This Nautiyal solo expressed hope

Ummeed Hai, as the title suggests, expressed hope.

And it was appropriate that it was the last track for 2020 on this blog.

The year has been awful, and as we get ready to usher in 2021, we are all hopeful that the coming year – and all the others to come – will be better.

The track from Unpaused was two minutes and 42 seconds long.

And the trio associated with this track was the most famous team involved with the film’s music – Jubin Nautiyal rendered the Payal Dev composition, which was penned by Kunaal Vermaa.

Kadu’s second contribution was catchy

Rastey was the shorter of the two contributions of Gaurav Kadu to the soundtrack of Unpaused – it was just a minute and 58 seconds long.

Like Mujh Mein Hai Tu, it was just penned, composed, and rendered by the Fiddlecraft frontman. And it had Hinglish lines.

In Mujh Mein Hai Tu, he sang, “GPS na dhoondh paaye, itna tujh mein khoye”.

And a line of Rastey went, “Likha ho address Hebrew zubaan mein”.

Well, even if the listeners were lost in these tracks, it wouldn’t be incorrect to state that they loved this indie journey.

  

Zara bagged this Bagchi original

The title of this post contains Tanishk Bagchi’s name and the word original, so that’s definitely not an oxymoron.

In fact, the music director composed one of the songs on the soundtrack of Unpaused.

It was titled Nayi Dhoop, and it was the longest of the six songs in the film – it was three minutes and 21 seconds long.

Incidentally, it was the only track in the film that had a Reprise version – it was just a couple of seconds shorter than the original.

They were penned by Rashmi Virag, and rendered by Zara Khan. 

It was (Fiddle)crafted by Kadu

If the two contributions of Gaurav Kadu to the soundtrack of Unpaused were arranged in the alphabetical order, as well as in the ascending order of their durations, Mujh Mein Hai Tu would be the first – it was three minutes and 15 seconds long.

His involvement in the track wasn’t restricted to penning and composing it, but he rendered it too.

Incidentally, Kadu is the frontman of Fiddlecraft, a Pune-based band.

And it is appropriate, because new Hindi film music composers now seem to have a licence to fiddle with tunes, and craft unique sounds.

Mr Samant tooK(ama)the traditional route

The second song from Unpaused was one that wasn’t written for a film’s soundtrack, but music connoisseurs are aware of it.

The track in question was Chaap Tilak.

Hence, the word Traditional was written against its name in the column marked lyricist.

Keeping that in mind, it would be appropriate to state that the involvement of Shishir A Samant in this version of the track wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he was one of the two men who rendered it too.

The other was Sunil Kamath.

It was three minutes and 10 seconds long.

Ms Bagchi rendered this track

While the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, showman Raj Kapoor’s philosophy – “The show must go on” – will always hold true.

And it is probably with that in their minds that a bunch of young artistes collaborated on the soundtrack of Unpaused (2020), a film that was set against the backdrop of the pandemic.

Badarva was the shortest of the six songs from the film on this blog – it was just a minute and 57 seconds long.

Ginny Diwan penned the song, which was composed by Parth Parekh.

It was rendered by Madhubanti Bagchi.

It was a ‘Vishal’ disappointment

Woh Lamha was the only solo on the soundtrack of Shakeela.

It was rendered by Mr Mishra.

(Vish)Although the singer has, slowly and steadily, been climbing up the ladder of success in the Hindi film music industry, there are bound to be a few hiccups along the way, but what makes his mediocre songs more glaring vis-à-vis those of his peers is the fact that he is a composer as well.

Of course, he did not don the music director’s hat for this track – it was composed by Veer Samarth.

It was penned by Kumaar.

Khushboo didn’t Meet anyone’s expectations

Tera Ishq Satave was a song from Shakeela.

In fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect to state that it didn’t impress the listeners, and the only purpose it served was to be the token Punjabi song in a Hindi film, because that seems to be the prevalent trend (regardless of the milieu in which the film is set).

The contribution of the Meet Bros in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but they were the backing vocalists too.

The main singer, of course, was Khushboo Grewal.

Kumaar, the go-to man for catchy tracks, penned it.

It VaS the (Prakri)title track

Shakeela released in 2020, and as the title suggests, was the biopic of the adult film star who ruled the Malayalam film industry in the late 1990s and 2000s.

This blog contains posts on three songs from the film.

If they were to be arranged in the alphabetical order, Taaza would be the first.

It was the title track of the film.

Veer Samarth’s involvement in the song, which Kumaar penned, wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he was one of the three who sang it too.

Prakriti Kakar and Saheb Khan were the others.

