Top 15 Songs of 2011: Bollywood Edition

1.    

  Kun Faya Kun/ Tum Ho/ Nadaan Parinde – AR Rahman – Rockstar

 (Singers: Mohit Chauhan, AR Rahman and Javed Ali)

I’m not one of those people who think the Rockstar soundtrack is the best thing Rahman has ever done. It’s not even close. As an album it fails. Mostly because the rock songs don’t do anything to me. They are either annoying or absolutely terrible. Sorry, Mr. Rahman but rock is not only about angst, rage and pain. We need to talk. But then there are 3 songs which I absolutely love and are probably the best Rahman has ever composed: Kun Faya Kun, Tum Ho/Ko and Nadaan Parinde. These three songs are great and rise above the film.

(Katiya Karun is another song I adore but in the context of the film it looks ridiculous. A Punjabi song over Kashmir locales. Really? At least make one character Punjabi. Since it's an old folk song and not originally produced for the film, I would not include it in this list.)

2.      

Senorita – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

(Singers: Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar and Hrithik Roshan)

Senorita is what Bollywood songs are all about. It’s fun, it’s catchy. Most notably, it stops the movie and lets you have so much fun! That’s Bollywood right there!

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are just not going through a good time. Despite making a great album like this one, they are being panned everywhere by cynics. I blame Pritam for diverting people's attention from music, in general.

Other songs I like from this album: Khaabon Ke Parindey, Sooraj Ki Baahon Mein and Ik Junoon.

3.      

Bhaag DK Bose – Ram Sampath - Delhi Belly

(Singer: Ram Sampath)

Bhaag DK Bose is not just a Green Day imitation. While today's generation only relates to punk rock as Green Day, there are other great punk rock bands like The Clash and Ramones who would be proud of this song. A total winner!

4.    
Ooh La La – Vishal-Shekhar - The Dirty Picture

(Singers: Bappi Lahiri and Shreya Goshal)

This is what a good rock song would have been to Rockstar. A song that perfectly shows the intentions of a film. Not only is this song catchy and fun, it is a throwback to the cinema of the 80s.

5.      
Dilli – Amit Trivedi - No One Killed Jessica

 (Singers: Tochi Raina, Aditi Singh Sharma and Shriram Iyer)

"Da-da-da-dilli-dilli-dill". Need I say more?

6.      
Darling – Vishal Bhardwaj – 7 Khoon Maaf

(Singers: Usha Uthup and Rekha Bhardwaj)

Vishal Bhardwaj and AR Rahman both tried their hand at Eastern European music. Surprisingly, Bhardwaj won. "Hawaa Hawaa" is a song that works but only partially. "Darling" on the other hand has Usha Uthup. Yes, you don't need other reasons.

7.      
Saibo – Sachin-Jigar - Shor in the City

(Singers: Shreya Ghoshal and Tochi Raina) 

The chorus of this song is so good. It isn't the best composed song but that chorus!

8.      

Zara Dil Ko Tham Lo – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Don 2

 (Singers: Anusha Mani and Vishal Dadlani)

Don 2 as a sountrack is slicker than the film itself. Only Hai Yeh Maya and Zara Dil Ko Tham Lo stand out. The rest are guitar riffs from the Mission: Impossible series, the Ocean's Eleven series and the Bond films. Done well. Wish the film turned out good.

9.      
Criminal – Vishal-Shekhar – Ra.One

 (Singers: Vishal Dadlani, Akon and Shruti Pathak)

Another typical "Bollywood" song. I like Chammak Challo too but this one is better. I guess it's the Punjabi-ness that appeals to me.

10.  
Madhubala – Sohail Sen – Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

       (Singers: Ali Zafar and Shweta Pandit)

Sohail Sen gave some good music in What's Your Rashee. The film was universally panned and even the soundtrack got largely ignored. This album is surprisingly good.

11.  
Tu Mera Hero (Subah Hone Na De) – Desi Boyz

 (Singers: Mika Singh and Shefali Alvaris)

What do you get when you make a Bollywood version of a popular Pitbull club hit? This! (Also, my contender for the most awesome lyrics of the year - you don't always need a Kun Faya Kun for words to have meaning)

12. 
Laung Da Lashkara – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy – Patiala House

(Singers: Jasbir Jassi, Mahalakshmi Iyer and Hard Kaur) 

Jasbir Jassi after this long. How could you resist?

13, 14 & 15.

These songs aren’t originally written/ produced for the movie, hence they don’t appear higher on the list. Let's say they were, they would have definitely given competition to the number 1 spot. The three songs are:

Har Saans Main – Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge (Raghu Dixit)

Khoya Khoya Chand - Shaitan (Suman Shridhar)

Saadi Galli – Tanu Weds Manu (Lehmber Hussainpuri)

Recommendation: Check out Raghu Dixit's album. Musicians like these deserve more listeners. "No Man Will Ever Love You, Like I Do" is a terrific song!