Another year-end, another roundup. 15th edition of this activity that has now become a Christmas tradition for me. 😀 This year, I put a bit more effort than usual, partly to make up a bit for the sparsity of posts through the year (apologies about that – I was more focussed on instagram content during the little spare time I had). Which, in case you aren’t following, is musicaloud.gram), but mainly because some of the year’s best music happened in the web series space so I felt it deserved its own category. As a result, this time there are nine lists (10 playlists, including the consolidated one), the most I have ever featured in my roundups. The rest of the drill remains the same – I continue with the top 30 format like I did last year, except with web series, Kannada, Marathi and Coke Studio which are shorter. The naming convention also remains “Song title (Movie/series title) – Music Director(s)|Lyricist(s)|Singer(s)” for most categories. The lists have been arranged in decreasing order of number of songs.
And for those who can’t be arsed to go through the entire post but wish to check out the songs nevertheless, here is a consolidated list on all three platforms for you to enjoy on shuffle! YouTube is the only one that contains all 222 songs. Spotify is 1 track short, and Apple Music 2.
All in One Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
The artwork this time comes from the awesomely creative @athulct so thanks a bunch to him for these!
Happy listening, and wish you all a wonderful 2024!
Bollywood
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
With Bollywood it was pretty much the same story as recent years – the occasional good songs but an entire album being great was a rare occurrence. A lot of my favourites from the year happened in the final quarter, courtesy primarily of messrs Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa who delivered some terrific music in their three projects (Dono, The Archies, Sam Bahadur). Among the rest, Pritam produced some entertaining music across his three big ticket projects, although by his own standards the albums were a bit underwhelming, especially Dunki. The hitherto infallible combo of Amit Trivedi and Anurag Kashyap finally faltered in Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat – Trivedi did however score a belter in Jubilee, which appears later in this post under web series. The hiphop trend that peaked post Gully Boy seems to have died down a bit, but what did make a comeback this year was long soundtracks – there were a fair few of them.
1 Itni Si Baat (Sam Bahadur) – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy|Gulzar|Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam
2 In Raahon Mein (The Archies) – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy|Javed Akhtar|Arijit Singh
3 Show Me The Thumka (Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Sunidhi Chauhan, Shashwat Singh
4 Duniya (Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat) – Amit Trivedi|Shellee|Abhay Jodhpurkar
5 Chaleya (Jawan) – Anirudh Ravichander|Kumaar|Arijit Singh, Shilpa Rao
6 Kudmayi (Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Sachet Tandon
7 Raangla (Dono) – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy|Irshad Kamil|Shankar Mahadevan, Pratibha Singh Baghel
8 Nouka Doobi (Lost) – Shantanu Moitra|Swanand Kirkire|Shreya Ghoshal
9 Main Parwaana (Pippa) – A R Rahman|Shellee|Arijit Singh
10 Pehle Bhi Main (Animal) – Vishal Mishra|Raj Shekhar|Vishal Mishra
