Music is the soul of Hindi films. Though, of late, the soul feels shattered as the multiple composers and lyricists tend to work on a project. To top it all, a film’s OST is never released at one go. Movie companies release songs one-by-one as part of a marketing strategy and as a result, only the massy tunes get their 15-seconds-of-fame. We’re also living in the era of remixes nowadays and that too has taken the joy out of listening to an album whose fresh songs complimented the theme of the film. On the occasion of the World Music Day, today, we bring you a list of ten of the best Bollywood soundtracks down the years. Have fun reliving your memories...Gully Boy (2019)
Music supervisor: Ankur Tewari
Gully Boy’s 18 track album boasted of around 54 collaborators, boasting of such diverse names as Divine, Naezy, Sez on the beat, Rishi Rich, Dub Sharma, Jasleen Royal, Ace, Ishq Bector, MC Altaf, MC TodFod, 100 RBH, Maharya, Noxious D, Viveick Rajagopalan among others. Train song composed by Midival Punditz, Karsh Kale, Raghu Dixit, written by Javed Akhtar, Karsh Kale, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj, and sung by Raghu Dixit and Karsh Kale was the find of the album. The lyrics talked about the vagaries of life. It was a non-hip-hop song but still managed to impress you with its honesty, its soulfulness. The obvious winners of the album, of course, were the rap songs. While Asli Hip Hop, written and composed by Spitfire and sung by Ranveer Singh and Mere gully mein, composed by Divine, Naezy and Sez on the Beat and sung by Ranveer Singh, Divine and Naezy stood out, Sher aaya sher, sung and composed by Divine and written by Chandrashekar Kunder and Azadi, sung, written and composed by Divine and Dub Sharma too got lapped up.
Udta Punjab (2016)
Lyrics: Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Shellee, Varun Grover
Udta Punjab was about the drug problem rampant in Punjab and the music and lyrics brought that out. Consider Chitta ve, for instance. Chitta is slang for heroin in Punjab and lyricist Shellee made sure you got the reference. Babu Haabi, Shahid Mallya and Bhanu Pratap provided the perfect vocals to the trance-like composition. Kanika Kapoor is known as an item song singer but with Da da dasse changed tracks and proved her versatility. Shahid Mallya did full justice to late Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s words in Ikk Kudi while the reprise version Diljit Dosanjh’s had a raw and edgy quality. Ud-Daa Punjab, sung by Amit Trivedi with rap by Vishal Dadlani was both a dance number and an anthem against the drug menace. Amit Trivedi excelled in the haunting Vaidya too, which described the world from a drug user’s perspective. All-in-all, Udta Punjab certainly was Amit Trivedi’s best offering in recent times.
Mirzya (2016)
Lyrics: Gulzar
The film might have bombed but it contained some truly great melodies. It's easily one of the best albums of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The film oscillates between the past and the present and so does the music. The legend of Mirza Sahiban has been one of the great tragic romances that have fired the imagination of folk poets and artistes throughout history and SEL have wisely chosen to take the folk route in their compositions. They have also given the singers the lead and have kept the music in the background in most songs, making you feel as if you’re listening to some folk artiste by a campfire in the night. Then, they have included some amazing vocal talent, including classical exponent Kaushiki Chakraborty, and folk singers like Saieen Zahhoor and Akhtar Channal from across the border, and our own Daler Mehndi, Nooran Sisters and Mame Khan, to name a few. The result is a refreshing album that’s both true to the spirit of the film and can be listened to on its own as well. Aave re hichki is the standout song of the album. Shankar Mahadevan and Mame Khan have sung the song and Mahadevan's vocals are out of this world. Doli re doli is a brilliant composition where Shankar Mahadevan goes from classical to jazz elements in his vocals. The jazz session, comprising trumpet by Victor Gracia, upright bass by Abhinav Khokhar, drums and cymbals by Kalyan Pathak adds another layer to this highly original composition. Kaaga has Kaushiki Chakraborty on the vocals and her harkats and sargams coupled with the song's symphony like orchestration take it to another level altogether. You don't want it to end.
Bombay Velvet (2015)
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
The music of Bombay Velvet offered a bold fresh take on the Indian jazz scene in the 50s and 60s, paying homage to one of its greatest exponents, Lorna Cordeiro. The film revolved around a nightclub and hence we are treated to a bouquet of 14 compositions, 15, actually, if you count Fifi, composed by Mikey McCleary. Amit allegedly worked for six years on the score and utilised the services of Prague based musicians and programmers to bring in the authentic jazz sounds. So the celli, trombones, violins, accordion, clarinet, saxophones, trumpets, not to mention the thumping brass section and the drums and percussion were played by master musicians and not put together on a synthesiser. It was a coming of age album for singer Neeti Mohan, who excelled in such tracks as Mohabbat buri bimari, Sylvia, Naak pe gussa and Dhadam dhadam, bringing out the pathos and pain of love with her spirited rendition. Shefali Alvarez is known for her jazz renditions and she owns Shut up, a song big on percussion, reminding you of the James Bond soundtracks of the ’70s. Shefali also brings out the right nuances in the philosophical Aam Hindustani, the opening song of the OST. The album won’t appeal to you on first listening. Give it time to grow on you and then you’ll appreciate what Amit Trivedi and his singers and musicians have achieved.
