the tone of the song. 

The percussion elements in the song are quite varied with Anil Robin playing the Dholak, Tabla, and Mridangam. The Tapes are played by Anil and Chiranjeevi. If all this already made an outstanding impact on me, I was happier to listen to the second interlude with Chithrinie Wijayakulathilaka on the Sitar and Ishan Devasthali on the Violin. Manas Gosavi intervenes with his Mohan Veena in the second stanza which is dominated by Savaniee’s vocals, and the latter half of the stanza has the Tabla, flute, and bass guitars, and Mohan Veena all in unison to create an everlasting impact in our hearts and ears. The track is mixed and mastered by Shadab Rayeen with Tushar Pandit on the recording.

6. Dhada Dhada 

Singer: Haricharan

Lyrics: Shreemani

Music: Devi Sri Prasad 

Musicians – KP, Kalyan, Lalit Talluri, Vikas Badisa

Language – Telugu

Genre - Melody

Haricharan is the male vocalist for this number and he probably is one ideal choice for this song as the high scales demand quite a bit and not many can deliver the lines with such comfort and finesse. Vikas Badisa opens with the whistle along with KP on keyboards. Devi Sri Prasad from time to time comes up with these delightful numbers that not only are melodious but also elaborate in arrangements of live instruments like this one here. It is the Chennai Music Union Orchestra that has played the strings with J Chitty Prakash conducting. Kalyan is in charge of rhythms, and I love even the minute sounds of the glass bottles. The second interlude has Subhani on Frets and Lalit Talluri on the flute solo. The track is mixed and mastered by A Uday Kumar, and Shreemani is the lyricist. 

7. Love of a mother  

Song Performance & Recording - Big Bang Blues 

Vocals – Sushant Thakur, Diyatom Deb, Leo, Naman Datta

Musicians - Archit Agrawal, Sushant Thakur, Naman Datta, Leo

Genre – Rock and Blues

Language - English

It came out of the blue for me, when I heard this amazing song by Big Bang Blues, and to say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. This is a New Delhi-based band, which is into playing Rock and Blues kind of music and it constitutes an array of very talented musicians. The song is dedicated to that insurmountable love for a Mother, and so it begins like a lullaby with Sushant Thakur’s vocals. He also has written these touching words and composed the tune. The electric guitar by Sushant just after the opening lines, makes that rock genre kick in as Naman Datta breaks free on drums. We also do hear harmonies in the background and this is where Diyatom Deb, Naman, and Leo contribute. It feels like one of those splendid numbers by metal bands like ‘Metallica’. Leo plays the keyboards and Archit Agrawal accompanies him constantly on the bass guitars. 

The song has an energetic segment where Sushant and the backing vocalists sing “ I take a bow to the love of a mother”. The electric guitar solo near the 3rd minute is scintillating, to say the least, and I love how a message like the love of a mother is communicated through rock music against commonly used genres. Naman’s role as the drummer is indispensable as he gets the tempo and adrenaline pumping and at the same time takes a back seat when he has to. Anindo Bose has done a terrific job, producing, mixing, mastering, and recording this track and only his expertise could have gotten this desired sound output. All this recording and sound design work have happened at Plug ‘n’ Play Studios. 

8. Gelathiye

Music Director: Judah Sandhy

Singers: Aishwarya Rangarajan, Varun Ramachandran 

Lyrics: Gurutej Shetty

I have waited long enough to hear Judah Sandhy’s music, and as they say, this has been worth every second of the wait. He composes this one with an eye on melody but also introduces these elements of Lo-fi and modern sounds to get the song accepted and liked by a wider and younger audience. To me, there is an influence of Raag Hamsadhwani and we have a fantastic vocalist in Aishwarya Rangarajan to deliver these lines making the listening experience even more worth it. The interlude is all a mix of funky and trend rhythm and keyboard programming. 

The Keys and Synths alone guide the stanza and you just fall in love as Aishwarya ends by singing “ nee nannavanaginnu” with just style, tenderness, and skill introducing a mild ghamaka. Varun Ramachandran is the male vocalist and he provides freshness to the song I must admit that Judah excels by having a different stanza/bridge segment for Varun’s vocals in the latter half. The song with its design, tone and programming reminds me of Elton John’s “Sacrifice”. The lyrics are penned by Gurutej Shetty.

