Best of 2011 – Top Songs

Hey guys, the below songs are my personal favourites. In a sense, it essentially means that I would prefer listen to these 10 songs than any other song from a Hindi movie this year. Do post your top list as well! Essentially, Other than the last 2 entries, I have refrained from ranking , as just the top 3 really matter 🙂

Format – Song [ Music Director, singer, movie, lyrics]

Tere Bin (Reprise) [Pritam, Naresh Iyer, DTBHJ, Neelesh Mishra] – The Reprise version by Naresh Iyer is better than the Sonu Nigam normal version. It is a typical Pritam melody, easy on the ears and very melodious. Naresh’s vocals take the song to another level altogether. His rendition is full bodied and makes you feel one with the emotions. Lyrics are simple & soulful. Best line – “Jo Paas hai tu to yakeen apne hone pe hota hai”. Below link for the Reprise as it was not in the movie.

Teri Meri Prem Kahani [HR, Rahat/Shreya, BG, Shabbir Ahmed] – This is an instantenoulsy addictive song. The lyrics are unusual (“Do lafzon mein yeh bayan naa ho paye”) and arrangements are grand. Probably the best song by HR in a long long time. The highlights are the vocals by Shreya & Rahat. While Shreya sings at low pitch, Rahat compliments wonderfully with high pitch & “aaaa..” in between. The song triumphantly conveys the emotions of the protagonists and elevates the movie. Definitely the best thing in BG. Best line: Har ehsaas mein tu hai har yaad mein tera afsana, do lafzon mein yeh bayaan naa ho paaye.

DK Bose [Ram Sampath, Ram Sampath, DB, Amitabh Bhattachrya] – Probably the best different song to come out of Bollywood this year. It’s like any song you have heard this year. It’s pacy, whacky, expletive, zany, cool & addictive. The lyrics are just amazingly refreshing. A triumph for Ram Samath and worthy of a nomination at the very least. Best Line: Sabun ki shakal mein beta to nikla keval Jhaag.

Te Amo (Duet) [Pritam, Ash King/Sunidhi, DMD, Jaideep Sahni] – Pritam again with what he does best – extremely melodious flowy ode to love. This time Ash King towers above all with the different voice and is the highlight of the song. Jaideep Sahni’s choice of “Te Amo” instead of I Love You elevates this song considerably. Best Line: “Kabhi lage chhuoon tumhe yuhin khayalon mein, kabhi lage nahi nahi chori nahi”. Again, the song is the best part of the movie.

Rabba Main to Mar gaya re [Pritam, Rahat & Shahid, Mausam, Irshad Kamil] – Well Pritam yet again! This is a stock Pritam tune, in the league of “Teri Ore”, but more soulful with the music arrangement. Mostly classical instruments are used throughout. The starting music peace (like ambulance sound) itself hooks you to the song, and it only gets better with Rahat’s vocals and heartfelt poetry by Irshad Kamil (words like Shaddai, mehram are hardly used in hindi songs). Again the best thing in the movie. Also, hats off to Shahid for matching up to Rahat in the other version. Best line: Mere pyaar ka mausam bhi hai lage meri mehram bhi hai, jane kya kya do aankhon mein padh gaya main.

Ishq Sufiyana [Vishal Shekhar, Kamal Khan, TDP, Rajat Arora] – A very Pritamish song from Vishal-Shekhar. Full of melody and soulful lyrics, and simple lilting arrangements. The highlight though is the awesome rendition by a novice Sa-re-ga-ma-pa 2010 contestant Kamal Khan, what a great find. Great future ahead for this talent. Best line/hook: Rab ki qawali hai ishq koi…subah ki lali hai ishq.

Isq Risk [Sohail Sen, Rahat, MBKD, Irshad Kamil] – Good to see Sohail Sen being given the rightly deserved break in the big league with YRF. Extremely talented composer, as evident in What’s your Rashee, Sohail composes a sufiyana qawalyish jugalbandi-type perfect fusion song. The use of “Isq” instead of “Ishq” is a masterstroke as it gives an earthy feeling to the song. Rahat as usual does complete justice. It is amazing to see Rahat excel in all types of songs. Easily the best song from all YRF films this year. Best line: Kaisa yeh isq hai, ajab sa risq hai (Very different indeed by Irshad Kamil, just compare to the previous song in the list, what a u-turn!)

Kyun Main Jagoon [SEL, Shafqat, PH, Anvita Dutt] – An underrated gem of a song in an undderrated movie. It is one of the best songs by SEL in recent times. Shafqat croons soulfully to some heartfelt lyrics by Anvita Dutt (whos she, damn really touchy words). It is the perfect sad song full of pain, anguish, depression, anger. How one wishes SEL would produce more such gems. Cant single out any best line here, the entire song is incredible. The unplugged version is great too. The link for unplugged is below.

Dildara [Vishal-Shekhar, Shafqat, Ra.one, Kumaar] – Brilliant inspiration & reworking of a classic song by Vishal Shekhar. And lovely soulful rendition by Shafqat. Definitely the best song in the movie. Perfect fusion of the original “Stand by me” with melody, rapping, classical touch & modern arrangements. Words are awesome too, “Tu manzil hai aur tu hi us manzil ke aage ka rasta”, “rehbara”.  The classical chorus along with the “Stand by me” hook is masterstroke.

Saathiya [Ajay Atul, Shreya, Singham, Swanand Kirkire] – again it’s a typical Pritamish song but composed by Ajay Atul. Melody, simplicity, soul & lovely singing. Instantly likeable and sugary sweet. Best Line/hook: badmaash dil to thag hai bada…badmaash dil meri sune na zid pe ada.

Tum Ho & Nadaan Parindey [A.R.Rehman, Mohit Chauhan & ARR, Rockstar, Irshaad Kamil] – Awesome, enough said. Words cant describe these songs. Second best this year. Best line: Kagar Kagar mori itni araj tose, chun chun khaiyo maas, arajiya re khaiyo naa tu naina more, do naina more, piya ke milan ki hai ehsaas (Nadaan Parindey) ; Tum Ho’s background music arrangement is the most soulful this year.

Phir Mohabbat & Aye Khuda [Mithoon, Mithoon & Kshitij Tarey/ Mohammed Irfan, Arijit & Saim Bhat, Murder-2, Mithoon] – These are my personal favs of this year. I can listen to these songs over and over again and more than any other song this year. I wont describe these, listen for yourself and comment!

As evident, all the songs above are love songs – as I prefer love songs above all other dhin-chak songs! Some of the good other genre tracks I liked are Chhammak Chhallo & Criminal from Ra.one, Bodyguard Title track, Ooh Lala from TDP, Dhunki from MBKD, YPD title track, Laung Da Lashkara from PH, Saada Haq from Rockstar, Singham Title song, Ek Manzil & Ruk Jana Nahi (well done reprise) from Soundtrack.