top indian songs of the week 26 June 2022

6. DHAAKAD

The man has been in the papers for having returned to composition after a while, Dhruv Ghanekar. For a man who has 20 years of experience in composing, producing and playing with some of the global greats, he has had very little opportunity to prove his mettle. I did not have great expectations when I knew this was one mediocre movie, but the music simply amazed me. I'll be featuring the title song here but in the subsequent week I'll be mentioning the other amazing songs in the album plus I will be doing an album review as well. Dhruv Ghanekar has composed, arranged and produced the track, with lyrics by Ishitta Arun. This is no ordinary number as the song feels like an elaborate orchestral piece in itself. I have probably never seen so many live instrumentalists used in a Bollywood number in a very long time. Vasundhara Vee is the lead vocalist and she performs with incredible zest and control as always expected from a singer of her caliber. The last time I mentioned or featured Dhruv was last year when he produced Vasundhara’s “Run”. The flute is just majestic and mesmerizing right at the start and it is all part of the FILMharmonic Orchestra in Prague conducted by Adam Klemens. The guitars are a very western movie sounding like something out of “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. Dhruv himself plays the Keys and acoustic guitar and bass along with the mercurial Mohini Dey . Neuman Pinto, who I have also featured in some lovely indie singles, has done the vocal arrangements and backing vocals for this track. I can go on and write about every element like the strings, the horns and so much more and this truly is what music should be like. The title line is sung with pumped up energy by Vasundhara and ably supported by backing vocals. Jai Row Kavi plays the drums while there are many percussionists involved viz. Taufiq Qureshi, Dipesh Varma, Khwab Haria and Shikhar Naad, Taufiq have done the percussion arrangements. The song flows like a river with varying intensities and all the strings we hear right through, is orchestrated by Steve Turner. The solo Sitar is played by Ravindra Chary and I listen to him sizzle in the end at break-neck speed. P.A. Deepak is the mixing engineer assisted by Vincent Joseph, and the track is mastered by Rueben Cohen.

7. ENTHA CHITRAM

What did I just write or mention at the beginning of this article? I talked about some of the new-age composers in South India who are dominating the scene, and just like Sweekar Agasthi made it, at number 1 this week we have the other name Vivek Sagar composing here. His earlier single in the same movie sung by the legendary Carnatic artist Aruna Sairam was also featured and reviewed. This song has an Irish feel to it thanks to the multitude of fiddles and it feels like that song in Dhanush’s debut score by Yuvan Shankar Raja called “ Nenjodu ''. Anurag Kulkarni is at his best, exploring his full range vocally. Just listen to some tantalizing vocals in the chorus by ‘EL Fé’ with vocal arrangements by Roe Vincent. The fiddle is played by Ray Legere and Vivek himself plays the acoustic and electric guitars while Keba on bass. Lalit Talluri plays the flute solo to some delight in the interlude and Abhijeet Gurjale plays the Violin. The stanza has Keerthana Vaidyanathan singing the female lead vocals and many lines are sung in harmony by the lead vocalists which sounds fantastic. The second interlude is beautifully scored as well with Abhijeet playing the Violin solo. The notes are truly reminding me of Maestro Ilaiyaraja especially in the closing segment of the stanza. Sanjay Das does the mixing and mastering which would have taken a toll considering all the vocals, harmonies and instrumental layers in this song. The lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Sastry with additional programming and Synth by Vivek.

8. DURE

After a brief gap, according to my understanding, Papon makes a comeback in Bangla after many forays into indie music in Assamese and Hindi. Rohan Roy’s strings welcome the listener in this slow and somber melody composed by Indraadip Das Gupta. I get a sense there is some Raag Khamaj in places, and to make matters even more touching and moving Iman Chakraborty joins as the female lead vocalist. The violin solo is truly heartwarming whenever it interjects the proceedings. Aditya Benia plays the guitars, and the song is produced by Zia. We have heard all these brilliant musicians in association with some stalwarts like Pritam and Arijit Singh in their compositions. Srijato is the lyricist and the track is mixed and mastered by Amit Chatterjee. The tune and melody is itself something that will soothe you but the production is classy and outstanding creating so many layers and the track at more than 6 minutes length offers so much for the desperate ear in search of good music.

9. ANGANE - GOPI

The combination always works between a solid composer and a breathtaking singer, and this is what is happening here when the seasoned composer Gopi Sundar gets exactly what he desired and planned for with Sithara Krishnakumar’s stunning vocals. BK Harinarayanan is the lyricist. This is one that will please the purists and lovers of grandiose, as Gopi goes full throttle on all the live instruments with Orchestra-styled arrangements. There are maybe some influences of Ganamurthe and Varali Raagas in the mix and the way these western instruments play alongside the local traditional Kerala percussion is a treat to hear. Sithara’s voice is haunting but in the most enticing way possible. Their vocal harmonies create a hypnotic effect which generally is expected in a devotional track. The closing section sounds a lot like the portion in “Putham puthu boomi vendum'' from ‘Thiruda Thiruda’ by AR Rahman.

