Milliblog Weeklies, Week 278 – June 29, 2025 – Milliblog!

Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 278: YouTube | Spotify

Back after a week’s break. A monster playlist this time – 35 songs! Probably the highest in recent times for any Weeklies! The YouTube playlist is missing two songs (‘What A Flow’ and ‘Monkey Moonji’ from Govind Vasantha’s ‘Good Day’), while the Spotify playlist is missing three songs from the same soundtrack (those two songs + Bar Anthem). I have embedded the full jukebox below. The jukebox doesn’t include another song from the film, ‘Bar Anthem’ and so I have embedded that too, below. Trend Music, the label, is doing a poor job with the distribution and the release. Govind Vasantha deserves better.

Mann Ye Mera + Rewind, Aur Mohabbat Kitni Karoon, Yaad, Mausam, Dhaagena Tinak Dhin, and Dil Ka Kya – Encore – Metro… In Dino (Pritam) – Hindi: The tantalizing music that plays after ‘Mantar chalaayaa yaa’ and the children’ish chorus that repeats the ‘Mann Ye Mera’ refrain ending it in a ‘Oooooyeh’ note… oooof! This is Pritam getting back into his zone with a bang! Both Vishal Mishra and Raghav Chaitanya (in the Rewind version) hold fort majestically all through the smashingly interesting song. Vishal and Raghav get another song pair in Dil Ka Kya + Encore. I couldn’t discern obvious differences between the two versions of the two songs barring the choice of singer and I’m unable to get the thought behind Pritam getting 2 very good singers doing the same song. For instance, if you consider what Amrit Ramnath did (see below) in 3BHK with the two reprise versions, he produces different musical interpretations to clearly offer contrast between the two variants.

Pritam gives Arijit two songs—Mausam and Aur Mohabbat Kitni Karoon—that do wonders to showcase the singer’s stupendous range, wonderfully supported by Sandeep Shrivastava and Qaisar-Ul-Jafri’s thoughtful lines, with Mausam being a collaboration between the two!

Papon gets a gorgeous Momin ghazal in Yaad that the singer relishes singing with his usual punch in the enunciation. Dhaagena Tinak Dhin is the odd one out in this soundtrack, but the refrain is catchy and the song’s lighter mood brings levity to the soundtrack’s otherwise heavy mood.

I had already written about Zamaana Lage in my June 1 Weeklies. But together, this is a brilliant comeback from Pritam after last year’s Merry Christmas, if you consider Sikandar, Dunki, Tiger 3, etc, as the missteps in between.

Tum Ho Toh, Humsafar – Saiyaara (Vishal Mishra, Sachet-Parampara) – Hindi: Very-Pritam styled music all through Saiyaara! Kalyan Baruah’s electric guitar rages through Humsafar in style offering a base for the song’s beautiful melody led by Sachet and Parampara. Tum Ho Toh is the best of the soundtrack’s 4 songs released so far (are there more?). Vishal not only composes the cohesive, dreamy melody well but also sings it really well, along with Hansika Pareek. A note on the film’s leads too – after a really long time, a debutant pair (Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda) look so very promising! I’m reminded of the time when Aashiqui (the original in 1990) was out and how promising Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal were!

Jab Tu Sajan, Dhuan Dhuan, Mila Tujhe, and Saare Jag Mein – Aap Jaisa Koi (Rochak Kohli, Justin Prabhakaran) – Hindi: When I first heard Dhuan Dhuan, I automatically presumed it to be by Justin considering Sony Music hasn’t listed the composer’s name against each song in its jukebox, quite stupidly. But what a surprise that it turned out to be by Rochak! Sanjith Hegde is reliably fantastic handling the flowing, interconnected lines in the song. Mohit Chauhan headlines the other song by Rochak, Jab Tu Sajan, a gently lilting melody in the singer’s familiar zone. Justin’s Mila Tujhe shines with the soft, waltz’y vocal rhythm that opens the song, and the immensely likeable singing by Vishal Mishra and Prateeksha Srivastava. But Justin’s best is Saare Jag Mein, a harmonious melody that comes together really well in Abhay Jodhpurkar and Aanandi Joshi’s singing. Did I hear traces of Hamirkalyani in the song?

Dil Thaam Ke – Maalik (Sachin-Jigar) – Hindi: Sachin and Jigar reuse the exact template of their super successful ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ from Stree 2 to produce a fairly enjoyable knock-off! Everything seems to fit the template – the techno-ghazal style, the vocal chorus that interjects after the antara… the choice of a leading star to dance… everything. Rashmeet Kaur does well, though clearly overshadowed by Madhubanti in Aaj Ki Raat.

Thullum Nenjam, Idi Mazhai, Our Kana + Reprise, Kaanalin Mele, Veezhvena + Reprise – 3BHK (Amrit Ramnath) – Tamil: Even for a lush melody like Thullum Nenjam that Shreya Ghoshal and Amrit Ramnath handle very beautifully, Amrit layers an energetic rhythm-like sound in the background complemented by a mridangam like percussion that plays faintly. These add to the song’s overall charm considerably. In comparison, Kaanalin Mele is decidedly more meditative, with Keba Jeremiah’s guitar leading the way, and Vivek’s lines soaking in the theme of longing expansively. Chinmayi Sripaada and Sooraj Santhosh do wonderfully here, though I do wonder how Amrit chose not to sing this one, considering it fits his vocal zone perfectly.

