2018

Song of the year for me. It transports us to the bygone eras, credits largely to the glorious lead voices. Sneha Khanwalkar ups the ante with every movie. Sans loud trumpets or heavy brass, the rousing feeling is intact, thanks to an arresting bassline, Cello/Viola layer, a restrained percussive section and a brief Clarinet. -Nagarajan

Excellent Yaman composition and the usage of a female voice that sounds very much like Shamshad Begum is very apt, given the time period in which this film is based on. Great lyrics. Ustad Rashid Khan might not be the best suited for this but does a good job nevertheless. Orchestration is good with a nice touch of harmonium, bulbul tarang and violin. -Ketan

Song of the year for me. -Nishant

This is a beautiful yaman based song, but disappointed to see others (ban titli etc.) didn't make the cut. -Sowmya

Interesting approach to orchestration (restless strings throughout); Clarinet is well-played, but doesn't gel with the rest somehow...Singing is good, but Yaman-based tune overall is more soothing than stirring as a "call to action". -Sanjeev

Cannot listen to this song without being stirred. I am not worthy enough to judge Faiz's poetry but the music and singers do absolute justice, IMHO. -Meera

Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry! Wow! -Megha

खड़ी रीढ़ की कविता है यह। हमारे दौर का सबसे ज़रूरी सबक़। इतना ज़रूरी, कि जितनी बार दोहराया जाए कम है। इतना ज़रूरी, कि मैंने फ़ैज़ साहब की इन अमर पंक्तियों को 2014 में अपने घर के बैठकखाने में फ्रेम में मढ़वाकर लगवा लिया, कि याद रहे। देखें कैसे स्नेहा ने एक ओर से मार्चिंग बीट और दूसरी ओर से घड़ी की भागती सुइयों की आवाज़ को संगीत में पिरो दिया है। जिस जगह विद्या शाह ठहरकर अंतरे की पंक्तियाँ "देख के आहन-गर की दुकाँ में, तुंद है शोले सुर्ख़ हैं आहन" गाती हैं, उस पल की ज़िन्दादिली को अपने भीतर उतरने दीजिए। पाश को याद कीजिए। भगत सिंह को याद कीजिए। मंटो को याद कीजिए। -मिहिर

Notice how the song begins after 7 seconds of silence. Very deliberately done - 1) to let the music kick in gradually and 2) makes sense for a song that is about freedom of expression. -Sankhayan

The legendary Faiz poem used well in a bit underwhelming film. -Pavan

Gave it an extra point for music and overall rating for the experimentation. The rhythm arrangement is quite intriguing. -Pranav

Rashid khan is amazing but never heard of Vidya shah before, she has done a great job too. Lyrics by Faiz are a classic. -Arun

Faiz's words adorn Sneha's non electronic music. I just didn't like the stop start feel of the song as much. -Hemendra

Arshad Mehmood's composition will remain the definitive version of this Faiz nazm, which does not survive this convoluted treatment by Sneha Khanvalkar. The soundtrack did have a nice song in form of Ab Kya Bataaon by Shubha Joshi which did not find its way into this shortlist. -Vibhendu

With veteran Ustad Rashid Khan one cannot go wrong. I heard Vidya Shah for the first time- liked her voice. Pleasing composition. Somehow for me each song that Sneha Khanwalkar composes, has a cut paste or assembled quality- it sounds beautiful almost as if it were a like a well crafted acoustic quilt, but it does have the synergy of a song performed live. They do provide a good atmospheric ambience. -Sunil

Sneha Khanwalkar hits the sweet spot between the edginess of experimental music and the comfort of the conventional in this song. The arrangement consisting of an addictive riff on strings, harmonium and clarinet is brilliant. Ustad Rashid Khan is wonderful as always and Vidya Shah is a revelation. And the song is set to a poem by Faiz, so there's that. -Param

Orchestration is mixed up; does't give a coherent identity to what could have been a very good song. Different female singer might have been better. -Ashok