11 Yeh Nazar (I Love You) – Shor Police|Hussain Haidry|Adnan Sami
12 Phir Aur Kya Chahiye (Zara Hatke Zara Bachke) – Sachin-Jigar|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Arijit Singh
13 Plum Pudding (The Archies) – Ankur Tewari, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy|Shibani Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar|Ankur Tewari, Shibani Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar
14 Phir Se Aaj (Mast Mein Rehne Ka) – Anurag Saikia|Vijay Maurya|Mohan Kannan
15 Hori Mein (Gulmohar) – Siddhartha Khosla, Alan Demoss|Shellee|Kavita Seth
16 What Jhumka? (Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Arijit Singh, Jonita Gandhi
17 Tanhai (Khufiya) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Gulzar|Sunidhi Chauhan/Kiran+Nivi
18 Chal Ve Watna (Dunki) – Pritam|Varun Grover|Javed Ali
19 I Wanna See You Dance (Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan) – Sachin-Jigar|Ankur Tewari|Saba Azad
20 Tu Jo Hai (Kadak Singh) – Shantanu Moitra|Tanveer Ghazi Shreya Ghoshal
21 Khoya Tu Kahaan (Blind) – Shor Police|Shloke Lal|Vishal Dadlani
22 Nikar Chalo Re (Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery) – Ram Sampath|Ashok Mishra|Sona Mohapatra
23 Jamal Kudu (Animal) – Traditional Iranian Bandari music reinterpreted by Harshavardhan Rameshwar
24 Tere Pyaar Mein (Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar) – Pritam|Amitabh Bhattacharya|Arijit Singh, Nikhita Gandhi
25 Dil Dariya (Shiv Shastri Balboa) – Alokananda Dasgupta|Rajeshwari Dasgupta Ghose|Nayantara Bhatkal
26 Khamma Ghani (Dono) – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy|Irshad Kamil|Shreya Ghoshal, Shivam Mahadevan
27 Asymmetrical (The Archies) – Aditi “Dot” Saigal|Aditi “Dot” Saigal|Aditi “Dot” Saigal, Tejas
28 Kabhi Kabhi Zindagi (Mast Mein Rehne Ka) – Shailendra Barve|Vijay Maurya|Vijay Prakash
29 Dhak Dhak (Dhak Dhak) – Rishi Dutta|Baba Bulleh Shah, Kundan Vidyarthi|Sunidhi Chauhan, Jatinder Singh
30 Jaan Da (Tejas) – Shashwat Sachdev|Kumaar|Shreya Ghoshal
Malayalam
Vishnu Vijay created some brilliantly groovy tunes in Thallumaala last year. His follow-up this year in Sulaikha Manzil felt a bit too derivative of the former, being based in similar genres etc. Instead we had Sushin Shyam producing a banger with Romaancham – this one was more electronic and hiphop than folk-based, but extremely effective all the same. The year belonged to Govind Vasantha though, the composer was very busy in the industry (and in Tamil as well) and delivered with terrific consistency! Sam CS was another composer who made his presence felt prominently across Malayalam and Tamil. At this point I need to mention an album that I have excluded from the ranking, because the songs were all recreations. I refer to Bijibal and Rex Vijayan’s work in Neelavelicham which I absolutely loved. There was very little chance that fans of the original classic were going to view this album sans a comparison with the original, but I felt that what the composers did here was really respectful of Baburaj’s work, and they got the singer choices pretty spot on as well. So a hat tip to them for the work. Folk influence in Malayalam film music continued unabated this year as well. In fact composers ventured into new territories within the genre this time; there was a Maappila Ramayanam adaptatation (Laama Laama – Bhagavan Dasante Ramarajyam) and a song that seemed to draw inspiration from Thullal Paattu (Pandaaradangaan – Adi) among others. There was also a posthumous album release – Section 306 IPC composed by Kaithapram Vishwanathan; tomorrow is his second death anniversary.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Aadharaanjali (Romaancham) – Sushin Shyam|Vinayak Sasikumar|Sushin Shyam, Madhuvanti Narayanan