The gentle folk’ish touches of Oru Kana that Haricharan delivers aptly offers an interesting contrast in the reprise sung by Siddharth and Frizzell Dsouza with the entire song being turned into a Western pop song! Veezhvena is the Tamil cinema template song for inspirational growth but in Sri Ganesh’s (the film’s director!) lines and Amrit’s tastefully classy backgrounds, it sounds more credible, thanks also to Pradeep Kumar’s singing. Amrit’s reprise offers a different flavor with most of the layers peeled as if the song was bearing its soul this time. Idi Mazhai the musically odd one out in this soundtrack, but is captivating enough and offers a glimpse of Amrit’s versatality.

After the release of the first single, Kanavellam, I had high hopes from Amrit and this soundtrack, and boy does he deliver! Barring Idi Mazhai, the entire album is soaked in melody in the style that one would usually expect from a Govind Vasantha. But Amrit’s musical signature is very different from Govind’s.

Chikitu – Coolie (Anirudh) – Tamil: Expectedly catchy kuthu song from Anirudh that gains tremendously from T Rajhendherr and Arivu’s vocals in the background too as much as Anirudh’s lead.

Meendum Pirandheno – Love Marriage (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: Glad to see Sean using his 2020 single in this film. It’s a lovely melody that uses a Carnatic-classical base so very effectively with excellent singing by Lalitha Sudha and Sean himself.

Natchathira – Oho Enthan Baby (Jen Martin) – Tamil: Yet another variant of Roy’s ‘Sooraj Dooba Hain’ (Amaal Mallik, 2015), but Jen Martin makes it work with captivating vocals phrases led by ‘En Natchathirame’ and the interesting inserting of Mambalam Sivakumar’s Nadaswaram.

Bar Anthem, Minminiyae Rasaathi, What A Flow, and Monkey Moonji – Govind Vasantha (Good Day) – Tamil: How would it be if Thaikkudam Bridge composed a song to celebrate alcohol in Tamil kuthu style? Bar Anthem would be it 🙂 It’s a pulsating, heady sarakku-song with a steadily thrumming rhythm and the nadaswaram piercing through it at the right points. Minminiyae Rasaathi can easily be clubbed as belonging to Govind’s own 96 and Meiyyazhagan soundtracks. He’s clearly overdoing this sound, but for now, this one works, thanks largely to Pradeep Kumar’s expressive singing. But with What A Flow and Monkey Moonji, Govind tries something different, almost entering Prashant Pillai territory! Both songs are adequately funky to demand attention.

Jai Bagalaamukhii – Thammudu (B. Ajaneesh Loknath) – Telugu: Ajaneesh produces an encore to his highly-popular and highly-debated (in terms of its influences) Kantara chartbuster, Varaaha Roopam, with a similar pulsating, atmospheric sound for what is essentially a deeply devotional bhajan of sorts. Abby V lends his vocals this time and does a great job. The star of the song is Ajaneesh’s wonderfully imagined music that shines in the interludes, in particular.

Krishnudikentho – Solo Boy (Judah Sandhy) – Telugu: I have missed Judah’s music and even this soundtrack had two tepid songs (the title song and Padipoyane Sakhi) that had come out previously. But with Krishnudikentho, he salvages the soundtrack to a large extent. The way he leads the Krishnudikentho hook with a musical variant prior to landing it, the truly wonderful first interlude, and the entire anupallavi are great examples of Judah’s creativity.

Akasha Veedhilo – Kannappa (Mani Sharma) – Telugu: After the two songs that I had written about earlier from Kannappa’s soundtrack, I expected more from Stephen, but the overall soundtrack is less interesting. The only other song that worked for me was actually by Mani Sharma!! It’s throwback to a different melodic period, with flashes of Mani’s earlier work and even Vidyasagar’s musical style peeking here! More interestingly, the sweeping melody makes space for Malayalam lyrics too, besides employing Hesham Abdul Wahab (along with Sahithi Chaganti) as the lead singer.

Ee Rangula Lokam – Ugly Story (Sharavan Bharadwaj) – Telugu: Shravan builds on the song beautifully before landing the ‘Hey Hey Sonthame’ phrase, carefully adding layers in the background that fully culminates with the lovely rhythm that eventually takes over. Shakthisree Gopalan is an inspired choice for this melody – she does exceptionally well.

Marakaam Marakaam – Moonwalk (Prashant Pillai) – Malayalam: I recall writing about Moonwalk’s first single, Oh Kinakaalam, way back in 2021 and even adding the song to my 2021 annual list! But when the film released recently, I wasn’t that impressed with the rest of the songs. Perhaps they are better watched than heard, though the 80s dance-synth music did hold some charm in Prashant’s vibrant imagination. The one song that did stand out for me was the salsa-based Marakaam Marakaam. The vocal trio of Hanan Shah, Mridul Anil, and Preeti Pillai bring the song’s frothy flavor beautifully in the singing.

Memory Blues – Udumbanchola Vision (Gopi Sundar) – Malayalam: Gopi follows up his first single from the film (Holiday Vibes) with an equally likeable song though this has less of his own signature and sounded a lot like a Masala Coffee song. Some of the lines took me to Rahman’s Dil Se title song, interestingly. Not sure if there’s a raaga-based connection.

Ira – Thaikkudam Bridge (Indipop/Malayalam): Thaikkudam Bridge go abck to their Navarasam roots with a propulsive sound in Ira! The confluence of a soaring melody interrupted by electric guitar and Sachin Balu’s Veena offer a fantastic experience. The sung parts end with the word ‘Ira’ at the 49th second and from then on, it’s a musical confluence that soars and soars!

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