Tag Archives: Bollywood

2013 Bollywood Music Review

Another eventful year had come to an end and it’s time to take stock of year that was for Hindi film music. We did a similar review last year, if you’re interested.

2013 saw the release of 154 films with 999 songs between them.

We lost a number of artists in 2013. Some were young and their end was unexpected – Ajay Jhingran, Rituparno Ghosh and Sandeep Acharya. Others left behind a substantial musical legacy – Lakshmi Shankar, Madhubala Zaveri, P.B. Sreenivas, Pran, Reshma, Shamshad Begum, Vaali, Vitthalbhai Patel and the last of the male singers from the classic era of Hindi films – Manna Dey.

But the show went on and a number of new artists made their debuts. While some of them were indie artists making what might just be a brief foray into Bollywood, others are probably going to be Bollywood staple in years to come. Some of the notable debuts of 2013 were:

  1. Composer: Advait Nemlekar,  Akshay Hariharan, Atif Afzal, Bramfatura, Harpreet Singh, Indraneel Hariharan, Karan Kulkarni, The Lightyears Explode, Maatibaani, Mangesh Dhakde, Modern Mafia
  2. Lyricists: Ali Hayat Rizvi, Gurpreet Saini, Punam Hariharan, Ram Ramesh Sharma, Siddharth – Garima, Ubaid Azam Azmi
  3. Male Singers: Atif Afzal, Geet Sagar, Gopi Sunder, Indraneel Hariharan, Munawar Masoom, Najim Arshad, Nitesh Kadam, Osman Mir, Padmanabh Gaikwad, Sanam Puri, Vikas Ambhore
  4. Female Singers: Chaitra Ambadipudi, Jonita Gandhi, Mili Nair, Nirali Kartik, Saba Azad, Zebunnissa Bangash

The most prolific composers in 2013 were:

  1. Pritam – 8 films, 51 songs
  2. Sachin – Jigar – 7 films, 37 songs
  3. Sajid – Wajid – 5 films, 23 songs

While Pritam’s appearance at the top of this list is no surprise, 2013 will be seen as the year Sachin – Jigar established themselves as bankable composers and entrenched themselves in Bollywood. Surprisingly, Sajid – Wajid continue to be on this list despite their lackluster scores.

The most prolific lyricists in 2013 were:

  1. Kumaar – 16 films, 72 songs
  2. Amitabh Bhattacharya – 11 films, 42 songs
  3. Irshad Kamil – 5 films, 37 songs

Kumaar has been perhaps the most low profile of the current lot of lyricists so his name at this top of this list and the margin between him and the Amitabh Bhattacharya comes as a surprise.

The most prolific male singers of 2013 were:

  1. Mika Singh – 49 songs
  2. Sonu Nigam – 31 songs
  3. Arijit Singh – 28 songs

Mika Singh appears to be the industry’s favorite singer right now. It’s pity though that he is stuck in a rut in terms of the kinds of songs he sings. 2013 was Arijit Singh’s breakout year in terms of both the number of songs he sang as well as the mass appeal he was able to generate, thanks primarily to Ashiqui 2.

The most prolific female singers of 2013 were:

  1. Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan – 38 songs each
  2. Monali Thakur, Palak Muchhal – 14 songs each
  3. Mamta Sharma, Shalmali Kholgade – 13 songs each

While the divas – Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan – continue to dominate the scene, there seems to be a lot of competition amongst female singers. It’s good to see a newbie – Shalmali Kholgade (2012 was her debut year) on this list as it is to see Monali Thakur, who as been around for a few years now, finally get her due.

Finally, based on  a combination of ratings and number of well-rated songs in 2013, the most popular artists of 2013 were:

  1. Most popular composers: Pritam, Amit Trivedi, Sachin – Jigar
  2. Most popular lyricists: Irshad Kamil, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kumaar
  3. Most popular male singers: Arijit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Amit Trivedi
  4. Most popular female singers: Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Palak Muchhal

The Top 100 Bollywood Songs Of 2013

So here it is finally – the 100 best rated film songs on MySwar in 2013:

  1. Piya Milenge (Raanjhanaa)
  2. Khushamdeed (Go Goa Gone)
  3. Sawar Loon (Lootera)
  4. Manjha (Kai Po Che)
  5. Shubhaarambh (Kai Po Che)
  6. Murshid Khele Holi (D-Day)
  7. Ankahee (Lootera)
  8. Meethi Boliyan (Kai Po Che)
  9. Manmarziyan (Lootera)
  10. Zinda (Lootera)
  11. Shikayatein (Lootera)
  12. Alvida (D-Day)
  13. Kabira Encore (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
  14. Slow Motion Angreza (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  15. Dhuaan (D-Day)
  16. Tu Mun Shudi (Raanjhanaa)
  17. Tum Hi Ho (Aashiqui 2)
  18. O Rangrez (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  19. Aise Naa Dekho (Raanjhanaa)
  20. Sunn Raha Hai (Aashiqui 2)
  21. Tore Matware Naina (David)
  22. Har Kisi Ko (Boss)
  23. Milne Hai Mujhse Aayi (Aashiqui 2)
  24. Ghum Huye (David)
  25. Out Of Control (David)
  26. Ajnabee (Madras Cafe)
  27. Charon Taraf (John Day)
  28. Mann Tu Shudi (Baat Bann Gayi)
  29. Ek Ghadi (D-Day)
  30. Khud Se (Madras Cafe)
  31. Laal Ishq (Ram-leela)
  32. Out Of Control (Choir Version)
  33. Bandhay (David)
  34. Raanjhanaa (Raanjhanaa)
  35. Mera Mann Kehne Laga (Nautanki Saala)
  36. Kabira (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
  37. Ambarsariya (Fukrey)
  38. Kai Po Che (Kai Po Che)
  39. Monta Re (Lootera)
  40. Saadi Galli Aaja (Nautanki Saala)
  41. Badtameez Dil (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
  42. Dil Kaagzi (Gippi)
  43. Meri Aashiqui (Aashiqui 2)
  44. Tose Naina (Mickey Virus)
  45. Tum Tak (Raanjhanaa)
  46. Mann Baavra (Gippi)
  47. Ghanchakkar Babu (Ghanchakkar)
  48. Kaanha Mose (Black Home)
  49. Mera Mann Kehne Laga (Reprise) (Nautanki Saala)
  50. Aye Dil Bata (Ishq Actually)
  51. Kaun Mera (Special 26)
  52. Kap Kap (Hindi) (Prague)
  53. Baarish (Yaariyan)
  54. Khoon Choos Le (Go Goa Gone)
  55. Gurbani (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  56. Kangna (The Reluctant Fundamentalist)
  57. Ay Sakhi (Raanjhanaa)
  58. Title (Chennai Express)
  59. Bhaag Milka Bhaag (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  60. Chahun Main Ya Naa (Aashiqui 2)
  61. Sapna Re Sapna (Ek Thi Daayan)
  62. Aaja Meri Jaan (I Love New Year)
  63. Ilahi (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
  64. Piya Aaye Na (Aashiqui 2)
  65. Mera Yaar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  66. Babaji Ki Booti (Go Goa Gone)
  67. Heer (Singh Saab The Great)
  68. Ilahi Reprise (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
  69. Love Me Thoda Aur (Yaariyan)
  70. Kabhi Jo Baadal Barse (Male Version) (Jackpot)
  71. Kabhi Jo Baadal Barse (Female Version) (Jackpot)
  72. Chikadanga (Warning)
  73. Darbadar (I Me Aur Main)
  74. Kaun Mera (Special 26)
  75. Ishaan Rising (Kai Po Che)
  76. Kaise Bataaoon (Cantabile) (3G)
  77. Aasaan Nahin Yahan (Aashiqui 2)
  78. Banarasiya (Raanjhanaa)
  79. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Rock Version) (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  80. Sun Le Re (Reprise) (Madras Cafe)
  81. Sun Le Re (Madras Cafe)
  82. Main Rang Sharbaton Ka (Reprise) (Phata Poster Nikhla Hero)
  83. Main Rang Sharbaton Ka (Phata Poster Nikhla Hero)
  84. Mere Bina Tu (Duet) (Phata Poster Nikhla Hero)
  85. Mere Bina Tu (Phata Poster Nikhla Hero)
  86. Aankhon Hi Aankhon Ne (Duet) (Mickey Virus)
  87. Janam Janam (Phata Poster Nikhla Hero)
  88. Khalbali (3G)
  89. Maston Ka Jhund (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  90. Allah Meherbaan (Ghanchakkar)
  91. Jheeni Re Jheeni (Issaq)
  92. Jhalkiyan – Reprise (Kaafiron Ki Namaaz)
  93. Aankhon Hi Aankhon Ne (Female) (Mickey Virus)
  94. Janam Janam (Reprise) (Phata Poster Nikhla Hero)
  95. Dil Duffer (Gori Tere Pyaar Mein)
  96. Balam Pichkari (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
  97. Zinda (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
  98. Aashiqui (The Love Theme) (Aashiqui 2)
  99. Sunn Raha Hai (Female) (Aashiqui 2)
  100. Mast Kalandar (David)

You can also check out the complete list of the well-rated (3 and above) Bollywood songs of 2013. And here is the  playlist of 2013’s best Bollywood songs.

