Top Indian Songs of the Week 31st July 2022

1. Hold on to me

Vocals, Songwriting- Ruhee Ahamed

Production – Jonathan Anand Wesley

Musicians – Israel Thomas

Language – English

Genre – Indie Pop

This is outstanding singing, something that can give any global celebrity artist a tough fight and a run for their money. I start listening to Ruhee Ahamed and it feels like Celine Dion of the 1990s has landed in Bengaluru. She is not even close to being a novice as she has been involved vocally in many projects since 2010. When a singer is a distinguished A Capella performer you are guaranteed unshakable vocal prowess and that is exactly what she exhibits here. Many weeks ago I called Arunaja’s “For Who I am” one of the best vocal performances of 2022 yet, and now you better add this to that very short list. Ruhee has even been part of harmonies for the Carnatic fusion band ‘Agam’ and she brings in every ounce of that experience and training on board here. I featured “Maybe I'm foolish” back in 2020 and when I told her that the song would be number 2 in India, she had the immense confidence and self-belief to ask me why not number 1 and whose song took that position. Israel Thomas on Keyboards dominates the scene both accompanying and guiding the initial segment along with Ruhee. The song is a lesson for young, aspiring singers to practice and make covers of, and how she progressively raises her energy, during the song is remarkable. Jonathan Anand Wesley has done a brilliant production along with Ruhee of the song leaving no space for flaws and he also mixes and masters the track. Ruhee goes for the kill without even resting on the laurels won in the first 4 minutes and what you hear in the closing section is a hair-raising performance and I can't see any reason why anyone in her life wouldn’t want to Hold on to her. Sumesh Nayadi and Akshaj Balaji are recording engineers. I want to tell Ruhee Ahamed, ‘Hey this time, there is no other song better than yours, you have the number 1 song in the country for the week, and maybe for the month as well”.

2. Nenne Tanaka

Music – Arjun Janya

Singer – Sanjith Hegde

Lyrics - Kavirathna Dr V. Nagendra Prasad

Musicians – V Sukumar, Chinna, Subhani, Madhu, Lekshmi Narayan, Raju

Language – Kannada

Genre - Melody

This combination is supreme and one of the most successful and I am referring to Arjun Janya the composer and Sanjith Hegde the singer, and I cannot even begin to count those hits with my fingers right now. This song is from the album ‘Trivikrama’ and is very much down the Arjun alley with a load of live instruments, harmonies, and solid programming. V Sukumar handles the keyboard and rhythm programming to great effect and right from the very start you can hear the mild harmonies comprising Aniruddha Sastry, Supreeth Phalguna, Madhwesh Bharadwaj, and Sriranga Darshan. The bass guitars keep decorating the background layer and Subhani enters in the interlude with the Solo on Mandolin and the Sitar is probably programmed. Sanjith proves right here in every way that he is right up there among India’s best male vocalists with his high-pitched singing, enjoyable ghamakas, etc. Chinna plays the Harmonium and the second interlude oozes richness and melody. The rhythms we hear, are played by Madhu, Lekshmi Narayan, and Raju and D Hariharan join in on all the additional programming. I was glad to see some excellent budding musicians Aromal Chekaver and Rakesh Pazhedam contributing as recording engineers on this song Along with Shiva. The track is mixed and mastered by David Selvam