2 Snehadweepile (Little Miss Rawther) – Govind Vasantha|Anwar Ali|Pradeep Kumar, Chinmayi
3 Neela Nilave (RDX) – Sam CS|Manu Manjith|Kapil Kapilan/Shweta Mohan
4 Haalaake Maarunne (Sulaikha Manzil) – Vishnu Vijay|Mu.Ri|Ahi Ajayan, Pushpavathy
5 Puthuthaayorith (Iratta) – Jakes Bejoy|Mu.Ri|Shahabaz Aman
6 Thone Mohangal (Adi) – Govind Vasantha|Sharfu|Govind Vasantha, Haniya Nafisa
7 Paalmanam (Christy) – Govind Vasantha|Vinayak Sasikumar|Kapil Kapilan, Keerthana Vaidyanathan
8 Laama Laama (Bhagavan Dasante Ramarajyam) – Vishnu Sivasankar|Ganesh Malayath|Sooraj Santhosh
9 Premakkathu Paattu (Kadina Kadoramee Andakadaham) – Govind Vasantha|Mu.Ri|Fathima Jahaan
10 Thathana Thathana (Madhura Manohara Moham) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|BK Harinarayanan|Chithra, Bhadra Rajin, Aavani Malhar
11 En Kaadal Nadiye (Otta) – M Jayachandran|Vairamuthu|Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal
12 Thalatherichavar (Romaancham) – Sushin Shyam|Vinayak Sasikumar|Zia Ul Haq, MC Couper
13 Karimizhi Niraye (Janaki Jaane) – Kailas|Manu Manjith|K S Harishanker, Sithara Krishnakumar
14 Thinkal Poovin (Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum) – Justin Prabhakaran|Manu Manjith, Raj Shekhar|Anne Amie
15 Sathiyunarunnu (Section 306 IPC) Kaithapram Vishwanathan|Kaithapram| P Jayachandran, Indulekha Warrier
16 Ennile Iruntha (Vela) – Sam CS|Sam CS|Maalavika Sundar
17 Ra Ra Rajasika (Little Miss Rawther) – Govind Vasantha|Titto P Thankachen|Sithara Krishnakumar
18 Aanandam (B 32 Muthal 44 Vare) – Sudeep Palanad|Shruthi Sharanyam|Sudeep Palanad, Bhadra Rajin, Sreedevi Thekkedath
19 Aalumee Naalam (Theru) – Neha Nair-Yakzan Pereira|Hareesh Mohanan|Sangeeth
20 Aakasha Paalazhiyil (Lovefully Yours Veda) – Rahul Raj|Rathi Sivaraman|Shweta Mohan
21 Arikeyonnu Kandoru Neram (Vellari Pattanam) – Sachin Shankar Mannoth|Vinayak Sasikumar|Nithya Mammen, K S Harishanker
22 Kadalu Theendum (Poovan) – Midhun Mukundan|Suhail Koya|Midhun Mukundan
23 Aathmaave Po (Romaancham) – Sushin Shyam|Vinayak Sasikumar|Sushin Shyam
24 Oro Shwaasavum (Christy) – Govind Vasantha|Anwar Ali|Govind Vasantha
25 La Koodaaram (Ntikkakkakkoru Premandaarnnu) – Paul Mathews|Vinayak Sasikumar|Paul Mathews
26 Nizhale Nee (Ennaalum Ente Aliya) – William Francis|Swathi Das|Narayani Gopan
27 Ellaarum (Khali Purse of Billionaires) – Prakash Alex|Anil Lal|Vidhyadharan Master, Sujatha
28 Kaathal Marangal (Pranaya Vilasam) – Shaan Rahman|Suhail Koya|Sreejish Subramanian, Nanda J Devan
29 Kalaapakkaara (King of Kotha) – Jakes Bejoy|Joe Paul|Shreya Ghoshal,Benny Dayal, Jakes Bejoy
30 Naalppathu Kazhiye (Pazhanjan Pranayam) – Satish Raghunathan|BK Harinarayanan|Vaikom Vijayalakshmi
Tamil
Tamil had the best year among the industries I tracked this time, particularly with the veteran Ilaiyaraja rolling back the years and creating some spectacular songs across multiple albums. His best work, Modern Love Chennai, will appear under web series of course, but he had more than enough quality elsewhere to make a prominent presence even in this list. Close on his heels was the other industry veteran, A R Rahman. Among the rest, my favourite was Sean Roldan, although some of his work came in web series and the debut edition of Coke Studio Tamil. Anirudh had two more big projects this year (apart from the Hindi one), I really wish he takes on something smaller for a change, there’s just too much of the same things in these kind of movies. And another wish directed towards the industry in general – please let the playback singers sing all your songs, that is what they are there for.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Veera Raaja Veera (Ponniyin Selvan 2) – Traditional Dagarvani Dhrupad/A.R.Rahman|Ilango Krishnan|Shankar Mahadevan, Chithra, Harini