9. Tera Zikr

Vocals, Lyrics, Production – Manav

Language – Hindi

Genre – Indie Pop, Soul

Some musicians just get you excited when they have a new release. Manav is certainly one of them and whether it is his band Twin strings or his solo project, I am always eager to stream and give it a listen. This is Manav’s one-man show as he has written, composed, produced, and performed a truly melting number. The Piano can be heard and I can visualize Manav hitting the chords and vocally hitting the nail on the head with a sensational voice. When he sings he just knows exactly how much of ghamaka is ideal without ever overdoing it. 

I listen to roughly 2000 songs a month and there are not many who do it as well as Manav, and I inadvertently close my eyes and shake my head in complete awe of the voice. There are segments where I feel like an influence of Raag Maand exists though Manav says that there was no intention of that sort. For a singer who sounds technically equipped to deliver in classical style, Manav brings in nice touches like a mild falsetto in the line “ Kya main bataunga duniya kya hai”. The keyboards and rhythm production are solid and it falls within Manav’s style if you have heard him enough. The rise in scale towards the end happens much to my liking and with seamless ease.

10. Band-Aid 

Vocals, Lyrics, production – Dev Modi

Genre – Alt-Pop

Language - English

Dev Modi has been quite busy of late, with back-to-back numbers that got featured on this website last week in two amazing songs viz. “Heer Meri” and “Raah Dikha De”, play the drums in both instances. Just like Manav did a fully solo performance on the previous song, we have Dev doing everything her from writing, composition, production, singing, mixing, mastering, and programming. He also plays the guitars and Piano live in the track. It begins with the Piano and Dev’s vocals alone creating some tranquillity, and when the scale hits higher as he sings “We ripped the band-aid out now “with a touch of vulnerability in his voice. This just makes sense as it is a love song dealing with a breakup and I can feel that emotion. The next line is one of my favourites musically and lyrically as well singing “ I know there’ll be tears dried down your cheeks, I can’t be there for them, and the way the break in notes happens after the phrased ‘dried down’, instead of after ‘your cheeks’. 

The synth and keyboard programming is spot on here adding to the song’s gravity of the message. Soon enough there is another line that is excellently written saying “This’ll get a bit easy” and Dev brings mild changes to the 3 times he repeats the same line. It is here that the song gains momentum with some apt shift in rhythms, almost like saying now he is past the initial stage of sadness from whoever he is trying to break the news of the breakup to. Dev programs the drums and plays the electric guitars to great effect in the end and the production is very symbolic I feel just like how a Band-Aid is ripped causing initial pain and then everything seems fine, and that is why the song starts off slow like a ballad and then ends like a rock number. Dev Modi has mixed, mastered, and recorded the track himself.

11. Badariya

Singer - Reewa Rathod

Composition & Lyrics - Swaransh Mishra

Music - Vishal Dixit

Musicians – Prashant Trivedi

Genre – Semi-classical

Language - Hindi

A song set in Raag Desh is bound to turn on those antennas and make you feel loved and warm and fuzzy, and ‘Badariya’ falls exactly in that zone. Reewa Rathod is the vocalist and she brings a very Hindustani Classical texture to the song composed and written by Swaransh Mishra. The mild Tabla by Prashant Trivedi is an essential element in painting this with that classical brush. Vishal Dixit produces the song and it is his work that converts this into a more delectable fusion with strings and Harmonium all mixing. Gurpreet Babra and Kanchman Babbar mix and master the track.

12. Darbadar

Composer, Producer - Vishal Mishra

Vocals - Jubin Nautiyal & Vishal Mishra

Lyrics - Raj Shekhar

Musicians – Tapas Roy, Shomu Seal, Raju Sardar, Arun

Vishal Mishra is one of those who gives his all, irrespective of the project in size and popularity and this is evident in how another very likeable number from the album “Ittu si baat”. A couple of weeks ago the ravishing song ‘Sun Bhi Le’ was featured and now it is the time of ‘Darbadar’. I don't always like Jubin Nautiyal’s songs but maybe that has got everything to do with the melody and composition rather than his singing. This is where Vishal Mishra comes in and weaves some heartening magic. Tapas Roy on Strokes starts hitting the right notes early on giving it a Kashmiri flavour of sorts and he is accompanied by the illustrious Shomu Seal on guitars. 

