Thursday, July 22, 2010

Top 10 Hindi Bollywood Songs of 2010

Halfway through the year, we have already enjoyed lots of great music from Bollywood. And we thought, why wait until December to pick our faves? So here’s a list of songs that we loved. Listen, sing along, and enjoy!

‘By The Way’ from ‘Aisha’
The music of ‘Aisha’ comes from Amit ‘Dev D’ Trivedi, and ‘By The Way’ has just the kind of energy we’ve come to expect from his work. Then there’s Anushka Manchanda, who brings her own special brand of bindaas attitude to the number. Makes you want to swing along ‘hawa ke jhonke se’, just like in the song. Javed Akhtar scores again with lyrics that combine the most breezily beautiful words from Hindi and English.

‘Pee Loon’ from ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai’
Mohit Chauhan’s voice suits this ballad composed by Pritam perfectly. There’s a touch of the mystic about the song, thanks to the Sufi influence. And the chorus truly makes the number stand out. It’s perfect romantic serenading material.

‘Bin Tere’ from ‘I Hate Luv Storys’
‘IHLS’ had its thumbs up and thumbs down moments, but this song was firmly in the former category. Shafqat Amanat Ali’s soulful voice adds tremendous depth to what is basically a very simple song. It’s not a typical Vishal Shekhar number either, and we like the touch of bringing in Sunidhi Chauhan as the song ends

‘Beera’ from ‘Raavan’
If only Abhishek Bachchan’s performance in this movie had as much depth as this song! 'Beera' describes Abhishek's character in the movie and the number has such amazing rhythm (plus those drums) that you want to start singing along immediately. This was the song that stood out for us from A R Rahman’s score for ‘Raavan’. Sung by Vijay Prakash, Mustafa Kutoane and Keerthi Sagathia, 'Beera' is elevated even further by Gulzar’s lyrics. ‘Beera ke dus maathe, Beera ke sau naam’…now that’s describing the complexity of the man alright!

'Mora piya' from Raajneeti
Music director Wayne Sharp brought a lovely Indian classical touch to the album and the movie with this song. And we get to hear an in-form Aadesh Shrivastava again. The number also had the effect of humanising the tough characters in ‘Raajneeti’, which made it all the more appreciable.

‘Ayaashi’ from ‘Badmaash Company’
Music director Pritam was back with this livewire number that perfectly conveyed the mindset of the get-rich-quick group in the movie. We loved how K K brought that sense of having a blast with old friends and newly acquired money. Very catchy, very peppy, chartbuster stuff.

'Dil kyun yeh mera' from ‘Kites’
K K again, this time in a slow romantic number which has a bit of an edge too. Rajesh Roshan’s music gets soaring in this number, and shows the connection between two people who don’t share a language but are beginning to fall in love. The song worked, even if the movie didn’t.

‘Uff Teri Ada’ from ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’
It was time for romance with this Shankar Ehsaan Loy number that was perfect easy listening. With Shankar and Alyssa Mendonsa singing, it was also the kind of tune that’ll make you want to get up and dance. And remind you how well-matched the voices are to the characters who’re singing them in the movie. Shankar’s intense-but-not-showing-off voice with Alyssa’s vibrant one…great jodi!

‘Tere Naina’ from ‘My Name Is Khan’
Quietly but surely, this song made its place on our list of faves. Shafqat Amanat Ali gets the tone just right for this Shankar Ehsaan Loy composition, and it’s a smooth transition even when the song moves to qawwali mode as it progresses. Niranjan Iyengar’s subtly passionate lyrics add to the effect.

‘Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji’ from ‘ Ishqiya’
There’s just one word for this song – Amazing! You can trust the fantastic Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to spot every musical and lyrical nuance, and add his special touch to it. Just listen to the way he brings in a mischievous element while singing ‘Thoda kachcha hai ji’. Vishal Bharadwaj’s music soothes and takes you back to the past with fantastic support from Gulzar's lyrics.