2 Annai Thanthai (Are You Ok Baby?) – Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja|Shweta Mohan
3 Arutperunjothi (Viduthalai Part 1) – Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja
4 Nenjame Nenjame (Maamannan) – A R Rahman|Yugabharathi|Shaktisree Gopalan|Vijay Yesudas
5 Kangal Edho (Chithha) – Dhibu Ninan Thomas|Yugabharathi|Pradeep Kumar, Karthika Vaidyanathan
6 Imaithidathe (Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir) – Nivas K Prasanna|Mohan Rajan|Malvi Sundaresan
7 Vaa Vaathi (Vaathi) – GV Prakash Kumar|Poetu Dhanush|Shweta Mohan
8 Anbenum (Leo) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vishnu Edavan|Anirudh, Lothika
9 Pa Pappa (Kondraal Paavam) – Sam CS|Kabilan|Chinmayi
10 Yaavum Yaavumey (Tamilarasan) – Ilaiyaraaja|ARP. Jayaraam|VV Prasanna, Vibhavari Apte Joshi
11 Raasa Kannu (Maamannan) – A R Rahman|Yugabharathi|Vadivelu
12 Rathamaarey (Jailer) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vignesh Shivan|Vishal Mishra
13 Yedhudhaan Inga (Lucky Man) – Sean Roldan|Balaji Venugopal|Sanjay Subrahmanyan
14 Ulagai Vella Pogiraai (Annapoorani) – Thaman|Vivek|Harini
15 Oyyaram (Jigarthanda DoubleX) – Santhosh Narayanan|Vivek|Meenakshi Elayaraja, Meenakshi Santhosh, Aditya Ravindran, Santhosh Narayanan
16 Nira (Takkar) – Nivas K Prasanna|Ku Karthik|Sid Sriram, Malvi Sundaresan, Gautham Vasudev Menon
17 Malarthan Vizhundhadhu (Aneethi) – GV Prakash Kumar|Karthik Netha|Ravi G, Hesham Abdul Wahab
18 Athana Per Mathiyila (Raavana Kottam) – Justin Prabhakaran|Karthik Netha|Yazin Nizar, Vandana Srinivasan
19 Chinnanjiru Nilave Marumurai (Ponniyin Selvan 2) – A R Rahman|Ilango Krishnan|Khatija Rahman
20 Kaattumalli (Viduthalai Part 1) – Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja, Ananya Bhat
21 Badass (Leo) – Anirudh Ravichander|Vishnu Edavan|Anirudh
22 Nee Singam Dhaan (Pathu Thala) – A R Rahman|Vivek|Sid Sriram
23 Jimikki Ponnu (Varisu) – Thaman|Vivek|Anirudh, Jonita Gandhi
24 Vaan Megam (Vasantha Mullai) – Rajesh Murugesan|Vivek|Shaktisree Gopalan, Vijay Yesudas
25 Seemakaariye (Saba Nayagan) – Leon James|Karthik Netha|Sanjith Hegde
26 Po (Good Night) – Sean Roldan|Mohan Rajan|Sean Roldan
27 Swagathaanjali (Chandramukhi 2) – M M Keeravani|Chaitanya Prasad|Sreenidhi Tirumala
28 Aathma Nesar (Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir) – Nivas K Prasanna|Mohan Rajan|Malvi Sundaresan
29 Un Idhazhgalinaal (Margazhi Thingal) – Ilaiyaraaja|Ilaiyaraaja|Ananya Bhat
30 En Vaazhvin Thoorigai (Raid) – Sam CS|Mohan Rajan|Maalavika Sundar
Telugu