And this is still not enough, you can always go back the 2012 list.

Here’s to wishing you a very happy and musical 2014.

What Are Your Favourite Bollywood Songs Of 2013?

As 2013 draws to a close, it is time to review the best songs that came out this year. Last year’s post of The Top 100 Bollywood Songs Of 2012 is amongst our most popular posts and if you haven’t already seen it you might want to visit it because you’ll likely find some wonderful songs that you may not have heard.

Please make your opinion count this year and give your ratings (registration/login required).

While you’ll find the complete list of the best rated Bollywood songs of 2013 here, the top 10 songs as of now are:

  1. Alvida (D-Day)

  2. Khushamdeed (Go Goa Gone)

  3. Slow Motion Angreza (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)

  4. Piya Milenge (Raanjhana)

  5. Tore Matware Naina (David)

  6. Har Kisi Ko (Boss)

  7. Ghum Huye (David)

  8. Sapna Re Sapna (Ek Thi Daayan)

  9. Sawaar Loon (Lootera)

  10. Manjha (Kai Po Che)

Happy listening and rating!

[Update: The top 100 Bollywood list is published.]

Songless Hindi Films

When we set out to build MySwar as a comprehensive catalog for music from Hindi films, we didn’t pay a lot of attention to films that didn’t have any songs. This became apparent during the discussion on Twitter, that followed when we published this trivia:

Thanks to the “demands” of a few music lovers (!), we decided to give a shot at listing all Hindi films without any songs. For now, this blog post will serve as the repository for this list. These films are catalogued on MySwar as well but not highlighted in any of the listings. This list is not perfect – some of these films may not truly belong here and we may be missing some. For example, Pushpak was a silent film and others like The Perfect Murder and Parzania are not Hindi films. If you know of any film that we should add to this list, let us know in the comments section.

Anyway, here goes:

  1. Naujawan (1937) – MUSIC: Master Mohammed
  2. Munna (1954) – MUSIC: Anil Biswas
  3. Kanoon (1960) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  4. Bhuvan Shome (1969) – MUSIC: Vijay Raghava Rao
  5. Ittefaq (1969) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  6. Rakhi Rakhi (1969) – BACKGROUND SCORE: B.M. Chandavarkar
  7. Sara Akash (1969) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  8. Uski Roti (1970) – SANTOOR: Ratan Lal
  9. Aashaadh Ka Ek Din (1971) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Jaidev
  10. Maya Darpan (1972) – MUSIC: Bhaskar Chandavarkar.
  11. 27 Down (1973) – MUSIC: Bhuban Hari (Bhubaneshwar Misra and Hariprasad Chaurasia)
  12. Achanak (1973) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Vasant Desai
  13. Duvidha (1973) – FOLK MUSICIANS: Ramzan Hammu, Saki Khan, Latif.
  14. Ankur (1974) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Vanraj Bhatia
  15. Mrigayaa (1976) – MUSIC: Salil Chowdhury.
  16. Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastan (1978) – MUSIC: Bhaskar Chandavarkar
  17. Chirutha (1980) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  18. Satah Se Uthta Aadmi (1980) – MUSIC: Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar
  19. Plot No. 5 (1981) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  20. Sadgati (1981) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Satyajit Ray
  21. Sazaye Maut (1981) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  22. Shodh (1981) – MUSIC: Shantanu Mohapatra
  23. Ardh Satya (1983) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Ajit Verman
  24. Godam (1984) – MUSIC: Dilip Chitre
  25. Holi (1984) – MUSIC: Rajat Dholakia
  26. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1984) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Vanraj Bhatia, ASSISTANT: Kersi Lord
  27. Kanoon Kya Karega (1984) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  28. Khandhar (1984) – MUSIC: Bhaskar Chandavarkar
  29. Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho (1984) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Vanraj Bhatia
  30. Party (1984) – No information
  31. Aghaat (1985) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  32. Andhi Gali (1985) – MUSIC: Buddhadev Dasgupta
  33. Damul (1985) – MUSIC: Pt. Raghunath Seth.
  34. Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Basu Chakraborty
  35. Genesis (1986) – MUSIC: Pandit Ravi Shankar
  36. Maati Manas (1986) – BACKGROUND SCORE: T.R. Mahalingam
  37. Massey Sahib (1986) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  38. New Delhi Times (1986) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Vanraj Bhatia
  39. Rao Saheb (1986) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Bhaskar Chandavarkar
  40. Zevar (1986) – MUSIC: Salil Chowdhury
  41. Pestonjee (1987) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  42. Pushpak (1981) – BACKGROUND SCORE: L. Vaidyanathan
  43. Andhaa Yudh (1988) – MUSIC BY: Ajit Varman
  44. Salaam Bombay (1988) – MUSIC: L. Subramaniam
  45. Susman (1988) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Vanraj Bhatia
  46. The Perfect Murder (1988) – MUSIC: Richard Robbins
  47. Raakh (1989) – MUSIC: Ranjit Barot
  48. Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) – MUSIC: Sharang Dev
  49. Ek Din Achanak (1990) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Jyotishka Dasgupta
  50. Kamla Ki Maut (1990) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salil Chowdhury
  51. Naya Zamana Nai Kranti (1990) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Navin Sharma
  52. Nazar (1990) – MUSIC: Vikram Joglekar, D Wood
  53. Dharavi (1991) – MUSIC: Rajat Dholakia
  54. Diksha (1991) – MUSIC: Mohinderjit Singh
  55. Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1991) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  56. Ek Ghar (1991) – MUSIC: L. Vaidyanathan
  57. Kasba (1991) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  58. Antarnaad (1992) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  59. Purush (1992) – BACKGROUND MUSIC: Milind Chitnavis, Tushar Bhatia
  60. Raat (1992) – MUSIC BY: Mani Sharma
  61. Sardar (1993) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  62. Woh Chhokri (1993) – MUSIC: Sapan Jagmohan
  63. Aranyak (1994) – No information
  64. Tarpan (1994) – MUSIC: Rajat Dholakia
  65. Drohkaal (1995) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia, Anjan Biswas, Sunil Kaushik, Taufiq Qureshi
  66. Naseem (1995) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  67. Jaya Ganga (1996) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  68. The Making Of The Mahatma (1996) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  69. Char Adhyay (1997) – MUSIC: Vanraj Bhatia
  70. Rui Ka Bojh (1997) – MUSIC: K. Narayan
  71. Hyderabad Blues (1998) – MUSIC: Dr. Bunty
  72. Kairee (2000) – MUSIC: Bhaskar Chandavarkar
  73. Chandni Bar (2001) – BACKGROUND MUSIC: Raju Singh
  74. Ek Chhoti Si Love Story (2002) – MUSIC SCORE: Arvind Nirmal
  75. Kali Salwar (2002) – MUSIC: Ved Nair
  76. Chokher Bali (2003) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Debojyoti Mishra
  77. Ek Din 24 Ghante (2003) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Sanjay Chakravarthy
  78. Hawa (2003) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Surendra Singh Sodhi
  79. Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salim – Sulaiman
  80. Hum Kaun Hain (2004) – MUSIC: Sanjoy Chowdhury
  81. Vaastu Shastra (2004) – MUSIC: Amar Mohile
  82. 15 Park Avenue (2005) – MUSIC: Jyotishka Dasgupta
  83. Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (2005) – MUSIC: Bappi Lahiri
  84. Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2005) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salim – Sulaiman
  85. Naina (2005) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Salim – Sulaiman
  86. Being Cyrus (2006) – MUSIC: Salim – Sulaiman
  87. Gafla (2006) – MUSIC: Kartik Shah
  88. Parzania (2007) – MUSIC: Zakir Hussai, Taufiq Qureshi
  89. The Pool (2007) – MUSIC: Didier Leplae, Joe Wong.
  90. Phoonk (2008) – MUSIC: Bapi – Tutul
  91. Shoot On Sight (2008) – MUSIC: John Altman
  92. Blue Oranges (2009) – MUSIC: Ajay Panchal
  93. Siddharth – The Prisoner (2009) – MUSIC: Sagar Desai
  94. The President Is Coming (2009) – MUSIC: Siddhartha Khosla (Goldspot)
  95. Harud (2010)
  96. Pairon Talle (2010)
  97. Phoonk 2 (2010) – BACKGROUND SCORE: Dharmaraj Bhatt, Rahul Pandirkar
  98. Rokkk (2010)
  99. The Waiting Room (2010)
  100. Dhobi Ghat (2011) – MUSIC: Gustavo Santaolalla
  101. Kshay (2011) – MUSIC: Siddharth Bhatia, Karan Gour
  102. Gangoobai (2013) – MUSIC: Ved Nair
  103. Horror Story (2013)
  104. The Lunchbox (2013) – MUSIC: Max Richter

