I can't wait anymore. Review on Ten Best Hindi Songs of 2004

A melody emerges from silence and gives peace to our soul. A melody comes with a simple tune which gives a soothing sound when played by various instruments meant for melodies like voice, violin, guitar, flute, Veena, sitar, shehnai etc. Undoubtedly melodies are immortal. Here is a list ofTen best Songs(Melodies) of 2004(in my opinion). The list will have only the songs from movies that are released in the year 2004.

Orchestration / Piano

Orchestration is writing notes for very many instruments separately which when played together with proper timing and sequence strict to the notes we get desired emotion flowing through the combined sound of all instruments. Indian film music has always been heavily inspired by western classical music when it comes to orchestration. Piano can reproduce even the minute inner emotions. Think of piano playing mild notes in the background when the soft fingers of a new born baby touch its mother for the first time. It sounds poetic. Isn’t it?

Now among the songs from 2004, the “Best Orchestration and Piano usage” award goes to “Tere Liye” from “Veer Zaara”. Can anyone forget the prelude of this song with piano playing the main tune at least for a decade? The soulful orchestration in the background follows the tune and rhythm of the song like a shadow. Sanjeev Kohli has done a neat job in making Late Madhan Mohan’s soulful tune into a beautiful song.

Voice

The choice of apt voice for the apt song plays a vital role in its success. Vocal chord is the most flexible instrument in the world. Can we think of “Pyar kiya to darna kya” song without Lataji’s voice? Or can we think of “Chandralekha” song without the seductive voice of Anupama. Impossible, Right.

Among the contemporary composers, A.R.Rahman has always been right in choosing a perfect voice matching the feel and mood of the song. His recent best usage is that of Reena Bharadwaj. Well, the “Best Voice usage” award goes to “Yeh Rishta” from “Meenaxi”. Her unique sweet innocent voice added a special flavor to this colorful melody. Especially the way she stretches the word “Hai” is too good.

Guitar

Even though Guitar is a western instrument we never felt its sound as alien to our Indian music. As we all know every third song in bollywood uses guitar extensively. One could easily find out whether the song is from north or south from the way the guitar is used in the song. Guitar when used for melody definitely makes it sound better.

At present the trio composers Shankar – Ehsaan – Lay are using guitar quite well in all their songs as one among them is a trained Guitarist. And now two songs of these composers get equal share of the “Best Guitar Usage” award. The songs are “Agar mein” from “Lakshya” and “Jeene Ke ishaare” from “Phir Milenge”. Former has an extensive usage of guitar in blend with tribal percussions in the background which creates a unique sound and rhythm for an unconventional conversational duet song. In the later, guitar compliments the soulful tune of the song and also elaborates beyond the main tune of the song. The fusion of folk rhythm with fast octaves on electric guitar at the end of the song is great to hear.

Title track

“Best Title Track” award may not have much to do with quality of a melody but as we know every other film in bollywood comes with a song having title of the movie as its first line. Almost all the composers have faced this challenge of writing suitable notes for weird titles of the movie.

In 2004, we had enough of title tracks but the two tracks which literally had a clash to make it into the list are “Hum tum” and “Main Hoon Na”. But finally “The Best Title track” award goes to “Hum tum”. It is a very slow soft romantic number with a catchy tune and expressive singing by Babul supriyo and Alka yagnik. Kudos to Jatin-Lalit for making the title naturally fit into the tune and rhythm of the song.

Romantic Number

No bollywood film is complete without love and no Hindi album is complete without a romantic duet number in it and so it is a necessary category.

Though “Tere liye” and “Hum tum” may seem to be a much better choice in this category, I beg to differ. The nasal voice of Lataji in “Tere liye” and average orchestration in “Hum tum” song are the factors which paved the way for “Aao Naa”  from “Kyun Ho gaya naa” to win “Best Romantic number” award. The carnatic swaras in the prelude, slightly different rhythms, and romantic voice of Sadhana sargam and flawless orchestrations with right mix of western flavor are the factors which made this song a clear winner in this category.

Flute

Flute is an obvious inclusion in melody. The vibes that flute creates in the air through its holes mixes with our breath and stirs our soul. Almost every composer is well matured in using flute at right places in their melodies.

But somehow A.R.Rahman stands out as the best when it comes to flute usage by having a great flutist Naveen in his side. Two songs clashing to win this category are “Paigham” from “Lakeer” and “Dil Ne jise apna kaha” from “DNJAk”. Both are equally great but “Best flute usage” award goes to “DNJAK”. I think this song is the most underrated song of the year. ARR goes to his 90’s style of composition in this song. Listen to the way how Naveen’s flute dominates the whole track by appending flourishing at the end of each line. The interludes and prelude also has rich flute pieces blending well with piano.

Tune

A tune is first and foremost element of a song that registers in our mind. A tune should have a body to attract initially and soul to stay in our minds for a long time. How great may be the lyrics, orchestration and singers but if the song doesn’t has a simple gripping tune it will fail to impress. There are two types of catchy songs, songs that have catchy beats are short lived but the songs with catchy tunes have larger life in people’s minds.

In this context the “Best Simple Tune” award goes to “Mann ki lagan” from Paap. It is an unconventional bollywood number with unconventional voice and orchestration. But the reason of its success is its instantly catchy tune. Simple tabla beats and harmonium in the background gives solid support to the song.

Best song of the year in comments section………