After bagging his biggest break as a composer with the Malayalam movie Hridayam last year, Hesham Abdul Wahab turned his sights to Telugu in 2023, and was easily the industry’s composer of the year with the music he produced, even if some of them carried shades of his work in Hridayam. It wasn’t just Hesham who came to Telugu this year from Malayalam, the Side A-Side B release format that Hridayam brought back last year got picked up here too (and in Kannada, but more on that later) with the movie Keedaa Cola, which had music by one of my industry favourites, Vivek Sagar. Sagar sadly didn’t have anything else this year, nor did another favourite, Vishal Chandrashekhar. Multiple other composers made their presence felt with the one or two soundtracks they did, however – Ilaiyaraja again, Vijai Bulganin, Mani Sharma, Santhosh Narayanan and Gopi Sunder to name a few.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Na Roja Nuvve (Kushi) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Shiva Nirvana|Hesham Abdul Wahab
2 Madhura Gathamaa (Shaakuntalam) – Mani Sharma|Sri Mani|Armaan Malik, Shreya Ghoshal
3 Pattana O Pattu (Keedaa Cola) – Vivek Sagar|Bharadwaj Gali|Sri Krishna, Malavika
4 Samayama (Hi Nanna) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Anantha Sriram|Anurag Kulkarni, Sithara Krishnakumar
5 Nannu Nannu Ga (Ranga Maarthaanda) – Ilaiyaraaja|Sirivennela Sitaramasastri|Gayatri (Ranjani-Gayatri)
6 Deva Raaja (Baby) – Vijai Bulganin|Kalyan Chakravarthi Tripuraneni|Arya Dhayal
7 Sooreede (Salaar) – Ravi Basrur|Krishna Kanth|Harini Ivaturi
8 Yevarini Yevaritho (Das Ka Dhamki) – Leon James|Purnachary|Haricharan
9 Chamkeela Angeelesi (Dasara) – Santhosh Narayanan|Kasarla Shyam|Dhee
10 Evo Saraagaalu (Music School) – Ilaiyaraaja|Rehman|Javed Ali, Shreya Ghoshal
11 Hatatthuga (Manu Charitra) – Gopi Sunder|Sira Sri|LV Revanth
12 Kalallo (Virupaksha) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Anantha Sriram|Anurag Kulkarni, Madhushree
13 Dooke Chinuka (Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty) – Radhan|Anantha Sriram|Abby V
14 Naa Tholi (Month of Madhu) – Achu Rajamani|Krishna Kanth|Haricharan, Aditi Bhavaraju
15 Mass Mogudu (Veera Simha Reddy) – Thaman|Ramajogayya Shastry|Ramya Behara, Mano
16 Sita Kalyanam (Anni Manchi Sakanamule) – Mickey J Meyer|Chaitra Ambadipudi, Kaala Bhairava
17 Ammaadi (Hi Nanna) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Krishna Kanth|Shakthisree Gopalan
18 Timeless Love (Custody) – Ilaiyaraaja|Ramajogayya Shastry|Kapil Kapilan
19 Rushivanamlona (Shaakuntalam) – Mani Sharma|Sri Mani|Sid Sriram, Chinmayi
20 Yema Andham (Spark) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Anantha Sriram|Sid Sriram
21 Yedhaki Oka Gaayam (Kushi) – Hesham Abdul Wahab|Shiva Nirvana|Hesham Abdul Wahab, Divya S Menon
22 Ammadi Gummadi (Butta Bomma) – Sweekar Agasthi|Kasarla Shyam|Anurag Kulkarni, Nutana Mohan
23 Premisthunna (Baby) – Vijai Bulganin|Suresh Banisetti|P V N S Rohit
24 Okkasaari Putti (Bro) – Thaman|Kasarla Shyam|Ravi G
25 Ichesukuntale (Tiger Nageswara Rao) – GV Prakash Kumar|Bhaskarabhatia|Sinduri Vishal
26 Dipiri Dipiri (Keedaa Cola) – Vivek Sagar|Bharadwaj Gali|Hanuman
27 O Dollar Pillaga (Das Ka Dhamki) – Leon James|Purnachary|Deepak Blue, Mangli
28 Holare Hola (Samajavaragamana) – Gopi Sunder|Sri Mani|J V Sudhanshu, Sony Komanduri
29 Sridevi Chiranjeevi (Waltair Veerayya) – Devi Sri Prasad|Devi Sri Prasad|Jaspreet Jasz, Sameera Bharadwaj
30 Gandarabai (Skanda) – Thaman|Anantha Sriram|Nakash Aziz, Soujanya Bhagavathula
Indian Indie/Pop
As usual, my picks from whatever indie/indipop songs I managed to catch this year. The Coke Studio ones are in a separate category, and I might end up creating a more extensive list for Kappa TV’s Music Mojo at some point since they have once again been producing quality music after a long gap – for now I have just included a couple of my favourites here. I realise that the first entry in this list is not really an indie or a pop song, but I did not want to create one specifically for classical/fusion songs, plus this will be a special one since I was lucky to catch this one live as well, in what was possibly Shakti’s last live tour, earlier this year.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Mohanam (This Moment) – Shakti