Jonita and Sukh-E didn’t Roc(ha)k

Single Ladies – from Indoo Ki Jawani – was three minutes and eight seconds long (which was, incidentally, the same duration as Haseena Pagal Deewani).

It would be safe to assume that it was just the title of the track, and not the target group, because no lady – single or otherwise – would approve of it.

The involvement of Rochak Kohli in it wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he was one of the three who sang it as well.

Jonita Gandhi and Sukh-E were the others.

The song was penned by Gurpreet Saini and Gautam G Sharma.

Badshah was at it AGain

Badshah’s song about broken heels has probably broken his fans’ hearts too.

The track in question is Heelein Toot Gayeen, the disappointing number from Indoo Ki Jawani.

He didn’t just compose and render it, but he penned it too.

And the lady who joined him behind the microphone was Aastha Gill.

A couple of minutes and 50 seconds long, the song was bound be a treat for the eyes of Guru Randhawa fans – the singer appeared as himself in the video of the song, and sounded weird lip-synching the popular catchphrase, “It’s yo boy Badshah”!

Mika sang another reK(au)reated version

There are recreations, and there are re-re-recreations.

And Hasina Pagal Deewani was an example of the latter.

It was from Indoo Ki Jawani, which was slated to release in 2020, but the film’s release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This version of the song was three minutes and eight seconds long.

The involvement of Mika Singh in it wasn’t restricted to rendering it, but he composed it too.

But unlike the original, he didn’t pen this version – the lyrics were credited to Shabbir Ahmed.

Singh was joined behind the microphone by Asees Kaur.

It wasn’t a BaNal song

If the four tracks from Indoo Ki Jawani (2020) on this blog were arranged in the alphabetical order, and in the ascending order of their durations, Dil Tera would be the first – it was three minutes and 42 seconds long.

Gurpreet Saini and Gautam G Sharma penned the Rochak Kohli composition, which Benny Dayal and Neeti Mohan sang.

It took the listeners back to the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s, with recreations of Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore’s looks from Kashmir Ki Kali, Parveen Babi’s disco avatar and Aamir Khan and Urmila Matondkar’s looks from Rangeela.

Malini (A)was(thi)n’t just the singer

Heer was the longer of the two songs on the soundtrack of Durgamati: The Myth – it was four minutes and 49 seconds long.

So far, male lyricists in the Hindi film industry were inspired by the most famous beloved in Punjabi folklore, but on this occasion, it was a lady – Dipti Misra – who was inspired by the heroine of Waris Shah’s tragic romance.

The involvement of Malini Awasthi in the song wasn’t restricted to rendering it, but she was also one of the three who composed it.

Abhinav Sharma and Naman Adhikari were the others.

 

B Praak rendered AFantastic track

By no means would it be incorrect to state that Baras Baras, the track from Durgamati: The Myth (2020), was crooner B Praak’s gift to his fans in particular, and Hindi film music enthusiasts in general, for the festive season.

It was three minutes and 20 seconds long.

He was joined behind the microphone by Altamash Faridi, to whom the additional vocals were credited.

Tanishk Bagchi’s involvement in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he penned it as well.

Indeed, India’s collective penchant for using a word twice for emphasis was its highlight.

Two Singhs sang with Bobo

Rang Bhariya – the song from Darbaan – was an incorrect phrase. It should’ve been transliterated as Rang Bhareya.

If the four songs from the film were arranged in the alphabetical order, and in the ascending order of their durations, it would be the last – it was four minutes and 24 seconds long.

Composer Amartya Bobo Rahut, who had the company of one Singh behind the microphone for Khushmizaaj, was joined behind the microphone by two Singhs – Amrita and Gulraj – for this track.

It was the second of lyricist Siddhant Kaushal’s two contributions to the film’s soundtrack.

Bobo sang it with Singh

Khushmizaaj, the song from Darbaan, was three minutes and 50 seconds long.

The involvement of Amartya Bobo Rahut in the track was not restricted to composing it, but he was one of the two men who rendered it as well.

The man who joined him behind the microphone was the one and only Arijit Singh.

By no means would it be incorrect to state that the track, which was penned by Manoj Yadav, was not just philosophical, but also had a positive vibe overall (as suggested by its title, which could be translated to, “Happy”).

Bobo and Joshi monkeyed around

Hindi film lyricists’ imaginations – especially when they are describing the heart – have literally run wild over the past few decades.

But things escalated rather quickly with Dil Bandar, which was the shortest of the four tracks on the soundtrack of Darbaan – it was just a couple of minutes and a dozen seconds long.

