Rfak, Arijit Singh And Atif Aslam: Romantic Ballads

Topping Arijit Singh's list for me is Channa Mereya from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. I thought I'd be dead before I heard the words chitthi-taaron and suti-chola in a post 1980s song. No one writes such lyrics anymore. Amitabh Bhattacharya wrote lyrics worthy of the old masters. Such a beautiful song in every way: lyrics, composition and rendition.

Kitni dafaa, subah ko meri tere aangan me baithe maine shaam kiya

 

Another song with surprising lyrics is Gerua from Dilwale. I seriously hadn't heard the word Gerua since my childhood days when the gardeners in the cantonments painted the fences and brick edges of gardens with a terrcotta-orange shade. That was gerua! Arijit Singh made the song his own. It haunts you long after it is done playing.

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Bollywood seems to be on a spree to remake Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's legendary qawwalis, mercifully for us, in Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's voice. It's a good thing RFAK has the singing chops to make these songs his own, avoiding unfavorable comparisons to the originals.

Sanu ek pal chain na aave from Raid, one of the better movies of 2018.

 

A haunting melody from Kalyug (2005) in RFAK's voice, Jiya dhadak dhadak jaye. I remember listening to this on a loop while working in my lab. How time flies!