2 Bhaavam – Job Kurian
3 Rooh Jaga Doon – Arijit Singh
4 Jharokha (Par) – Vidhya Gopal
5 Walk Away – Mali
6 Fursat (Songs of Trance 2) – Amit Trivedi, Siddharth-Garima, Rupali Moghe
7 Cheli (ft. Jimmy Francis John & Shravan Sridhar) – Keethan
8 Vaari Vaari – Shekhar Ravjiani, Avinash Chouhan, Shreya Ghoshal
9 Malabari Banger – Joker, MRH, SA & Dabzee
10 Dear Sahana (Sidharth) – Sid Sriram
11 Rail Pogum Idam – Vijaynarain
12 Iru Manam – Kalyani Nair, Vidhya Vijay, The Indian Choral Ensemble
13 Anuraaga Nadhiye (Kappa Originals) – Vipin Lal, BK Harinarayanan, Bineetha Ranjith Music Company
14 Giddh – Thaikkudam Bridge
15 Reza Reza – Shiraz Uppal, Neeti Mohan
16 A Thousand Stars – Jayanthi Kumaresh, Prashant Techno
17 Sakhi Neelambari – Athul Anand, Harish Sivaramakrishnan
18 Numaani – Faridkot, IP Singh, Shilpa Rao, Rajarshi Sanyal
19 Lafz Bheege Hain (Lafz Bheege Hain) – Paras Nath, Pratibha Singh Baghel
20 Moon Tides (Wrong Side Out) – Raagamuffin
21 Kaamil – Salim Sulaiman, Paradox, ISHH
22 Breathe – Kamakshi Khanna
23 Toote Chhaate – Nihira Joshi, Rhythm Shaw, Alok Ranjan Sirvastava
24 Kasam Se (Only Just Begun) – Armaan Malik, Amaal Mallik
25 Bhoo Bandham – Nakul Abhyankar, Mangli, Vijay Prakash
26 Kyun Roothi Ho – Hanita Bhambhri, Vayu
27 Pa Pe Po… (Kappa Originals) – Amrutam Gamay
28 Tere Baare Mein – Santanu Ghatak, Yashika Sikka, Darpan Suthar
29 Bairi Birhaa (Songs of Trance 2) – Amit Trivedi, Geet Sagar, Varsha Singh Dhanoa
30 Monot Pore – Taba Chake
Web Series
So yes, two of the year’s best works – Modern Love Chennai, spearheaded by Ilaiyaraaja, and Jubilee which had Amit Trivedi paying tribute to some legendary composers, both in the web series space, and both incidentally carrying a predominantly retro sound. This list is all Hindi and Tamil, as those are the only languages I managed to track, but you will notice an impressive lineup even in this, aside of the two names already mentioned – Vishal Bhardwaj, Sachin-Jigar, Santhosh Narayanan, Govind Vasantha, Alokananda Dasgupta etc. I have primarily gone for vocal tracks, but there was some great BGM work as well this year.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Aanaal (Modern Love Chennai) – Ilaiyaraaja|Yugabharathi|Ananya Bhat
2 Saare Ke Saare Akele (Jubilee) – Amit Trivedi|Kausar Munir|Devendrapal Singh
3 Saath (Faadu) – Santhosh Narayanan|Kausar Munir|Amira Gill, Haricharan, Sathya Prakash
4 Cargaalamey (Sweet Kaaram Coffee) – Govind Vasantha|Nixy|Sathya Prakash, Keerthana Vaidyanathan
5 Dhundh (Charlie Chopra) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Vishal Bhardwaj|Papon
6 Lori (The Jengaburu Curse) Alokananda Dasgupta|Rajeshwari Dasgupta|Ronkini Gupta
7 Stardust (Jee Karda) – Sachin Jigar|IP Singh|Rashmeet Kaur, Mellow D
8 Kaala Visai (Modern Love Chennai) – Ilaiyaraaja|Yugabharathi|Shivani Panneerselvam
9 Wo Adhoore Khwab (Do Gubbare) – Saurabh Bhalerao|Sunil Sukhtankar|Himani Kapoor
10 Nahin Ji Nahin (Jubilee) – Amit Trivedi|Kausar Munir|Sunidhi Chauhan, Papon
11 Edar Odar (Chamak) – Jagir Singh, Late Shri Ulfat Bajwa, Manna Singh
12 Lullaby (Kaala Paani) – Rachita Arora|Madhan Karky|Shashaa Tirupati
13 Tune Hi (PI Meena) – Amit Chatterjee|Shloke Lal|Kinjal Chattopadhyay