Bajirao Mastani (2015)
Lyrics: AM Turaz, Siddharth-Garima and Prashant Ingole
Director Bhansali came into his own as a composer with this magnum opus. Keeping in mind the period feel of the film, the songs were given a semiclassical treatment with elements of folk thrown in. Pinga, sung by Shreya and Vaishali Made turned out to be the mass favourite. Deewani mastani, by Shreya too, made waves. Arijit got a chance to showcase his technical finesse in Aayat, and it had a refreshing take on the classic Albela sajan bandish by Shashi Suman, Kunal Pandit, Prithvi Gandharva, Kanika Joshi, Geetikka Manjrekar and Rashi Ragga. It was the perfect album for a period film which grew on you with repeated hearing.
Highway (2014)
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
How do you compose music for a road movie? If you are AR Rahman, you pepper it with tunes that reflect the flavour of different regions that the movie travels through. So you have the folk strains from Himachal, Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan scrambling for your attention. Rahman has also infused a healthy dose of blues and jazz as also rap elements in the album. Lyricist Irshad Kamil’s imagery coupled with Rahman’s subtle touch takes you on an impressionistic voyage. Alia Bhatt made her singing debut with Sooha saaha. The words mean red rabbit. This is basically a lullaby and will make you long for your mother. Pakistani singer Zeb (of the Coke Studio fame) starts off the song in her earthy vocals. She sings the mother’s part and then Alia’s coltish voice then takes over. Patakha guddi, sung by Nooran sisters Sultana and Jyoti of the Sound Trippin fame grapples you with fierce intensity and refuses to let go. Sunidhi Chauhan sounds divine in the Kashmiri folk-inspired Tu kuja. Canadian singer Jonita Gandhi makes her mark with a soulful rendition of Kahaan hoon main. It reflects the inner journey of a young girl slowly blossoming into womanhood.
Raanjhanaa (2013)
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
This is more of an old school album, reminiscent of film music of another era. Pakistani singer Shiraz Uppal and our own Jaswinder Singh create a crescendo of melody in the title track of Raanjhanaa. The song carries all classic Rahman elements – superb orchestration combining elements of the milieu and story in the soundtrack. Banarasiya, carries the flavour of Banaras in its rhythm and is sung superbly by Shreya Ghoshal, Anwesha Datta Gupta and Meenal Jain. Piya milenge, inspired by Meerabai’s famous bhajan, Ghunghat ke pat khol takes you to spiritual heights. Rahman has always done experimental stuff with Sufi compositions and here too the use of KMMC Sufi Ensemble along with ever-reliable Sukhwinder Singh to create a mini-masterpiece. Ay sakhi, sung by Madhushree, Chinmayi, Vaishali and Aanchal Sethi is almost an A cappella composition, what with the singers bringing to life the instruments too with their voices
Gangs Of Wasseypur (Part 1 and 2) (2012)
Lyrics: Piyush Mishra and Varun Grover
The album used non-conventional tunes and singers and the songs stood out as a character in the film. For instance, Jiya tu was sung by Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari, Hunter, with its Caribbean flavouring was essayed by Vedesh Sookoo, Rajneesh, Shaymoo and Munna, all 'Chutney Music' singers (Chutney music is folk sung by Biharis settled in the Caribbean. The mass appeal of songs such as Womaniya, Hunter, Keh ke lunga went a long way towards increasing the popularity of the film. Overall, it was one of the funkiest, imaginative and original albums of the decade. We want to know why Sneha hasn’t been getting the kind of work she deserves?
Barfi! (2012)
Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire, Ashish Pandit, Neelesh Misra and Sayeed Quadri
Pritam scored big with the unconventional Barfi! He broke away from the shackles of giving a commercial hit and made music which was straight from the heart. Songs like Ala barfi sung by Mohit Chauhan, Phir le aaya dil by Arijit Singh and Kyon by Papon and Sunidhi Chauhan and Aashiyan by Shreya Ghoshal and Nikhil Paul George all had an old world charm reminiscent of RD Burman and Salil Chowdhary. It’s easily Pritam’s most melodious album. How we wish he made more music on the lines of Barfi!
Rockstar! (2011)
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
The album combined two schools of thoughts -- that of Sufism and old school rock. It has perhaps the best guitar work in recent times. You listen to the album and it sounds so fresh even after all these years. The takeaway piece is the qawwali Kun faya kun, sung by Rahman, Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan. Mohit has been otherwise retained as the voice of Jordan (Ranbir Kapoor). He’s excellent in the anti-establishment anthem, Sadda haq, and proves his versatility in Jo bhi main, which is a moody ballad on the fickle nature of words. Aur ho is quite melancholic and haunting whereas Kateya karun is an imaginative reworking of traditional Punjabi folk melody sung beautifully by Harshdeep Kaur. The three instrumentals, Dichotomy of Fame, Tango for Taj and The Meeting Place are the veritable cherry on this multi-layered cake.
Honourable mentions
Tanu Weds Manu (2011)
Music: Krsna
Lyrics: Rajshekhar
Jagga Jasoos (2017)
Music: Pritam
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya, Neelesh Mishra
Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017)
Music: Pritam
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Haider (2014)
Music: Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics: Gulzar, Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Manmarziyaan (2018)
Music: Ami Trivedi
Lyrics: Shellee
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