Milliblog Weeklies, Week 276 – June 1, 2025 – Milliblog!

Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly, new music playlist.
Week 276: YouTube | Spotify

Zamaana Lage – Metro…In Dino (Pritam) – Hindi: Very, very Pritam, and a fitting start to the Metro sequel. Arijit Singh and Shashwat Singh power this ghazal beautifully even as Qaisar Ul Jafri’s poignant lines stand out incredibly as well. Consider, “Tu iss tarah se mеre saath bewafayi kar… Ki terе baad mujhe koi bewafa na lage”!

Muththa Mazhai – Thug Life (A R Rahman, ft. Chinmayi) – Tamil: While Chinmayi has sung the non-Tamil versions of this song in the soundtrack, Dhee sang it in Tamil. In a quirky twist of fate, since Dhee wasn’t available for the audio launch, Chinmayi sang the Tamil version on stage and the internet seems to have rediscovered Chinmayi all over again, despite having a stupendous body of work already. Chinmayi’s vocal expressions add a completely new dimension to the song’s sensuality, where Dhee’s, strictly in comparison, seemed tame and regimental even though her voice in itself is a marvel. I hope the music label considers releasing this version too on streaming platforms, beyond YouTube.

Sri-Kala-Hasti – Kannappa (Stephen Devassy) – Telugu: Stephen produces a track with echoes of M M Keeravani’s musical style, but the song’s charm entirely lies in the two young singers, Ariaana Manchu & Viviana Manchu, Vishnu Manchu’s daughters.

Kankonile – Mr & Mrs Bachelor (PS Jayhari) – Malayalam: While I haven’t particularly liked any of the songs released from this film so far, Jayhari scores confidently in this song! The serene opening paves way to a punchy rhythm change mid-way, and both the singers Arvind Venugopal and Meenakshi ML, handle both parts really well, with a captivating nadaswaram by Abhijith M too thrown in.

The album opener, a bandish titled Saade Naal, is a flamboyant showcase of what to expect, with a gorgeous Bhimpalasi tune sung with soul by Aniket Chaturvedi. The bluesy arrangements perfectly sync with the Hindustani classical soundscape even as Shrikant Biswakarma’s electric guitar screams through the outro, producing an eclectic mix. Of the two solos by singer Saptak Chatterjee, while Gavati makes a lovely listen with a particularly captivating first interlude after a neat flute phrase, it was Raas Rachat that blew me away completely! Anyone with some familiarity of singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam’s compositions would immediately recall his memorable Tamil film song based on Pilu raaga, ‘VaNNam Konda VeNNilave’ from the film Sigaram (1991) as Raas Rachat opens! There’s a superb electric guitar stretch in this song too. The two duets featuring Kavya Singh—Mausam and Naseeba—are soothing, Mausam, in particular, where she sings with Divyam Sodhi, with a warm bluesy undercurrent. Saptak Chatterjee opens Naseeba before handing it over to Kavya.

Aastha Mandle features in three songs, and her solo, Nirbhay Nirgun plays like a harmonious prayer backed by a very effective vocal chorus. She also reprises Baajo Re from the band’s previous album ‘Homecoming’ along with Prateek Narsimha – a highly listenable exposition of Shudh Kalyan raaga. Her duet with Saptak Chatterjee, Kuchh Doori, is my favorite in the album, though. It’s also the song that stands out of the rest of the album with a Pritam’ish film sound! But the song pivots beautifully to the album’s predominant semi-classical sound in the antaras, linked by the evocative line by Aastha herself, “Kuchh Doori Tay Karli, Kuchh Doori Baaki”. The guitars that immediately play that line bring back the Pritam sound!

Saraswati is an outstanding, brisk exploration, in Sowmya Gurucharan’s phenomenal singing, of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar’s Saraswati raaga composition by also opening it with the anupallavi instead of the usual. The bandish Dekho Sakhi flows seamlessly with its confluence of Tilak Kamod raaga in Prateek Narsimha’s consummate vocals. The monsoon song, Rut Saawan Ki comes alive with its Shankara raaga base, sung harmoniously by Suhavi Kalsi and Basudhara Roy Munshi, with excellent Sarod in the background by Rohit Prasanna. Kabir’s Saadho, sung by Pavithra Chari, set to Bhairavi raaga closes the album in style, evoking wonderful memories of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, also set to the same raaga.

Sabr is a superlative album through and through. The kind and range of music here is extraordinary, the fusion is thoughtful and top notch, while the singing is impeccably wonderful.

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