14 Bharam (Guns and Gulaabs) – Aman Pant|Akhil Tiwari|Aman Pant
15 Teri Yeh Zindagi (Do Gubbare) – Saurabh Bhalerao||Sahil Charaya
16 Theme Song (Scoop) – Achint
17 Paavi Nenjae (Modern Love Chennai) – Ilaiyaraaja|Yugabharathi|Ilaiyaraaja
18 Aasmaan (Farzi) – Tanishk Bagchi|Raghav Meatle|Raghav Meatle, Anumita Nadesan
19 Thirunaal (Sweet Kaaram Coffee) – Govind Vasantha|Nixy|Kapil Kapilan, Keerthana Vaidyanathan, Aditya Rao
20 Uravu (Modern Love Chennai) – Sean Roldan|Yugabharathi|Padmapriya Raghavan, Sean Roldan
21 Ammiye (Jee Karda) – Sachin-Jigar|IP Singh|Simran Choudhary
22 Jee Ki Gathariya (Charlie Chopra) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Vishal Bhardwaj|Rekha Bhardwaj
23 Haseen Mushkilein (Faadu) – Santhosh Narayanan|Kausar Munir|Aditya Ravindran
24 Khairaat/Reprise (Chamak) – Kanwar Grewal, Manna Singh, Vari Rai
25 Voh Tere Mere Ishq Ka (Jubilee) – Amit Trivedi|Kausar Munir|Sunidhi Chauhan
Kannada
The side A-side B format that I mentioned previously in Telugu, came into Kannada as well, with what was, to me, one of 2023’s best soundtracks across the country – Charanraj’s Sapta Saagaradaache Ello. Apart from that, this list is a compilation of songs from other Kannada composers I like. Ajaneesh Loknath, Judah Sandhy, Arjun Janya, Midhun Mukundan all had a good year (Ajaneesh and Midhun even had a few good songs in other languages). Bindhumalini, who REALLY should be composing more often, came back after a five year hiatus with Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy’s directorial debut Aachar & Co.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Title Track (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A) – Charanraj MR|Dhananjay Ranjan|Kapil Kapilan
2 Sapthaswara (Aachar & Co) – Bindhumalini|Avinash Belakalla|Varijashree Venugopal, Nakul Abhyankar, Bindhumalini
3 Aaradhipe (Toby) – Midhun Mukundan|Prithvi|Siddhartha Belmannu
4 Olave Olave (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side B) – Charanraj MR|B R Suvarna Sharma|Srilakshmi Belmannu
5 Manada Mele (Marichi) – Judah Sandhy|Pramod Maravanthe|Pancham Jeeva
6 Muddu Rakshasi (Vaamana) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|V Nagendra Prasad|Vijay Prakash, Harshika Devanath
7 Gold Fish (Baanadariyalli) – Arjun Janya|Kaviraj|Aishwarya Rangarajan
8 Namaami Namaami (Kabzaa) – Ravi Basrur|Santhosh Venky|Aishwarya Rangarajan
9 Doori Laali (Tatsama Tadbhava) – Vasuki Vaibhav|Vasuki Vaibhav|Sunidhi Ganesh
10 Chandane Chanda (Inamdar) – Nakul Abhyankar|Pramod Maravanthe|Ramya Bhat
11 Preethisuve (Kousalya Supraja Rama) – Arjun Janya|Jayanth Kaikini|Sonu Nigam
12 Kadalanu (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A) – Charanraj MR|Nagarjuna Sharma|Srilakshmi Belmannu
13 Mellage (Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye) – Midhun Mukundan|Prithvi|Madhuri Seshadri, Sunidhi Ganesh
14 Arre Idu Entha Bhavane (Gurudev Hoysala) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Yogaraj Bhat|Haricharan
15 Maathaado Gombe (Shivaji Surathkal 2) – Judah Sandhy|Pramod Maravanthe|Siddhartha Belmannu
16 Bad Manners (Bad Manners) – Charanraj MR|Dhananjay Ranjan|Usha Uthup
17 Boys Sarigilla (Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Trilok Trivikrama|B Ajaneesh Loknath
18 Dhare Neeneedidaasare (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side B) – Charanraj MR|Rakshit Shetty|KS Harishankar
19 Suryakanthi (Tagaru Palya) – Vasuki Vaibhav|Daali Dhananjaya|Madhuri Seshadri
