Some Mind blowing Non Bollywood Hindi songs I discovered in 2021 (Part 2)
2021 for me was a year I discovered a lot of great music. My playlist increased quite significantly. I found myself researching on quite a few Independent music artists whom I had otherwise not even heard of, or had just heard the name of. So here I am collating below a list of Non Hindi Film/ Non Bollywood Hindi songs which I discovered in 2021.
10. Sayyah by Lucky Ali
So this is quite an old track I discovered this year. It’s composed, written and performed by almost every 90’s kid’s beloved pop artist, our very favourite Lucky Ali himself. I was kind of living under a rock in this case to discover this one so late. This is from his 2011 album Raasta Man, it came out 10 years back.
This track has all the Lucky Ali vibes one would expect in his track, it’s not very popular though. It has that travelling, world viewing feel that he always manages to bring so well. Lucky Ali released an unplugged version of this track in 2021 which I found better than the original. The unplugged flavour adds to the bohemian feel and the flute
11. Khushnaseebi by The Khalnayak
So this is the track from which I started music hunting in 2021. I came across this track sometime in the beginning of this year, loved it, searched for more such work by the same artists, similar artists, different artists and ended up curating quite a playlist for myself. That which I am flaunting here.
The pathos in this track is quite sweet. I connect very well with it. I always end up listening to this track on a loop, multiple times whenever I hear it. That’s all I have to say about it.
The track came out in 2020, just a year back. It is written, composed and performed beautifully by The Khalnayak which include Shivansh Sethi, Divyansh Katyal and Tajinder Singh and vocalist Neelkanth Pathak.
12. Dil Beparvah by Ankur Tewari and Prateek Kuhad
This one is an extremely soothing melody. The two artists collaborated for this track for the show The Dewarists , I think this was season 5. This one came back in 2016, 5 years back. I was unaware of all of this, and discovered this track only in 2021.
When you get two very smooth singers, most light hearted music composing artists to collaborate on a song, the result is getting something equivalent of Cadbury Silk in song form (which I mean in a very good way, I really love Cadbury Silk). The soothing feel this song transmits, it takes you to the most peaceful space in your mind. It creates that calm atmosphere around you. Also as the lyrics talk about the heart and it’s will, it’s stubbornness, how careless and vagabond it is… it’s relatable to quite a few people, including me.
13. Tere Bajon, composed and written by Kabir-Athar, performed by Sunil Kamath
So this is a song made by artists who are presently not very well known, but is a Gem nonetheless. When I first heard this, it seemed just okay but some of the tunes, especially it’s beautiful chorus got stuck in my head, so much so that I ended up digging it through my search history. I highly recommend people to check out other work of the composers Kabir-Athar as well as the Singer Sunil Kamath, the guy is no less talented than any of our leading male playback singers, really hope all these guys get more recognition. A call out to youtuber Sangeetartist . I was recommended this song first in the first place in one of his videos.
This song came out in 2021 itself!
14. Nadiya Ke Paar by Swastik- The Band
This is an absolutely soul stirring, melodious track, it’s one of those tracks that says little but implies a lot. It’s a commentary on the self centered, narcissistic and monotonous times of today, how these feelings devoid people of their inner happiness and how love can act as a liberator.
I equally loved the video, it is a brilliant visual representation of everything that’s in the song. This song came out in 2016, I discovered it in 2021.
Big thanks to Swastik-The Band members Rohit Joshi, Karan Verma, Azad Bahot, Rishabh Kesar, Ranbir Tim Tin Sidhu, Keshav Dhar for writing, composing and performing this Gem.
15. Tere Liye by Shafqat Amanat Ali
This track is from Shafqat Amanat Ali’s album Muh Dikhai. This is a very uplifting, pleasant listen. It has all the feels, the vibes you expect from a track by Shafqat Amanat Ali. It has very simple and sound lyrics. Sufi vocals with a soft rock arrangement often go well and here they just do wonders. This one came out in 2015, 6 years back. Also do checkout the other tracks in this album, there’s a lot of variety in the songs and almost each one of them is a work of art.
16. Tere Hi Hum by Prateek Kuhad
This is a regular yet pleasant soft, sweet and romantic melody from Prateek Kuhad. it’s a wonderful track to listen to while commuting. It came out in 2021 itself. Nothing much to say about it, it’s more worth listening to.
17. Lagan Laagi Re, composed by Amit Trivedi, written by Shellee, performed by Shreya Ghoshal and Kavita Seth
This is a very mainstream choice. I am sure many of you already know about it and would have already heard it. It’s composed by Amit Trivedi , under his label/channel AT Azaad, part of his album Songs Of Love . The song is written by Shellee , sung by two very talented and famous female playback Singers ShreyaGhoshal and Kavita Seth . I really love how he has used the contrast of both their vocal quality to create this. They have created a Sanjay Leela Bhansali styled video for the song which kind of suits it.
Trivia: This is actually not a proper Non Filmy pop song. This was in fact composed for the movie Trishna which was to release in 2011 starring Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed , it was directed by Michael Winterbottom and produced by Anurag Kashyap (He also had a cameo appearance in the movie). The movie quite never saw the light of day and Amit Trivedi managed to get the rights of this song eventually. The song came out in 2021 itself.
18. Shaitaniyaan by Aishwarya Majmudar, Rahul Munjariya
This is a bright, hearty track full of a carefree vibe. It’s about love being the liberating factor setting one free, letting the rebel in one self out. Aishwarya Majmudar’s vocals are very melodious here. She gives an early Shreya Ghoshal feel. Sadly we don’t hear many female vocalists who can sing like that these days. The instrumental parts are also very rich, overall the track sounds very wholesome.
This track came out in 2019, two years back. I was recommended this track by Youtuber Sangeetartist. Yup, his videos helped me discover a lot of indie music in 2021, so he will be mentioned more often. The song is written and performed by Aishwarya Majmudar, composed by Rahul Munjariya.
Stay tuned for next part of best of songs