The involvement of Amartya Rahut (who is affectionately called Bobo) in the track wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he was one of the two men who rendered it too.

The other was Tushar Joshi.

The track was penned by Siddhant Kaushal.

Ms Harmalkar joined composer Bhalla

Darbaan released in 2020.

If the four songs were arranged in the alphabetical order, Behti Si would be the first.

The song was three minutes and 42 seconds long.

Every song in the film had one thing in common – all of them were sung by at least two people, of which one was the music director.

This was Raajeev V Bhalla’s only contribution to the soundtrack, and he didn’t just compose it, but rendered it too.

A young vocalist named Rashi Harmalkar joined him behind the microphone.

The track was penned by Akshay K Saxena.

Negi N(eh)ailed Javed-Mohsin’s lone composition

A pair of cousins teamed up for a track about a sister-in-law (and it became ‘relative’ly popular).

That, in a line, summed up Teri Bhabhi, from Coolie No. 1.

And the cousins in question were Javed Khan and Mohsin Shaikh.

Their involvement in the track wasn’t restricted to composing it, but they rendered it too.

They were joined behind the microphone by Dev Negi and Neha Kakkar [in whose portion of the song, the word bhabhi was replaced by bhaiya (which means, “Brother”)].

Danish Sabri penned the track, which was three minutes and 22 seconds long.

Das (Renes)sang it with Ash

The last of Tanishk Bagchi’s three contributions to the soundtrack of Coolie No. 1 – and the shorter of his two original compositions in the film – was Tere Siva.

It was three minutes and seven seconds long.

The track was penned by Rashmi Virag.

It was rendered by Renessa Das and Ash King (a relative of Kishore Kumar, who sang a song in Taaqatwar*, which released in 1989, and marked the directorial debut of David Dhawan, the director of both Coolie No. 1 and its remake).

(*Note: The song was titled John D’Mello Ding Dong Wala.)

Alka San(u)g this version too

The longest of the six tracks from Coolie No. 1 on this blog was the recreated version of Main Toh Raste Se Jaa Raha Tha – it was five minutes and 22 seconds long.

Interestingly, its title was inspired by a line from the original – Mirchi Lagi Toh.

And as was the case with the recreated version of Husn Hai Suhana, the words of the original lyricist (Sameer Anjaan) and the voices of the original singers (Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu) were retained in this track too.

It was credited to DJ Chetas and Lijo George.  

Monali sang (Ud)it with Ikka

Two of composer Tanishk Bagchi’s three contributions to the soundtrack of Coolie No. 1 were originals.

The longer of those was Mummy Kassam – it was three minutes and 32 seconds long.

(Ud)It was rendered by Monali Thakur and Mr Narayan.

And there was another Ikka (Hindi for, “Ace”) up the sleeves of the team that collaborated on this track – the involvement of the rapper in the song wasn’t restricted to joining the aforementioned duo behind the microphone, but he was also one of the two men who penned the song.

The other was Shabbir Ahmed.

Mr Bhattacharya sang (Chand)anawful recreation

Husnn Hai Suhana New was one of the two recreated tracks on the soundtrack of Coolie No. 1.

(Dix)It was rendered by Chandana and Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who sang Husn Hai Suhana from the original.

The song was four minutes and 27 seconds long.

The original was penned by the one and only Sameer Anjaan, who was credited as the lyricist of this version as well.

However, Anand-Milind, who composed the 1995 hit, should have composed this version too. It wouldn’t be incorrect to state that Tanishk Bagchi couldn’t fit into those big pairs of shoes.

(Pand)It was the shortest track

Coolie No. 1, a remake of the 1995 film of the same name, released in 2020.

If the six tracks from the film on this blog were arranged in the alphabetical order, as well as in the ascending order of their durations, its title track would be the first – it was just a couple of minutes and seven seconds long.

Raj Pandit rendered the song, which Farhad Samji penned.

It was the only contribution of composers Salim-Sulaiman to the film’s soundtrack. In fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect to state that they let their fans down.

Sadly, Mr Aziz didn’t impress

Right off the bat, I knew a couple of things about Shivali, the song from AK vs AK – firstly, it was a Hindi song with a liberal sprinkling of Marathi words, and secondly, it contained unrelated words that ended with -ali (besides Shivali, lyricist Rajeshwari Dasgupta Ghose used Diwali, mawaali, Manali, etc.)

It was three minutes and 11 seconds long, and despite the fact that its hook was, “Vedha Zhala”, it didn’t drive anyone crazy.

