Milliblog Weeklies, Week 272 – April 13, 2025 – Milliblog!

Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 272: YouTube | Spotify

Jaadu – Jewel Thief (OAFF & Savera) – Hindi: This is every bit a sound I expect from OAFF & Savera and I have a nagging feeling that they are overdoing it. But, for now, it sounds great, with a bouncy rhythm and a mildly retro/disco vibe.

Oh Rama Shri Rama – Jaat (Thaman S) – Hindi: Thaman brings his brand of punchy, punding rhythm to Hindi and that too to what is actually a devotional song on Lord Rama! It works well in the chorus’ish, rousing way it is supposed to.

AK The Tiger – Good Bad Ugly (G.V. Prakash Kumar) – Tamil: The one song that worked for me in the film (that went severely overboard using older songs in so many places!) is this frenetic, wild song sung with perfectly exuberance by Malayasian Tamil singer Darkkey Nagaraja. He features in the song too, for those who have seen the film, dancing wildly inside a proson transport van! This is a thoroughly corny song, but composed and sung with superb energy taking all that corniness perfectly seriously.

The One – Retro (Santhosh Narayanan) – Tamil: Impressively mounted, ambitious song by Santhosh, something like Kanda Vara Sollunga from Karnan, but bigger in terms of sound and scope (there’s a Karnan reference in the lyrics too, by Vivek, incidentally). Sid Sriram is the beating heart of the song while Santosh joins him and Shan Vincent de Paul (SVDP) handles the rap. The chorus, by The Indian Choral Ensemble, is scintillating.

Muchataga Bandhaale – Arjun Son Of Vyjayanthi (B Ajaneesh Loknath) – Telugu: It’s telling that the song is titled ‘Muchataga Bandhaale’ and not ‘Sandram Lo Keratam La’, that actually opens this song! Ajaneesh conjures a pulsating song even when the actual situation seems to demand what we conventionally call a ‘mother sentiment’ melody! It’s punchy rhythm that keeps this song in great stead, making it enjoyable, along with Haricharan’s singing, of course.

Darisanamey – Nari Nari Naduma Murari (Vishal Chandrashekhar) – Telugu: Vishal makes excellent use of Mehtab Ali Niazi’s sitar for the interludes in the otherwise guitar-layered melody. Yazin Nizar (who features in the video along with Vishal) does a terrific job too in the tune that seemed like a riff of Karaharapriya raaga.

Iru Kanulu Kanulu – Shashtipoorthi (Ilayaraja) – Telugu: Delightfully serene melody by Ilayaraja. While enjoying the song, I started humming a couple of Raja songs that seemed similar… and wondered if this song is based on Pahadi raaga that the maestro has used to stupendous effect for quite a few songs (including Nadu Samathile from Thirumathi Palanisamy, and of course, the cult classic, Indha Maan, from Karakaattakkaaran). S. P. Charan sounds so much like this father, of course, and is so very good!

Kannamma – Beauty (Vijay Bulganin) – Telugu: A gorgeous, expansive melody that gets better as it progresses! The singing by both Adithya RK and Lakshmi Meghana is outstanding. The tune Vijay concocts in the anupallavi is even more interesting and unique than the pallavi, particularly the ‘Mohamata mantha’ line that goes in an unusual direction!

Rama Raama – Vishwambhara (M.M.Keeravani) – Telugu: The second devotional song on Lord Rama this week, after Jaat’s song above. But observe the difference in tonality between both songs. Both are primarily catchy masala songs with devotional lyrics, but while Thaman aims for a pulse-pounding dance sound Keeravani keeps the melodic soul intact, handled beautifully by Shankar Mahadevan.

Chillu Nee – Maranamass (JK) – Malayalam: Having been underwhelmed by the songs from Maranamass that have been released so far (three, if I’m right), I wasn’t expecting to like this one either. But what a surprise! The one song that doesn’t toe the film’s wild, whimsical tone is the one that worked for me! This is a mellow song, almost like something composed by Hindi composer Mithoon in Malayalam! The chorus is excellent and is actually better than the lead vocals by Rakhooo and Vishnu Das.

Preethi Pajeethi – Congratulations Brother (Dhruv) – Kannada: Veyr catchy tune by Dhruv that sounds like a Pakistani pop sung in Kannada with mridangam in the background! Dhruv sings is very well too.

Malachandan – Aamar Boss (Anupam Roy) – Bengali: After a really long time, I actually liked a new song by Anupam Roy, after having fully given up on his style of music. No, Malachandan doesn’t move away from his signature style too much, but he still well enough in his zone with a very likeable melody!

Apashampakirikiri – Vedala Hemchandra (Telugu/Indipop): A completely wacky song that mixes 1980s Ilayaraja’ish melodic phrases with a cornucopia of more updated, modern sounds and voices. Somehow Hemachandra holds the bizarre tune together both in terms of the composition and in terms of his singing.

Nizhal – Job Kurian (Malayalam/Indipop): Splendid singing by Job, as always, with a deeply engaging melody to go with it. The choral ensemble does a lovely job, adding terrific value to the song.

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