Interesting information about some of these films:

  • When Naujawan (1937) was released, there was a bit of a backlash and the producers of the film were accused of cheating audiences by not including songs.
  • Rajat Dholakia won the National Film Award for Music Direction for the film Dharavi (1991) – a rare instance of a film with no songs winning a National Film Award for music.
  • Holi did have this song – “Na Koi” – but this film has been included in the songless list since the song is really part of the film and does not have characteristics of a typical, recorded song. Amir Khan, Ashutosh Gowrikar and other actors can be seen in this song.

[Update : Removed “Current” (1991)  from the list. Per @kaurvaki, it had this song – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGTjyP6QxpE.]

[Update: Added The Pool, via Ronak Sanghvi.]

[Update: Based on inputs from @p1j – Added Naujawan and Munna. Removed Ek Haseena Thi, Paroma, Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda and Sanshodhan. They have one or more songs. Songs will be identified and added on MySwar.]

[Update: Numbered. Add interesting info.]

[Update: Added Holi (1984) and Raat (1992) based on input by @FagunB. Added interesting info about Holi.]

[Update: Added Andhaa Yudh (1988) and Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) based on input by @FagunB.]

[Update: Added The Lunchbox (2013).]

[Update: Added hyperlinks to MySwar. Added Damul (1985). Also added a number of other albums based on input from @abhisek_s, @singh_dr, @hims_negi, @mpmainka.]

Custom Playlists On MySwar

Many of you have asked about being able to create your own playlists and I’m glad to report that we have rolled out custom playlists now on MySwar.

Custom playlists works pretty much as you would expect them to – All across the website, you’ll see a + sign against songs, provided a YouTube video is available. Clicking the plus sign lets you add the song to a queue (temporary) or lets you add it to a playlist (saved). Adding songs to a playlist requires you to be a registered user. The saved playlists are public and available to anyone who has the playlist URL, so you can share your playlists with friends. One advantage of a MySwar Playlist is that even if a YouTube video disappears, the song stays on the list (just doesn’t get played) and when we add another video back for the song, which we do periodically, your playlists remains intact.

Other than custom playlists, we have also put together a massive package of pre-built playlists of well-rated songs based on a number of things. You have a list of all the songs on MySwar with a rating of three and above – All-time Popular Songs. There is a list of well-rated songs that have released recently – Popular New Releases. A list of well-rated songs by year – one list for every year from 1941 to the present. A list of popular songs by decade. We have a whole bunch of playlists by artists – singers, composers and lyricists. And finally, playlists by genres.

Something to remember about the pre-built, popular playlists – these are shuffle playlists of 25 songs. So even if the actual list has a large number of songs, the packaged playlist will consist of 25 randomly picked songs. You can always get a fresh set of 25 songs by clicking the Shuffle button.

And the first custom playlist on MySwar? My own Kishore Favorites.

Why Lootera Is A Better Music Album Than Raanjhanaa

Before I delve into the post, let me state two things:

  • I’d rather not make comparisons but I saw the albums being compared on social media and was disappointed at how dismissive some people were about Lootera – as if it did not even deserve to be compared with Raanjhanaa! I thought it was important that someone present an alternate view.
  • This is not a comparison between A.R. Rahman and Amit Trivedi. I have the deepest respect for both and love their music. I completely agree with Amit Trivedi when he says “there can’t be another Rahman”. Based on the music he has made so far, I also believe there can’t be another Amit Trivedi.