3. Kannu

Singer: ADHEEF MUHAMED

Music : JUSTIN VARGHESE

Lyrics: SUHAIL KOYA

Language: Malayalam

Genre - Melody

Hey Justin Beiber, I have some words of advice for you, well you should take some lessons for composition from India’s own Justin Varghese. He is one of the finest in the country and for those who don't know much about him, listen to the BGM score of the movie ‘Joji’. While at it, Beiber can also take some singing lessons from Adheef Muhammed, because this guy kills it with his performance, especially the spell-binding ghamakas. I don't even feel like spending my time writing about this song, because I would rather close my eyes and just listen to the glorious singing, flute, and overall production. Anyway, Justin Varghese proves here that he is just not skilled at BGM scores but also at creating beautiful melodies. Right from the start, every sound you hear is magical, and then the whistle leads the way. Adheef shows how a song should be delivered even to the so-called superstar singers in India. Just pay attention to the incredible vibrato he attached when he sings ‘Kannu’. Huge credit must also be given to Sankaran S and Sidarthan who have done the sound design, and Vishnu Sujathan who has done the mixing. The EP for the track is Vineeth Shornur. I fell in love with the flute solo in the interlude and the second half of the solo sounded similar to the interlude segment of Ilaiyarajas ‘Manguyile Poonguiyile’ s solo version by SPB in the movie ‘Karagattakaran’. These days songs become a hit just for 1 good line, but Justin gives you even a beautiful melody in the stanza. When the song draws to a close, Adheef once again does that ‘Kannu’ vibrato but here the flute also accompanies in the background, the thing that amazes me most is that he does as much with ghamaka as the flautist does, which according to my limited musical knowledge is quite difficult to achieve vocally.

4. Main Jee Raha

Music Composer: Ana Rehman (Jam8 Studio)

Lyrics: Shloke Lal

Singers: Jazim Sharma and Shilpa Rao

Musicians – Roland Fernandes, Rajkumar Dewan, ZIA, Salman Khan, Feroz Shan, Dev Modi, Chinmay Deore, Ishteyak Khan, Mushtak Khan, Vikram Bishwakarma

This is an incredible project #RoposoJamroom as they intended 9 songs with different singers and composers, and I have already done 2 a couple of weeks ago, and now for the 3rd. a big round of applause to two people here is called for viz. Niraj Sanghai who has conceptualized the project and Pritam who has mentored every composer for this project. 2 weeks ago Ana Rehman and Shubham Shirule gave us a smashing number called “Raah Dikha De” and now this is composed by Ana, and arranged and arranged and programmed by Shubham. The set-up is similar to the other songs we saw 2 weeks ago like “Heer Meri” where there is a galaxy of live instrumentalists here too. Singers are the vehicle to carry a song from the composer’s ideation stage to the ultimate listeners’ ears and heart, and just like how Mohit Chauhan and Asees Kaur shone, we have two amazing vocalists viz. Jazim Sharma and Shilpa Rao delivering the lines here. Both have been featured multiple times on my charts and reviews and for JAzim this is different from his solo projects which are very classical and slow. Sunny MR has arranged, programmed, and produced the track with all the mixing and mastering responsibilities as well, and you can hear the sound quality and tone being at the highest notch thanks to that. The Tabla and percussion by Chinmay Deore along with the Harmonium by Feroz Khan stand out at the beginning, and the song’s tone and texture have a lot of similarities to Salim-Sulaiman’s “Haule Haule ho jayega Pyar”. Some elements make me wonder if there is some influence of Raag Darbari. Rajkumar Dewan on bass and Roland Fernandes on guitars go about their business as usual, and ZIA does all the arrangements on Keys, with Shubham playing the Keyboards and Synths. Wait for that scintillating interlude on the Sitar by Salman Khan, you will get a hint of a tear in your eyes, but I was also in awe with Jazim’s ghamakas, the way he sings the part “Tere Liye”. Dev Modi plays the drums and it combines so well with the Sitar, and also pays attention to the Tabla Tarang played by Chinmay in the interlude. The stanza has an excellent shift into Sufi style singing “Intezaar ka fal de Maula”. And we have the Dholak played by Ishteyak Khan, Mushtak Khan, Mandolin by Vikram Bishwakarma, and a solid chorus team comprising Vaishali Singh, Subhashree Das, Akash Mukherjee, Aaroh Velankar, Vacha Bipin, Archita Ajgaokar, Sonu Ishteyak Khan. The harmonies sound excellent in the closing stages of the song and the line “Kya bana Pattar dil Maula, Tu..Tu…” is skillfully handled by the chorus team and this reminds us of the great songs by AR Rahman as well. Antara Mitra does the music supervision with Brianna Supriyo and Antara also does the curation. The recording engineers involved are Hemaksh Kalsi, Subhashree Das, Akash Mukherjee, Aaroh Velankar, and Pranav Gupta and the mixing assistant is Ritvik Shah. Let us not forget to credit Shloke Lal for those words that keep ringing in your ears.