Nakash Aziz was at ease rendering the Alokananda Dasgupta composition, but that wasn’t surprising, because such songs are his forte.

 

Kapoor’s rendition was truly jhakkas!

The soundtrack of AK vs AK featured a song that was actually rendered by the other AK in the title (Anil Kapoor).

It was titled Khallas, and it was just a couple of minutes and 50 minutes long.

He referenced a few films he starred in [including Mr. India (1987), Rakhwala (1989) and Nayak (2001)].

And of course, the song – which was penned by Kaam Bhaari and composed by Rakhis and Nuka – was incomplete without the actor saying, “Jhakkas” [a word his character said in Yudh (1985), and has come to being associated with him].

Trivedi was just the crooner

Before I heard the songs of AK vs AK, I read the list of songs.

And one of them confused me – was the song titled Ghum to be read as Ghum (which could be translated as, “Sorrow”) or Ghoom (which could be translated as, “Move”)?

Little did I know that it was neither – Amit Trivedi, who rendered it, pronounced it as Ghum, which actually sounded like the word that means missing.

Rajeshwari Dasgupta Ghose penned the Alokananda Dasgupta composition, which was the longest track in the film – it was three minutes and 37 seconds long.

 

Kashyap probably inspired Kaam Bhaari

My initials are AK, and this happens to be a post on the first track from the meta film AK vs AK (2020).

It was titled Duniya Gol Hai, and it was perhaps inspired by the song of the same name, which was from Dev.D, which released in 2009, and was directed by Anurag Kashyap, who plays one of the AKs in the title.

Kunal Pandagale (a rapper better known by his stage name, Kaam Bhaari) penned and rendered the track, which was just a minute and 33 seconds long, and composed by Alokananda Dasgupta.

The coMPosers sang it too

The soundtrack of Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari featured two versions of Waareya, but this blog contains a post on just one – the duet.

It was the longest of the six tracks from the film on this blog – it was four minutes and 35 seconds long.

Javed-Mohsin didn’t just compose it, but they rendered it too.

The duo who (Para)shared singing credits with them were Palak Muchhal and Vibhor (who also rendered the male version, which was three minutes and 11 seconds long).

Vermaa penned both the versions of the track, which was the (Kuna)album’s highlight.  

 

Sanj sang the T(ripath)itle track

The title track of Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari was the longer of composer Kingshuk Chakravarti’s two contributions to the soundtrack of the film – it was a couple of minutes and 47 seconds long.

It was a situational track, and contained a line that could induce a chuckle or two – it went, “Inka toh status permanent quarantine hai”.

Sanj V and Chinmayi Tripathi lent their voices to the song, whose hook went, “Dono pagle hain praani, sunlo kya kehte hain gyaani”.

It was penned by Abhishek Sharma, who happened to be the director of the film.

 

These singers didn’t Make MAJic

By no means would it be incorrect to state that Ladki Dramebaaz Hai was the weakest of the six tracks from Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari on this blog.

It began with the tune of Pallo Latke, the track from the 1979 film Nauker, but was obviously no patch on the track that served as its obvious inspiration.

Mohsin didn’t just compose it with Javed, but was also one of the four singers.

Jyotica Tangri, Mellow D and Aishwarya Bhandari were the others.

Danish Sabri penned the track, which was three minutes and 11 seconds long.

Divya Joined the Music directors

Interestingly, Fatima Sana Shaikh has featured in two films whose soundtracks contained a song with the same title (albeit with different tunes) – Dauda Dauda.

The first was Chachi 420 (1997), and the second was Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari.

The track from the latter was composed by Javed-Mohsin, who were also credited as two of the three men who rendered it*.

Divya Kumar joined them behind the microphone.

Danish Sabri penned the song, which was a couple of minutes and 45 seconds long.

(*Note: In fact, the rap portion of the track was rendered by Mohsin.)

Sabri left Sholay fans Devastated

Maternal cousins Javed Khan and Mohsin Shaikh (a.k.a. Javed-Mohsin) composed four of the six tracks from Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari on this blog.

In keeping with their penchant with turning hooks inspired by pop culture into songs, they picked Basanti, Veeru and Gabbar, the iconic characters from Sholay (1975), and that film’s popular line, “Basanti, in kutton ke saamne mat naachna”, and composed Basanti.

Danish Sabri’s involvement in the track – which was three minutes and four seconds long – wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he rendered it too.

Payal Dev shared singing credits with him.

It was far from Mellow

If the six tracks from Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari (2020) on this blog were arranged in the alphabetical order (and in the ascending order of their durations), Bad Boys would be the first – it was just a minutes and 49 seconds long.

