Kylie ShowcaSed her Sing(h)ing prowesS

To stand out from a group, one obviously has to be exceptionally talented. And if it’s a Hindi film song, a bit of international experience may do the individual in question a world of good.

Kylie Minogue, the Australian pop singer, was a top scorer on both counts. It wouldn’t be wrong to call her the USP of Chiggy Wiggy from Blue (2009).

Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder and Suzanne D'Mello shared Sing(h)ing credits with her.

Penned by Abbas Tyrewala and composed by A R Rahman, it was five minutes and a dozen seconds long.

Sonu and the others disappointed

When a Son(u)g is weak, the listeners don’t give it their nod.

Even a composer of A R Rahman’s calibre wasn’t spared – they said no to Shano Shano, the track from Yuvvraaj (2008).

Of the three songs from the film on this blog, this was the longest – it was six minutes and 22 seconds long.

Gulzar penned the song, whose remixed version, credited to Krishna Chetan, was a couple of minutes and 38 seconds long (that trivia was doubly shocking!)

It was rendered by Mr Nigam, Blaaze, Karthik, Srinivas, Sunaina, Timmy, Tina and Vivienne Pocha.

Nigam was the guest vocAlist

Although Guzaarish, from Ghajini, was rendered by Javed and Mr Nigam was credited as a guest vocAlist, it wouldn’t be incorrect to state that it was the latter who gave the Son(u)g Alift.

However, that does not imply that the former didn’t do a good job.

It was the second song in the film to have a remixed version. And coincidentally, the remixed version of this one was also as long as the original, which was five minutes and 29 seconds long.

The track was penned by Prasoon Joshi and composed by A R Rahman.

Chakraborty rendered this adapted Son(u)g

Ekla Cholo, the Bengali song penned by Rabindranath Tagore, has been adapted on numerous occasions.

One of them featured on the soundtrack of the 2005 film Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who, according to the film’s title, was The Forgotten Hero.

But by no means will that version, which was penned by Javed Akhtar, ever be forgotten.

It was composed by A R Rahman, and was the longest track in the film – it was six minutes and five seconds long.

The Son(u)g was a duet, rendered by Nachiketa Chakraborty, a singer from Kolkata, and Mr Nigam.

This Wa(ri)s an iconic Son(u)g

There is no track that is more closely associated with Bhagat Singh than Mera Rang De Basanti.

Needless to say, whenever there’s a celluloid adaptation of the freedom fighter's life, the composer of the film’s songs will interpret the track.

And that is precisely what A R Rahman, who scored the music of The Legend of Bhagat Singh, did.

The track, which was penned by Sameer, was five minutes and seven seconds long.

It Wa(ri)s rendered by Sonu Nigam and Manmohan. The latter, whose real name is Manmohan Singh Heer, is a well-known Punjabi singer.

This Son(u)g earned Nigam awards

It would not be incorrect to say that the title track of Saathiya the piece de resistance of the soundtrack.

It was penned by Gulzar, who bagged the Best Lyricist Award at the Filmfare Awards, the Zee Cine Awards and the MTV Immies.

A R Rahman bagged the Best Music Director Award at the Filmfare Awards, the Zee Cine Awards, the International Indian Film Awards, the MTV Immies and the Bollywood Movie Awards.

And Sonu Nigam won the Best Male Playback Singer Award at all the aforementioned ceremonies, in addition to the Bollywood Music Awards.

Lata sang an awesome Son(u)g

One 2 Ka 4 (2001) summed up Khamoshiyan Gungunane Lageen – the best song on its soundtrack – perfectly.

One is the number of songs from the film that merited a post on this blog.

Two was the number of versions of this track in the film.

Four was the number of people who collaborated to make the song the highlight of the soundtrack.

Both the versions of the song were penned by Mehboob.

They were composed by A R Rahman.

A couple of legends – Lata Mangeshkar and Mr Nigam – rendered both the versions of the Son(u)g.

Ms Paudwal sang (Nig)amind-blowing Son(u)g

Kismat Se Tum, the romantic track from Pukar, was one of the best Son(u)gs in the film.

It was rendered by Mr Nigam and Anuradha Paudwal.

While Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit were professing their love for each other on screen, Hindi film music aficionados couldn’t be blamed for wondering whether the singers were expressing how fortunate they were to bag the song, which was six minutes and 20 seconds long.

The A R Rahman composition was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

It was shot at Glacier Bay National Park in the American state of Alaska.

It wAS an awesome Son(u)g

It is interesting to note that Ishq Bina was originally composed for a film titled Shikhar.

When that film was shelved, it featured on the soundtrack of Taal, which released in 1999 and was a shikhar (peak) scaled by A R Rahman.

Seven minutes and 45 seconds long, it was the longest song in the film.

It earned Anand Bakshi the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 2000. It was his fourth and final Filmfare trophy.

The Son(u)g was rendered by Mr Nigam, who was joined behind the microphone by Anuradha Sriram and Sujatha Mohan.

The female Sing(h)erS Komplemented Sonu

By no means was Kehne Ko Dadi, from Jeans, the grandma of all songs, but it was a catchy number.

The track, which was penned by Javed Akhtar, was about a cool dadi who was urged to call Clinton to say I love you, sing Raga Bhairavi at the disco and decorate the gate of Disneyland with a rangoli. That’s an awesome combo of desi tradition and Western modernity!

The Son(u)g, which was five minutes and 51 seconds long, was rendered by Mr Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Kavita Paudwal and Sangeeta.

A R Rahman composed it.

(Colum)Busy Nigam made holiday plans

When a person discovers what to do on his/her day off (or makes plans for a holiday), the feeling is akin to what Christopher Columbus, the explorer, must have got upon discovering America.

Perhaps that was what Javed Akhtar wanted to convey when he penned Columbus, keeping youngsters, who look forward to the do din ki chhutti (the much-awaited weekend), in mind.

It was the shortest song on the soundtrack of Jeans – it was four minutes and 56 seconds long.

The fast-paced Son(u)g was composed by A R Rahman.

It was rendered by Mr Nigam.

Kavita rendered this long Son(u)g

Satrangi Re was the longest song on the soundtrack of Dil Se.. – it was seven minutes and 25 seconds long.

It also took a long time to grow on the listeners. But once it did, they realised that it was mind-blowing.

But only those who are in throes of love (by which I mean a serious relationship, not puppy love) would truly appreciate the track, which was penned by Gulzar.

There’s no denying that this was one of the toughest Son(u)gs composed by A R Rahman.

It was rendered by Mr Nigam and Kavita Krishnamurthy.

Mr Nigam'S(hab)backing SiNgeRs rocked too

There couldn’t be a more perfect track than Shabba Shabba, the catchy number from Daud: Fun On The Run, to pay tribute to Neeraj Vora, the jack of all trades (and master of all) who passed away at the age of 54 on December 14, 2017.

The writer, director and actor, who was born on January 22, 1963, rendered the Son(u)g with Mr Nigam, Ranu Mukherjee (who sang the post-soundtrack version) and Swarnalatha (who sang the version on the film's original soundtrack).

The track, which was penned by Mehboob, was composed by A R Rahman.