5. Bonding Song

Music: Nobin Paul 

Singer: Pancham Jeeva 

Lyrics: Nagarjun Sharma

Musicians – Rithu Vysakh, Sumesh Parameshwar

Language – Kannada

Genre – Melody

I have heard so much about this movie Charlie 777 and it is a must-watch for all dog lovers, but if you are a music lover this is one of the best albums released in 2022 so far. Nobin Paul is one serious talent in the Kannada music space and he has proven himself beyond doubt. I have featured 2 songs from this album and this is the 3rd and every song is as good as the other. Nobin has arranged and programmed along with his score and gets this excellent but underrated singer Pancham Jeeva to do the lead vocals for the song. The keyboard programming comes to the forefront, and with Pancham we have very capable support on harmonies that includes Pancham, Pavan Kumar, Pooja Rao, and Meghana Kulkarni Joshi. That line where the entire group sings “Charlie” is just fantastic and soothing and uplifting. The interlude is pure genius and what else can we expect when Rithu Vysakh plays and arranges the one-man String Quartet. Sumesh Parameshwar is the wingman on acoustic and bass guitars and the song is full of freshness and energy that not even a second fails to boost your spirits. The track is mixed and mastered by Balu Thankachen. The second interlude has some exciting notes performed in the Chorus The apt lyrics for the song that bursts with messages of love and dependency are penned by Nagarjun Sharma.

6. June

Written & composed by Sidharth Bendi

Co-produced by Sidharth Bendi & Sudan

Musicians – Kritskaya Tatiana

Language – English

Genre – Ballad

This composer/producer Sidharth Bendi, from Hyderabad, has been a regular on my website and if it is not his single like “It's over”, he has also been a valiant producer for “Dear Madeline” by Sai VSR. Kritskaya Tatiana is like the star of the show with her solo on the Cello, and its constant presence is like an enhanced addition of spices and flavours to the recipe. Sidharth has written and composed along with performing the vocals all of which are intriguing. The guitars come and go in significance just like the well-arranged harmonies. This makes sure the lyrics are heard with full attention. The love and heartbreak of the protagonist are well established with words like “It’s the 11th day of June, Two years ago I was so in love with you, It’s the 11th day of June, 4 days to go, Ill be nothing more to you”. Nothing encapsulates pathos like an instrument from the Strings section and that is why Tatiana’s Cello works like magic. Navjyoth Kumar handles the artwork pictures and video with design by Sidharth himself. Sudan is not to be forgotten because he has co-produced the song along with Sidharth and the number wouldn’t be as impactful without some solid arrangements programming and production