10. OH ISHA - ARMAAN

This Telugu composer is not new to me, and I have featured him before, but when needed he delivers especially in a movie that is a multilingual set to be witnessed by the larger North Indian crowd. Sricharan Pakala has played the acoustic guitars, rhythm and composed this very enjoyable track in the movie ‘Major’ and also backed-up on vocals. The other voice we hear in the harmonies is that of Poojan Kohli. The lyrics are penned by Rajiv Bharadwaj. To do the lead vocals, we have probably one of India’s finest singers exhibiting his talent across geographies and languages. Armaan Malik sounds fabulous in voice, delivery and diction in Tamil and Telugu as much as Hindi. He is accompanied by Chinmayi and she performs like a walk in the clouds. The standout elements for me in the song are the guitars, and bass by Marcus Shammah J. The programming is top-notch giving the song a very westernized output thanks to S Anant Srikar, Joy Rayarala and Sanket Sane. The highlight line is the title obviously with Arman singing “Oh Isha” in the higher scale followed by what seems like programmed string notes. Chinmayi and Armaan have their lines in the stanza on either ends of a vocal scale and it works pretty well. The song is simple in structure but where it winds handsomely is its execution, programming, arrangements and production. The recording engineers are Amey Londhe, Avinash Sathish & Marcus Shammah J. The track is mixed by Abin Paul and mastered by Pradeep Bhakaran

11. WAAPAS AA JAO - ARJUN

Arjun Kannungo is established as a singer-songwriter in the indie space, and when he released this album called ‘industry’ I quite liked it but the one that really caught my attention was this song ‘Waapas Aa Jao’. His voice is simply serenading and you will be rocked away to sleep, or witness at-least a drop of tear rolling down your cheek. The writing and music by Yash Vaid is able to capture all the emotions of love and longing perfectly. Arjun too has penned the lyrics and he has produced the track. The galaxy of stars in playing instruments is brightening the track even better with Bhushan Chitnis and Ishaan Das on guitars with Roland Fernandes on bass. It is a simple but a very feel-gone melody that you will want to go back to when you miss your loved one. Bhushan has done all the additional programming, and Nemo does the musical supervision. The track is mixed by Martin Hollis and mastered by Shadab Rayeen.

12. MAA - POOJA

Pooja Tiwari is bubbly, full of life and she created an aura of likability in my recent interview with her on an Instagram Live session. She is riding high after singing for AR Rahman in the movie ‘Heropanti 2’ but she remains grounded. I have been looking forward to this single by her which was released on the occasion of Mother’s day and I am not let down. The song is a melancholic lullaby written and composed by Vinita Mishra featuring Pooja as the vocalist. A year or so ago she composed and sang a song dedicated to Fathers around the world and now this heartfelt track. Sourav Dey handles the mixing and mastering and produces the track. The Keys and guitars are the two main layers of sounds, and they play just about teasingly without taking anything away from Pooja's vocals.

13. HARIYE JAO JODI BHIRE - ANUPAM

Just when I started wondering where Anupam Roy had gone, as it had been a few months since I featured him, there he comes again once again to prove his mettle, only as a singer this time around. Mekhla Dasgupta is another outstanding vocalist who joins as the female lead. The pop genre is a little different from the usual melodies that we hear in Bangla music. Soumya Rit has written and composed the song with Tutul Mukherjee’s stunning guitars. Rahul Sarkar should be complimented for the arrangements and programming because ultimately suave presentation can make food more inviting. There are strings in the background with a hint of an electric guitar solo as well, all elevating the song. There is a gentle rock flavor in the interludes with the electric guitar solo, and to bring this all together we have Prasun Mukhopadhyay doing the mixing and mastering.

14. ORU NAALITHA - NAJIM

Shaan Rahman is a cracker of a composer and there used to be months where 4 or 5 of his songs would all get featured and reviewed back in 2020. I’m so glad to see him sparkle here and the guitars by Bharath Sajikumar hit the right notes and you are sold. The song does possess a texture similar to something we all would have heard from Shaan’s hit album “Love Action Drama''. Najeem Arshad sings it with a smooth style, and the bass guitars are dreamy working together with the vocals and all the synths too pack a punch. The interludes with the Sitar and the harmonies are so catchy and Shaan scores massive points by bringing in the Piano and the Dholak for percussion played by Anandu. Narayani Gopan sings the female lead vocals and it is the beautiful words by Vinayak Sasikumar that stay in your mind for long. Shaan programs, arranges and composes this track with mixing and mastering by Biju James.

15. YAATHONNUM PARAYAATHE - SITHARA

Kailas as a musician returns after a brief hiatus and maybe this is why breaks do help. He is back with a solid album and all 3 of the songs are worthy of your time. Vinayak Sasikumar has once again penned the lyrics and we have Sithara Krishnakumar again as the lead vocalist. Now if you ever wondered what was her greatest asset which not many vocalists possess is her ability to sound different in diametrically opposite ends. Just compare this with “Angane '' at number 9 in the list. She sounds incredibly sweet and romantic in her delivery here and the song comes off as a wonderful romantic number thanks also to Abhijit Anilkumar who is the male vocalist. The line “pathi vazhi theerumbo” is very similar to “mudi konda un marbil mugam saikka vendama'' The song is produced by Ebin Pallichan and Kailas. The first interlude is a solo by the phenomenal Manonmani on Sarangi and it feels like a bit of Raag Maand to me. The Keys are beautifully arranged in the stanza as well and they add to the beauty of the vocals. Paulson plays the Sitar in the second interlude and the song feels complete thanks to this tried and tested format. The recording engineers are Midhun V Dev, Vimal John, Ebin Pallichan and Amal Mithu with Sujith Hyder on mixing and Gethin John on mastering.