It was the shorter of composer Kingshuk Chakravarty’s two contributions to the soundtrack of the film, and was the only solo in the film.

The involvement of Mellow D in the track wasn’t restricted to penning it, but he rendered it as well.

But, as the title suggested, it was anything but mellow.

 

 

Aziz sang this ‘Feel’-good song

With opening lines that went, “Khud ko thoda break de, man ko thoda space de”, it wouldn’t be incorrect to state that Zindagi Ka Feel – the longer of the two tracks from Sir* – was the male version of Jeene Mein Kya Jaata Hai.

It was composed by Ragav Vagav, and rendered by Nakash Aziz.

Mohit Chauhan penned the song, whose hook went, “Dhol ke beat pe zindagi ka feel le” (which could be translated to, “Get a feel of life to the beats of a drum”).

(*Note: It was three minutes and four seconds long.)  

Suvarna motivated everyone to live

Most of us are so busy running the rat race that we are merely existing, and seem to have forgotten to live.

And at that point, in stepped Suvarna Tiwari, who rendered Jeene Mein Kya Jaata Hai.

The song – whose hook went, “Jee kar dekh le” – was from Sir, which released in India in 2020.

Three minutes and a second long, the song – which was the shorter of the two tracks in the film – was penned by Mohit Chauhan.

It was composed by a man whose last name rhymes with his first name – Ragav Vagav.

Raja (Ha)sang this puerile track

Start Stop was a song from Laxmii.

Contrary to its title, it was a song nobody wanted to start listening to. And if they did, they wanted to stop it pronto.

It was three minutes and 13 seconds long, and contained inane lines penned by Vayu.

The only highlights (if they could be called that) were the local train announcement at the beginning of the track, and the hook, which went, “Aye Raja baja”.

But Raja ne bajaaya nahin. In fact, the man who (Ha)sang it was Raja.

The song was composed by Tanishk Bagchi.  

This song gave nobody Khushi

By no means would it be incorrect to state that a track that mentions the world’s tallest building is bound to generate a great deal of curiosity – and perhaps, criticism that is far from ‘construct’ive.

Burjkhalifa, the song in question, was from Laxmii.

It was three minutes and seven minutes long, and was penned by Gagan Ahuja.

The track was composed by Shashi and DJ Khushi.

The involvement of the latter – a popular disc jockey – in it wasn’t restricted to composing it – he rendered it too.

He was joined behind the microphone by Nikhita Gandhi.

 

 

This Virus(s) was certainly acceptable

Laxmii released in 2020. 

One of its songs, which was titled BamBholle, was three minutes and 40 seconds long.

There’s no two ways about the fact that it didn’t just spread some much-needed festive cheer, but became popular with devotees of Lord Shiva too.

And here’s an interesting bit of trivia – while the world is coping with the Coronavirus, a singer who goes by the stage name Viruss is the one of the two people behind the track.

The other is Ullumanati, whose involvement in it wasn’t restricted to composing it – he penned it too.

 

Guru (Randha)was the (Pay)all-rounder

Teri Choriyaan was a track from Chhalaang.

It was a couple of minutes and 55 seconds long.

By no means would it be incorrect to state that the track had Guru – with a capital G – written all over it.

In fact, his involvement in it (Randha)wasn’t restricted to penning it (with Luv Ranjan, who also happened to be one of the producers of the film) and composing it (with Vee), but he was also one of the two people who lent their voices to it.

The lady who joined him behind the microphone was Payal Dev.

 

It was tailor-made for Mehndi

This is a post on Le Chhalaang, the title track of Chhalaang.

And since it was, quite literally, all about taking the leap, it was a song aimed at motivating the listeners.

In fact, one of its lines went, “Maidan bhi hoga tera, tu haq se maang” (which could be translated to, “The ground will be yours, all you have to do is ask for it as if it were your right”).

The song, which was penned by Luv Ranjan, was composed by Hitesh Sonik.

It was rendered by the one and only Daler Mehndi.

 

Honey teamed up with Sweetaj

Yo Yo Honey Singh’s fans couldn’t have been happier – his Diwali gift to them was a track, ironically titled Care Ni Karda.

Well, if he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have taken the Chhalaang (which is Hindi for, “Jump”) – which was, incidentally, the title of the 2020 film on whose soundtrack the aforementioned song appeared.

The rapper’s involvement in the track wasn’t restricted to composing it (alone), but he penned and rendered it too.

Alfaaz and Hommie Dilliwala were his partners in rhyme.

A person with an interesting name – Sweetaj Brar – shared Sing(h)ing credits with him.