7. Rubaru

Singers: Vishal Mishra & Asees Kaur

Composer: Vishal Mishra

Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir

Musicians – Shomu Seal, Parth Shankar, Ashish Jha

Language – Hindi

Genre – Melody/ Semi-classical

I never miss an opportunity to heap praise on Vishal Mishra who is like a diamond in the rough when it comes to searching for good composers in Bollywood. Despite the movie getting very average reviews the songs have been excellent and after this song, I will be featuring one more song “Aaja Ve” in the subsequent weeks. The vocals by Vishal and Asses Kaur are perfectly suited to deliver the emotional message of the song. The title line is just the best part of the song and it gets aided by the Piano in the background, but the moment Vishal finishes the line the Tabla by Ashish Jha and the serenading Flute solo by Parth Shankar fill the interlude space and amplify the quality of the song. Manoj Muntashir’s lyrics can give the listener the true picture and theme of the song thanks to his words. The voice texture of Vishal is truly unique and it sounds very apt in semi-classical numbers like this one too which I believe has influences from Raag Desh. Shomu Seal plays the guitars and Gaurav Vaswani has played a massive role along with Vishal in getting the arrangements right along with producing the number. The second interlude is a gem with the brisk-paced flowy flute and guitars, and then we get the low-scale entrance by Asees Kaur. Only during her lines, do we get to hear the bass guitars accompanying with style and substance. The rhythm programming too is excellent in the track as they appear at the right instances with the expected vigour in the track. The lead vocalists singing in unison is a great segment, but then the Niazi Nizami brothers, Imran and Hasan, strike gold with their Qawwali part in the end. The track is mixed and mastered by Shadab Rayeen with assistance from Pukhraj Sonkar and Anup Gandharla. The music assistant is Gaurav Singh and Trihangku Lahkar is the recording engineer.

8. Nasha

Written, composition, Vocals – Shevya Awasthi

Production – Varun Jhunjhunwala, Shankara Srikantan

Language – Hindi

Genre – Indie Pop, Soul

After some Indian semi-classical, it is time to shift to another genre 180 degrees apart, and that is why Shevya Awasthi helps us with this groovy number that makes you want to let loose, settle down after a long day and turn the lights down listening to her sing. She has written, composed, and performed, while the production by Varun Jhunjhunwala and Shankara Srikantan get the sounds spot-on. The keyboards and synths are doing their thing. The rhythm and keyboard programming does skip a beat and they are wonderfully supported by bass guitars, electric guitars, and harmonies that follow the lead vocals with a lag. The last 1-minute is also something that steals the show with the solo on electric guitars.

9. Maayagange

Singer: Arman Mallik

Composer: B Ajaneesh Loknath

Lyrics: V Nagendra Prasad

Musicians: Midhun Ashok

Language: Kannada

Genre: Melody

Many people use the word Pan-India while others also despise it these days, as just calling it Indian is good enough. Staying away from that debate, I think Armaan Malik is not just an Indian but a global icon thanks to his forays into global music. I believe he is a very capable vocalist who possesses a likeable voice and the fact that he now sings in Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu with excellent diction has magnified his value. Here he performs for one of my favourite composers B Ajaneesh Loknath and delivers this breezy number with superb ease. When Loknath is the composer, you can expect quite a lot of instrumental support and arrangement and here we have the Chennai Strings performing live with Yensone as the conductor and KD Vincent and Jagannadhan as the co-ordinators. The strings are fantastic and create a grand aura something that reminds me of Ajay-Atul’s “Yaad Laag la” from the movie ‘Sairat’. The rhythm programming is by Ajanessh while all the additional keys are by Midhun Ashok. CR Bobby should be equally credited with the final output of the song thanks to his production work along with Ajaneesh. Unlike his usual songs, he has employed more of a modern soundscape with synths and Keyboards. Armaan Malik’s singing in the stanza is truly a testament to his vocal strength and virtuoso. The second interlude on the saxophone is a nice deviation from the other sounds we hear. Overall Armaan truly elevates a song that could fit many moods and times of the day. Biju James and Amey Londhe are the recording engineers and with Renjith Vishwwanathan on mixing, Mazen Murad masters the track.

