Friday, December 8, 2023

Tejas was the lone singer

If all the 10 songs from The Archies in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, Yeh Saari Awaazein would be the last.

By no means would it be incorrect to state that the song could not have been more ironically titled – after all, just one person lent his awaaz to it, and that was Tejas Menon.

Javed Akhtar wrote the song, which was written by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa.

It happened to be the longest song from the film in my collection – it was four minutes and 10 seconds long.

Indie SUperStar TejaS waZ BACKKed

If the seven Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy compositions from The Archies were arranged in the alphabetical order, Va Va Voom would be the penultimate one.

Tejas Menon, a renowned indie musician, was one of the 11 people who lent their voices to the song.

A couple of those Sing(h)ers – Aryaman and Shaurya – happened to share a last name.

Brendan Alphonso, Chelsea Das, Kiara Alemao, Kenishaa Francis, Shane D’Souza, Simran Duggal, Urgen Yolmo, and Zoe Siddharth were the others.

The song, which was just a couple of minutes and eight seconds long, was penned by the legendary Javed Akhtar.

 

It wAZn't worth repeated listenS

The proof of the (PlumPudding was, indeed, in its eating.

Or, in the case of the song of that name from The Archies, in its listening.

However, it was a run-of-the-mill song, so it would be fair to say that people would not repeatedly listen to it.

The song was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Ankur Tewari.

The latter also happened to be one of the three people who lent it their voices.

The others were the Akhtar ladies, Zoya and Shibani (who wrote the track).

It was three minutes and as many seconds long.

Suhana made her singing DebuT

Suhana Khan – Shahrukh Khan’s daughter – was one of the debutantes in The Archies. She played Veronica Lodge in the film.

But her involvement in it was not restricted to acting in it – the film also marked her debut as a singer.

The song she lent her voice to was titled Jab Tum Na Theen.

Her co-actor, Dot, who played Ethel Muggs in the film, and Tejas Menon were the two people who joined her behind the microphone for it.

Javed Akhtar and Dot wrote the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composition, which was two minutes and 43 seconds long.

(Arij)It was Singh’s only contribution

For about a decade, it would not be incorrect to state that a majority of Hindi film soundtracks have been incomplete without a song sung by Arijit Singh.

And even as far as the soundtrack of The Archies was concerned, the man did not disappoint his fans.

His only contribution to it was In Raahon Mein*.

Javed Akhtar wrote the song, which was composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa.

The song was three minutes and as many seconds long.

(*Note: It was one of the two male solos on the film’s soundtrack.)

Two actors joined MahaDeVAn Jr.

Everything is Politics.

Not only is that a fact, but it was also a song from The Archies.

If the seven Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy compositions from the film in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, it was the second.

And it was one of the three songs on its soundtrack that were three minutes and as many seconds long.

Shivam (Mahadev)and the M(en)ononymously-credited Tejas were two of the five people who sang it.

The others were Arish B and two members of the film’s cast, Dot and Vedang Raina.

Javed Akhtar and Dot wrote it.

Dot sang this short tracK

The Archies (2023) was based on the comic book.

Of the ten songs from the film in my collection, Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa composed seven.

If they were arranged in the alphabetical order, as well as in the ascending order of their durations, Dhishoom Dhishoom would be the first – it was just a couple of minutes and a second long.

Aditi ‘Dot’ Saigal was one of the two people who lent their voices to the track.

The other was Kelly DLima.

The song was written by the one and only Javed Akhtar.

Shreya’s rendition left fans (Nig)amazed

If the four songs on the soundtrack of Sam Bahadur were arranged in the alphabetical order, as well as in the ascending order of their durations, the subject of this post would be the last.

It was titled Itni Si Baat.

And it happened to be four minutes and 15 seconds long.

Unfortunately, Hindi film music buffs seldom get an opportunity to listen to the voices of the duo who sang it now – Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam.

The song, which was penned by Gulzar, was composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa.

Ms Chauhan’s solo was fantastic

By composing just four songs for Sam Bahadur, it would not be incorrect to state that Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa prioritised quality over quantity.

And the icing on the cake was roping Sunidhi Chauhan in to render a track.

It was titled Dum Hai Toh Aaja, and it was the only female solo on the film’s soundtrack.

The song, whose title would sound great only if a ‘Bahadur’ (brave) person uttered it, was penned by Gulzar.

It was the shortest track in the film – it was two minutes and 51 seconds long.