20 Single Sundara (Raghavendra Stores) – B Ajaneesh Loknath|Nagarjuna Sharma|Vijay Prakash, Naveen Sajju
Marathi
Like the previous list, Marathi too is concentrated on a handful of soundtracks from the few Marathi composers whose work I admire. Top of that list is one of the most exciting composers in the country, A V Prafullachandra, who smashed it with the two movies he did, one of which was Nagraj Manjule-written Ghar Banduk Biryani. Two other highlights of Marathi were the return of Gulraj Singh after a long time, and singer Anweshaa turning composer, both to really impressive results. Hrishikesh-Saurabh-Jasraj don’t appear to have had any album this year, although Saurabh Bhalerao from the trio had a Hindi web series that I have featured.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Gun Gun (Ghar Banduk Biryani) – A V Prafullachandra|Vaibhav Deshmukh|Kavita Raam, Ashish Kulkarni
2 Baharla Ha Madhumas (Maharashtra Shaheer) – Ajay-Atul|Guru Thakur|Shreya Ghoshal, Ajay Gogavale
3 Chalalo (Pahije Jatiche) – Anweshaa|Uma V Kulkarni|Abhay Jodhpurkar
4 Man Taara (Unaad) – Gulraj Singh|Kshitij Patwardhan|Gulraj Singh, Shashaa Tirupati
5 Darav Darav/Reprise (Naal 2) – A V Prafullachandra|Vaibhav Deshmukh|Jayesh Khare, Master Avan, Padmanabh Gaikwad
6 Khara To (Shyamchi Aai) – Ashok Patki|Sane Guruji|Mahesh Kale
7 Tu BE Aan Mi BE (Jaggu Ani Juliet) – Ajay-Atul|Guru Thakur|Armaan Malik, Shalmali Kholgade
8 Ghar Banduk Biryani (Ghar Banduk Biryani) – A V Prafullachandra|Vaibhav Deshmukh|Mohit Chauhan
9 Kshan Kaalche (Unaad) – Gulraj Singh|Guru Thakur|Nandini Srikar
10 Godi Hi Dostichi (Naal 2) – A V Prafullachandra|Vaibhav Deshmukh|Gauri Gosavi
11 Gau Nako Kisna (Maharashtra Shaheer) – Ajay-Atul|Guru Thakur|Jayesh Khare, Ajay Gogavale
12 Kadhi Na Tula (Jaggu Ani Juliet) – Ajay-Atul|Guru Thakur|Sid Sriram
13 Aai Tuzhi Angai (Shyamchi Aai) – Ashok Patki|Saket Kanetkar|Devika Panshikar
14 Duniyadaari (Pahije Jatiche) – Anweshaa|Sant Kabir, Uma V Kulkarni|Anweshaa, Hrishikesh Ranade
15 Mariya (Ghar Banduk Biryani) – A V Prafullachandra|A V Prafullachandra|A V Prafullachandra
Coke Studio
And finally, Coke Studio. This year there wasn’t a Coke Studio Pakistan, but instead we had three other editions of Coke Studio – Coke Studio Bangla, which has been catching the attention since late last year and continued to deliver great music in 2023, and the two variants within India – Coke Studio Bharat and Coke Studio Tamil. The gap between the song releases has been a bit of a buzzkill in all of these cases, but there was some quality music in offer across the three shows. I have snuck in a Coke Studio Bangla song from last year as well – Bulbuli – because I missed including it last year and I love the track.
Playlist: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
1 Bulbuli (Coke Studio Bangla) – Ritu Raj x Nandita
2 Khalasi (Coke Studio Bharat) – Aditya Gadhvi x Achint
3 Urudhi (Coke Studio Tamil) – Sanjay Subrahmanyam x Arifulla Shah Rafaee
4 Geejaga Hakki (Coke Studio Bharat) – Sanjith Hegde x Charan Raj
5 Anondodhara (Coke Studio Bangla) – Adity Mohsin x Bappa Mazumder
6 Nodir Kul (Coke Studio Bangla) – Idris x Ripon x Arnob
7 Vendum (Coke Studio Tamil) – Sean Roldan x Meenakshi Elayaraja
8 Taqdeer (Coke Studio Bharat) – Donn Bhat x Rashmeet Kaur x Prabh Deep x Sakur Khan
9 Kan Moodudho (Coke Studio Tamil) – John Pradeep JL x Chinmayi
10 Shondhatara (Coke Studio Bangla) – Arnob x Sunidhi x Adit
11 Sagavaasi (Coke Studio Tamil) – Arivu x Khatija Rahman
12 Murir Tin (Coke Studio Bangla) – Riad X Pollob X Towfique