The Dholak and percussion by Raju Sardar and Arun generate the necessary rhythm to enjoy the melody. Kumar Gaurav Singh assists Vishal, and the recording engineer is Trihangku Lahkar. In his usual style, Vishal also introduces the electric guitars in the background as he handles the programming and arrangements. The outro is mesmerizing with all instruments, Jubin’s lead vocals, percussion, and backing harmonies by Vishal all coming together. Shadab Rayeen is the mixing and mastering engineer with assistance from Pukhraj Sonkar and Anup.

13. Tippity-Toe

Vocals, Lyrics – Shivangi Kale

Produced – Shreyas Iyengar

Language – English

Genre – Pop/Blues

Really? Is this a debut single? Well, it surely doesn’t feel so, as Shivangi Kale a singer-songwriter from Pune slam dunks this single, and nothing short of excellence can be expected when you have the talented producer/instrumentalist Shreyas Iyengar taking over both tasks. The vocals are truly praiseworthy as there is nothing initially in the song to drift your attention away. It just feels like Shivangi just recorded herself on a phone, but at the peak of her vocal prowess, I presume. The claps are the only source of rhythm and I am fine with that as it gives me something different to enjoy and expect as the song progresses. The upright bass gets included into the scheme of things and slowly with the drums and Synths, the song gains traction. In a ploy to let the listener focus on the lyrics especially when Shivangi gets to the title line, Shreyas gets into the silent zone with only her vocals dominating the scene. 

There are moments when I felt like I was listening to Aditi a.k.a. Dot. , she had a great EP last year called “Khamotion”. The song talks about the confusion that clogs the brain of a person in a relationship, especially one where it never feels like a 2-way street. Well wait, did the song end, and did Spotify take me to the next song on shuffle? Nope, the same song went through a 135-degree shift, but with the same message, the tone and instrumentation get more serious in ‘Sound of Music’ fashion. Shreyas and SHivangi give us something new and experimental to hear and enjoy, and they get an A+ for effort and creativity.

14. I hear your voice

Composed and Produced by Ashutosh Phatak & Arjun Vagale

Lyrics by Ashutosh Phatak, Nikhil D'Souza & Arjun Vagale

Vocals by Saba Azad

This is a testament to collaboration and its amazing results. Ashutosh Phatak who I have featured for a couple of songs in last year’s MUMBAI DIARIES has worked with Arjun Vagale in composition and song production here. Saba Azad who has enamoured our TV screens thanks to her appearances in movies and OTT shows is the vocalist here and I was pleasantly taken aback by her singing. I wonder why I have never heard it before, as she just sings like she could melt even diamond singing „ I didn't wanna know“. The production is of superior sound quality and it gives the song a COLDPLAY-esque tone. Nitin Chandy does the mixing and mastering and though the lack doesn't deviate too much from the path set out at the beginning there are elements of rhythm and keyboard programming that alter and give newer sounds and textures. Nikhil Dsouza plays a worthy cameo with his humming and backing vocals.

15. Baawre 

Vocals, Written & Produced by: Kanika Patawari

Language – Hindi

Genre – Pop/Fusion

Kanika was featured a while back for a beautiful fusion number called ‘Runak Jhunak’ and now I’m glad she just released an EP called “Currents” and of the 4 songs in it, I loved 2. After featuring ‘Baawre’ here I shall be reviewing one more in the subsequent weeks. The guitars are strong and strummed with an equal vigour that I also found in Kanika’s vocals. There are layers to the vocals and that sounds brilliant as we hear “Jo bhi hua, tu jaane dena”. I love the Sitar is programmed nicely after Kanika’s pause, but not before a brief beat on the Thavil (at least that is the percussion sound I hear). The track is mixed and mastered by Nacor Zuluaga Morelo. The vocal and instrumental arrangements deserve some credit for the overall resonating impact it has on the listener.

16. Sajda

Music - Abhijay Sharma, AAKASH

Vocals - Abhijay Sharma

Lyrics – ReVO LEKHAK

Language – Hindi

Genre – Indie Pop

It is always better later than never, as I just now discovered this artist Abhijay Sharma, and within a matter of weeks, I have been hearing some amazing music from him. This is a song I loved from the EP called ‘Sanwarey’. The track is composed by Abhijay and AAKASH with the former lending his voice to deliver the song. It is truly dreamy and you could play the song on loop just to hear his voice over and over again. Abhijay does everything in moderation whether it is the ghamaka or the falsetto and that is what keeps the song real and likeable. The track is mixed, mastered, and engineered by Abhijay with all the artwork by Manil Kandwal and Abhishek Gaur.