10. Paalvarnna Kuthiramel

Music Composed and Arranged by: Jakes Bejoy

Singer: Jakes Bejoy, Libin Scaria, Midhun Suresh, Swetha Ashok

Lyrics: Santhosh Varma

Musicians: Sumesh Parameswar, Daniel Joseph Antony

Just listen to this song and the sounds on offer, and it reminds me of AR Rahman's “Oruvan Oruvan Muthalali” and the opening brass section there. One of the premier composers in the land today is Jakes Bejoy he creates a thumping song here as a composer and arranger and he works with Praveen Ninan on production. The Orchestra session we hear is prepared and arranged by Daniel Joseph Antony and assisted by Maneeth Manoj. Then in truly Santhosh Narayanan style, the trumpets come on board helped by Derick’s rhythm programming, and the song transforms into a folk fusion. The vocalists are Jakes Bejoy, Libin Scaria, Midhun Suresh, and Swetha Ashok with lyrics by Santhosh Varma. The interlude past the mid-section has some nice strings as well and Sumesh Parameswar is on guitars right through. The female vocals and male vocals come one after the other in the stanza and that sounds brilliant, especially with the vocal textures that all of them exhibit. Balu Tahnkachan must be appreciated for mixing and mastering this interesting number with so many layers. I could be wrong but many segments of the song do exhibit some influence of Raag Sindhubhairavi. 

11.    Haq Tumko Hi

Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar, Saheb Biswas, Senjuti Das

Lyrics: Mayur Puri

Composed, arranged, and produced by: Bharat-Hitarth

Musicians – Shomu Seal, Hitarth, Atul

Language – Hindi

Genre – Melody

We have already seen one song a couple of weeks ago from this album, sung by Shalmali Kholgade called “Mr. Malang” and I have praised the composers Bharat-Hitarth, and they deserve more with this track. Abhay Jodhpurkar is a mighty force vocally and how can one not fall in love with his voice? The duo has composed, arranged, and produced the track and we have one more song from this album coming in the next week. The guitars are tender, played by Hitarth Bhatt and Shomu Seal, and they add a romantic element other than the beautiful vibrato as only he can. That serene flute solo in the interlude played by Atul makes this melody shine even more and then the guitars take over. The composers have added a nice layer of the Sarod which always is a very classical addition to the scheme of things. The track is mixed and mastered by Prithvi Sharma and the recording engineers are Ikramuddin Lochoor and Pankaj Bohra. The use of harmonies also must be noted here and they in no way harm the delicate rendering of the melody it is only enhanced thanks to Saheb Biswas and Senjuti Das. Mayur Puri touches your heart when he says “Dil dukhane ka Haq tumko hi”. The outro section is almost like a bridge deviating from the rest and it exhibits the composers’ skill further. Some lines remind me of that great number “Aaoge Jab Tum” and hence maybe there is an influence of Raag Tilak Kamod or maybe some Khamaj.

12. Qisse

Song Co-written & Co-produced – Gaya, Reiner Erlings

Lyrics – Gaya

Language – Hindi

Genre – Lullaby/ Ballad

Gaya a.k.a. Gayathri is on fire telling her story and message in this song ‘Qisse’ and if taking a break can get you to deliver with such brilliance, then breaks are what we all need. Gaya released her last music 5 years back before I ever started reviewing music. This number is co-composed and co-produced by Reiner Erlings and her and I was astounded at once, so strong enough that I felt the urge to immediately connect with her and give her my words of appreciation. It is just the guitar and her perfect vocals at the beginning show in every note. Just listen to that subtle but tangible ghamaka as she sings “ Jhoote sacch Bolke”. Within the first 1st minute she offers so much both musically and vocally, and now there is this humming version of the same notes, aided by the Piano. The harmonies are by The Sambhar Choir and they just enhance the impact of the lines, but I truly wished there was so much more, like an Antara or a stanza to the song. Nevertheless, listen and bask in the tranquillity of this music. The track is mixed and mastered by Reiner. I also checked with Gaya and she approved it when I asked if the song had some Raag Bageshree influences.