Now, on to why I believe Lootera is a better album. The answer to that lies partly in why I like Raanjhanaa less. Many have used words like textured and layered to describe Raanjhanaa’s music and they are right, except that I found Raanjhanaa’s music to be too textured. There is a LOT going on and many of those individual elements are brilliant (like the sitar in Banarasiya and how he’s used the KMMC Sufi Ensemble in Piya Milenge), but put together the music feels cluttered. The whole is less than the sum of parts. For example, Ay Sakhi uses the following percussion instruments – tabla, ghatam/matka, drum sticks, dafli, dhol and maybe others that my ears did not catch. It’s overwhelming and not in a pleasant way. The second issue, I have with Raanjhanaa is a very basic one – except for two or three of songs (my favorite being Tu Mun Shudi), I found the songs “unhummable”. A lot has been said about Rahman defying norms (like not using traditional song structures with mukhda/antara) but it isn’t this that makes his music work. It makes his music interesting and it gives his music that unique ARR character. But, what makes his music really work – for me – is the underlying melody. I found Raanjhanaa’s music lacking in this regard.

On the other hand, I love Lootera because it is a collection of simple and beautiful songs. After Barfi, it’s the first album that I liked after a single listen (although it took a few listens for me to get over Sawar Loon’s percussions). Every song is extremely melodic, the singers do a superb job (Monali Thakur, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Amit Trivedi, K. Mohan, Swanand Kirkire and Shilpa Rao will all count Lootera amongst their best work as singers) and I can easily see myself listening to and humming these songs for years to come. A key strength of the album is it’s no fuss, no frill approach. I am not sure if all great things are simple but Lootera’s music certainly supports the adage.

That said, I encourage everyone to buy both these albums – for both albums deserve to be heard – and form their own opinion. I don’t agree with people who wring their hands and claim that the music today ’s music isn’t as good as it used to be. Every generation says that and that’s nostalgic bullshit. I think we’re lucky to be living in the times of composers like A.R. Rahman and Amit Trivedi. It is a privilege to have both of them release albums within days of each other and it is as good a time as any to be a music lover.

Non-film Albums Now On MySwar

We now have non-film albums listed on MySwar! We were always very clear that we wanted to include as much Indian music as we could on MySwar and after almost a year of toil, we’re extremely proud to add non-film music albums on MySwar.

Let me start though with a little summary of what we have accomplished so far. Over 2012, we have built-up what’s probably the most comprehensive database of Hindi film music from 1941 to present day. Since we’re not constrained by licensing deals and label provided meta-data, we have been able to list on MySwar detailed credits of every song from every film we have been able to get information about. Also, because our focus has been on accuracy and detail, we have structured our data in a way that lets us catalog song metadata that is a lot more meaningful than the generic Artist ID3 tag that rules the roost everywhere. This is especially significant for Indian film music which is generally attributed separately to music directors (composers), lyricists and singers.

While we’re proud of our work in cataloguing Bollywood music, we know our work is not done. We still keep finding film album releases we have missed and of course, there’s the steady stream of current releases. Also, while Bollywood was a great starting point because of its wide appeal and because it provided us a finite, manageable scope of work, we believe it’s time to broaden our horizon and go beyond Hindi film music.

From a planning perspective, cataloguing Bollywood music was quite simple – Start with each year, find out every film released in that year, determine the songs in those films and get as much information about those albums/songs as we could. Cataloguing non-film music was a lot more difficult to plan because our country has a bewildering array of labels, genres, artists and languages. Where do we start? How do we impose method on this madness? We solved the problem of defining scope by starting with the artists we already had in our database. We added to that list artists and music releases that were contemporarily significant – like Swarathma, Coke Studio, MTV Unplugged, etc. But even this was a huge list, so we had to categorize them in terms of priority. What we have published on MySwar now is just one set of artists and albums from that list.

The other problem we had to grapple with was how we showed information of film and non-film albums and songs. Do we list them separately or together? There were arguments to be made for both, so we said we would do a combination of both AND also let the users decide if they wanted to see one or the other. So here’ how you can see information organized on MySwar:

  1. The Artist page (like Jagjit Singh’s) will have the discography separated by non-film and film albums.
  2. Other than the artist discography pages, every other page will list both film and non-film albums/songs. However, users can use the Filter function (top-right of the listing, see screen shots below) to see only film, or non-film albums and song.
  3. If users want to see both film and non-film albums/song for a given artist together (which they can’t from the Artist page), they can use the Advanced Search feature.

We really hope you enjoy this update. There are some minor kinks we’re working on. If you have any feedback, please do let us know.