Indeed, Shankar was the banda

The second Shankar Mahadevan song that was on the soundtrack of Sam Bahadur and began with B was Banda.

It was one of the two solos – and the only male solo – in the film.

Shankar’s involvement in the song was not restricted to lending his voice to it.

No prizes for guessing that he also composed it with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa.

The person who wrote the song was the one and only Gulzar.

As far as the duration of the song was concerned, it was just a second short of the four-minute mark.

With this, Shankar motiVateD everyone

This is the first in Shankar Mahadevan’s duology of songs that began with the English letter B and were from the 2023 film Sam Bahadur, the biopic of India’s first field marshal, Sam Manekshaw.

The song was titled Badhte Chalo.

The composition and the rendition were collaborations of three men apiece, with Shankar Mahadevan being common to both the departments.

He composed it with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa.

And he was joined behind the microphone for it by Divya Kumar and Vishal Dadlani.

Four minutes and three seconds long, it was penned by Gulzar.

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Mahadevan, Sr. was the Sing(h)er

The older of Shankar Mahadevan’s sons, Siddharth, wouldn’t exactly have prompted music director Anu Malik to exclaim, “Aag laga di”.

And no one in Rajasthan would’ve said Khamma Ghani to his younger son, Shivam.

So, it was Shankar’s turn to prove that he was the baap of composers and singers.

Raangla – from Dono – was composed by him, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa.

And he was joined behind the microphone for it by Pratibha Singh Baghel.

Irshad Kamil wrote the song.

The second-longest song on the film’s soundtrack, it was four minutes and 31 seconds long.

Mr Ali was the SinGer

The soundtrack of Dono contained a couple of songs to which Shrinidhi Ghatate lent her voice.

But I have only included one of them (because I usually avoid Reprise versions of songs).

So, her only original song in the film was the subject of this post.

I am talking about Mann Mauji, which was three minutes and 43 seconds long.

The man who joined her behind the microphone for the track was none other than Javed Ali.

The song, which was written by Irshad Kamil, was composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa.

Romy’s ‘complaint’ was not invalid

When I sat down to write this post, it was a week into December 2023, and we were into the wedding season in India.

I don’t think there could’ve been a better time to write about what could be called a valid complaint pertinent to said events.

It was titled Lehenga Pad Gaya Mehenga.

And it was the second male solo on the soundtrack of Dono – it was sung by Romy.

Irshad Kamil wrote the song, which was composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa.

It was three minutes and 20 seconds long. 

Kapoor's contribution was the (so)longest

The only female solo on the soundtrack of Dono was Khatt Mitthiyan – it was sung by Himani Kapoor.

It was the second song in the film that began with the letter Kh.

The song was written by Irshad Kamil.

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa composed it.

By the way, it was the longest of the seven songs from the film in my collection – it was four minutes and 37 seconds long.

In other words, the songs at both ends oxf the duration scale on the soundtrack of Dono began with the letter Kh.

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Shivam SanG this Rajasthani greeting

Khamma means ‘greetings’.

And Ghani means ‘a lot’.

In Rajasthan, people use the phrase to greet others.

On the soundtrack of Dono, it was the third song (if they were arranged in the alphabetical order).

And it happened to be one of the two songs in the film that began with the Hindi letter ‘Kh’.

Shreya Ghoshal joined Shivam Mahadevan behind the microphone for the song, which was penned by Irshad Kamil, and composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

It was the shortest song in the film – it was just a couple of minutes and 52 seconds long

Only Armaan’s solo was included

The soundtrack of Dono contained a couple of versions of its title track.

But my collection contains just one – the solo, which was sung by Armaan Malik.

If the seven songs from the film in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, it would be the third-longest song on the soundtrack – it was four minutes and as many seconds long.

Irshad Kamil wrote the song, which Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composed.

By the way, Shrinidhi Ghatate joined Malik for the Reprise version of the song, which was as long as Malik’s only contribution to the film’s soundtrack.

Lisa sang it with Siddharth

Dono, which released in 2023, was the launch vehicle for the offspring of the Sohni Mahiwal (1984) leads – Sunny Deol’s son, Rajveer, and Poonam Dhillon’s daughter, Paloma.

My collection contains seven songs from the film.

If they were arranged in the alphabetical order, Aag Lagdi would be the first.

And if they were arranged in the ascending order of their durations, it would be the second – it was three minutes and 19 seconds long.

The song was penned by Irshad Kamil, and composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Lisa Mishra and Siddharth Mahadevan lent their voices to it.