13. Ithalle Ithalle

Music composed, arranged & programmed by Varun Krrishna

Lyrics: Vinayak Sasikumar

Singers : Anne Amie, Abhijith Damodaran

Musicians: Remin Jose, Melvin J Therattil

Language – Malayalam

Genre - Melody

Anne Amie is one of my favourite vocalists, and her vocal range is quite wide, making her perform with incredible ease and excellence at either end of the vocal spectrum, but when she sings like this close to the lower scales, I just get serenaded. Vinayak Sasikumar is the lyricist for the song, which is composed, arranged, and programmed by Varun Krrishna. The song when you hear it, you can feel the undeniable presence of guitars and bass played by Remin Jose and Melvin J Therattil along with synths and keyboard programming, almost getting the melody fused with some techno influences as well. The influence of Raag Abheri maybe is what I heard in a few segments and Remin’s electric guitars dominate and knock you over just past the 1-minute mark, and here it feels like a true rock number. Abhijit Damodaran joins the party much later but he compliments Anne’s vocals quite well. The track is mixed and mastered by Varun, with assistance from Melvin on mixing and the recording engineers are Varun and Akshay Kakkoth.

14. Lehenga Lo Lady

Lyrics: Krishna Kanth (K.K)

Singers: Vijay Prakash, MM Sreelekha

Music: Jakes Bejoy

Language – Telugu

Genre – Fusion

This is the 2nd song by Jakes Bejoy this week, and this one is for his Telugu album. Amazingly, he has already quickly adapted to the popular and on-demand sounds in Tollywood. Jakes manages to get a classical Raga influence into a song that is a very breezy number, heavy on keyboard and rhythm programming. I sensed some Ganamurthe Raga but Jakes corrected me later saying it is Kanagangi, wow I learned that. Vijay Prakash is one of those vocalists who just had an impressionable voice that you cannot just avoid or ignore and Jake gets it right by getting MM Sreelekha to do the female vocal lead. The Veena Solo and elements from the brass section all do enough to take us through the interlude into the stanza. The connecting line between the charanam and Pallavi, which is also like the Anupallavi of the song reminds me of this part in the song “Garuda Garuda un kathalai” by composer Deva, in the Tamil movie ‘Natpukkaga’. Krishna Kanth is a lyricist.

15. Nadan Dil

Singer - Aanchal Shrivastava & Vidhya Gopal

Songwriter - Aanchal Shrivastava

Producer - Adita Ashwath

Language - Hindi

Genre – Semi-Classical/ Melody

Aanchal Shrivastava reached out to me a few weeks ago and asked me to listen to her upcoming single, and although many musicians do that, the confidence with which she approached me and swore that I would love the song truly amused me. She was right, I loved the song as much as her confidence. She ropes in Vidhya Gopal as the other lead vocalist while Aanchal writes, composes, and performs on it. The vocal texture of Aanchal amazed me considering she sounds very different while talking and kudos to her on that. I have featured Vidhya a few times and I was very well aware and ready to hear what she would bring to the table and the collaboration just works magnificently. It is just the aid of guitars that drives the song forward and I could sense some Raag Khamaj in it. The song has the tonality of a Shantanu Moitra number. The track is mixed and mastered by Apoorv Kumar and produced by Adita Ashwath who gets the song’s ornamentation spot on

16. Piya Se Naina

Singer: Sona Mohapatra

Composed By: Ram Sampath

Lyrics: Hazrat Amir Khusro

Music Produced By: John Paul

Musicians – Rajeev Prasanna

Language – Hindi

I have loved Sona Mohapatra's singing, especially her vocal texture and she has been really busy releasing singles right through the pandemic. When she combines with a Ram Sampat composition, it is like Fish and Chips. I am trying to say that the combination works pretty well and I will be writing more about the EP “Shut up Sona” which to me has two amazing songs, the other one being “Rang De”. The song is produced by the guitarist/producer John Paul and Amey Wadibhasme has mixed and mastered it. Rajeev Prasanna on the flute and John Paul on the guitars are the instrumentalists who adorn the track. I also very much enjoyed the rhythm programming, but Sona like her name, turns the song into Gold, with her excellent ghamakas. The legendary Hazrat Amir Khusro had penned the original lyrics for this one. The song to me has shades and influences of Raag Desh. The Konakkol in the interlude, with a very Sufi-styled second stanza aided by the harmonies and Harmonium, is such a drift away from the breezy melody that we hear otherwise in the track. It is all a sign of mastery shown by Ram Sampath and John Paul.