Filter Filter Expanded

Mirchi Music Awards 2012

The popular FM radio channel Radio Mirchi gave out its annual music awards yesterday in a star-studded ceremony. Here is the list of awards:

  1. Song Of The Year – Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin (Agneepath)
  2. Album Of The Year – Agneepath
  3. Mirchi Listener Song Of The Year – Radha (Student Of The Year)
  4. Mirchi Listener Album Of The Year – Student Of The Year
  5. Male Vocalist Of The Year – Sonu Nigam for Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin (Agneepath)
  6. Female Vocalist Of The Year – Shreya Ghoshal for Chikni Chameli (Agneepath)
  7. Music Composer Of The Year – Ajay – Atul for Agneepath
  8. Lyricist Of The Year – Javed Akhtar for Jee Le Zara (Talaash)
  9. Upcoming Male Vocalist Of The Year – Arijit Singh for Duaa (Shanghai)
  10. Upcoming Female Vocalist Of The Year – Neeti Mohan for Jiya Re (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)
  11. Song Of The Year Representing Sufi Tradition – O Saiyyan (Agneepath)
  12. Raag Inspired Song Of The Year – Bolo Na (Chittagong)
  13. Indipop Song Of The Year – Satyamev Jayate (Satyamev Jayate)
  14. Song Recording / Sound Engineering Of The Year – Vijay Dayal for Deva Shree Ganesha (Agneepath)
  15. Programmer & Arranger Of The Year – DJ Phukan, Hyacinth Dsouza for Dil Mera Muft Ka (Agent Vinod)
  16. Background Score Of The Year – Clinton Cerejo for Kahaani
  17. Lifetime Achievement Award – Asha Bhosle
  18. Contribution To 100 Years Of Cinema – Amitabh Bachchan
  19. Contribution To Music – Ameen Sayani
  20. Golden Era Award – Baiju Bawra

As is usual with Bollywood awards, this edition of MMA did meet some criticism (mine included):

  • While the music of Gangs of Wasseypur wasn’t very popular, music director Sneha Khanwalkar was appreciated for pushing the boundaries of film music by bringing in undiluted folk and electronic elements. GoW has also gathered a niche but strong set of supporters and the fans of the film’s music felt let down that it had not even been nominated for any award
  • While there was a general sense that some undeserving songs got nominated and eventually won (Radha from Student Of The Year winning the Mirchi Listener Song Of The Year, for instance), this sense was acute for two categories – Raag Inspired Song Of The Year, which had Sajid – Wajid’s “Dagabaaz Re” (“Dabangg 2”, 2012) as a nomination, a song many believe to be “inspired” by “Tumse Izhaar E Haal Kar Baithe” (“Mere Mehboob”, 1963) and the Song Of The Year Representing Sufi Tradition, which had among other nominations, Raabta (Agent Vinod), a nice enough song but representing Sufi tradition?
  • There is lack of clarity on who receives some of these awards, like song/album of the year awards.

You can find the complete list of Mirchi Music Awards as well as other music awards for the last few years on MySwar.

2012 Bollywood Music Review

MySwar has a lot of data on Bollywood music over 2012 and we thought it would be fun to see what the data told us. So here goes:

Number of film music albums released: 123

Number of songs: 843

Artists who passed away in 2012: Mehdi Hassan, Ravi, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anil Mohile, Shahryar

Notable debuts:

Most prolific composers:

  1. Sajid – Wajid – 10 films, 63 songs
  2. Pritam – 7 films, 53 songs
  3. Himesh Reshammiya – 5 films, 46 songs

Most prolific lyricists:

  1. Sameer – 14 films, 52 songs
  2. Shabbir Ahmed – 12 films, 46 songs
  3. Kumaar – 12 films, 35 songs

Most prolific female singers:

  1. Shreya Ghoshal – 70 songs
  2. Sunidhi Chauhan – 55 songs
  3. Mamta Sharma – 20 songs

Most prolific male singers:

  1. Shaan – 30 songs
  2. Sukhwinder Singh – 27 songs
  3. Mika Singh – 25 songs

Best artists based on a combination of ratings and number of well-rated songs in 2012:

Best Music Directors:

  1. Pritam
  2. Amit Trivedi
  3. A.R. Rahman

Best Lyricists:

  1. Amitabh Bhattacharya
  2. Swanand Kirkire
  3. Irshad Kamil

Best Female Singers:

  1. Shreya Ghoshal
  2. Sunidhi Chauhan
  3. Harshdeep Kaur

Best Male Singers:

  1. Arijit Singh
  2. KK
  3. Amit Trivedi