We are reviewing the Best of Indian Cinema in 2019, and look at the Best Bengali Film Songs of 2019. We have already reviewed this for Hindi Films and The Best Hindi Film Songs of 2019 are listed Here.
After a couple of pretty weak years for Bengali cinema, it took a turn for the good this year, and we had quite a few good films across genres and filmmakers. Good stories also had scope for good music, and there were films like Shah Jahan Regency or Rajlokkhi o Srikanto where almost all songs turned out good. Albums of Tarikh, or Bijoya stood on their own merit as well. In fact, there were hidden good songs even in average or below average films like Mitin Mashi, Parineeta or Finally Bhalobasha. Then there were films like Nagarkirtan, Kia and Cosmos or Basu Poribaar that did not have a lot of songs play, but their background score was very impressive. Quite a few memorable songs of the year emerged basing themselves on folk music or going back to the roots of classical music. Bengali cinema also continued to use Rabindra Sangeet most appropriately across its stories, and the most memorable recreation of Tagore songs in films this year came from:
- Jakhon porbe na more paayer chinho – Shah Jahan Regency – Rupankar Bagchi
- Amar praner pore chole gelo ke – Jyeshtho Putro – Jayati Chakraborty
- Bhara badar maaha bhadar – Ghawre Baire Aaj – Manomay Bhattacharya
- Era sukher laagi – Sweater – Iman Chakraborty
- Khachar pakhi – Mukherjee dar Bou – Nikita Gandhi
Having said that, we picked the Best songs of the year from the bouquet of songs that were primarily composed originally for the film or recreated from an older song. The other rule applied was not to consider more than 2 songs from a given film. This is not a popularity based listing, and songs were considered and ranked only on the basis of their overall merit (holistically looking at the music, lyrics, singing and the overall feel of the song). Listed then are the Top 25 Bengali Film Songs of 2019. Do listen to them:
Top 25 Bengali Songs of 2019 – Ranked
25. Keshto – Teko | Music: Savvy | Lyrics: Ritam Sen | Vocals: Debdeep Mukhopadhyay
24. Sei tumi – Parineeta | Music: Arko | Lyrics: Arko | Vocals: Arko
23. Preme pora baaron – Sweater | Music: Ranajoy Bhattacharjee | Lyrics: Ranajoy Bhattacharjee | Vocals: Lagnajita Chakraborty
22. Chhaye badra – Ghawre Baire Aaj | Music & Lyrics: Traditional classical | Vocals: Ustad Rashid Khan & Arpita Chatterjee
21. Ekai bhalo – Shantilal o Projapoti Rahasya | Music: Arko | Lyrics: Ritam Sen | Vocals: Durnibar Saha
20. Bhromor – Basu Paribaar | Music & Lyrics: Traditional folk | Arranged by: Pt. Bickram Ghosh | Vocals: Manomoy Bhattacharya
19. O jiban tomar sathe – Mukherjee Dar Bou | Music: Indraadip Das Gupta | Lyrics: Dipangshu Acharya | Vocals: Iman Chakraborty
18. Kato kato mon – Finally Bhalobasha | Music: Neel Dutt | Lyrics: Anjan Dutt | Vocals: Madhubanti Bagchi
17. Aaye beheste ke jaabi aaye – Ahaa Re | Music: Souvik Gupta (Savvy) | Lyrics: Kazi Nazrul Islam | Vocals: Somlata Acharyya Chowdhury
16. Barsat saawan – Mitin Mashi | Music: Pt. Bickram Ghosh | Lyrics: Rajiv Pandey | Vocals: Ustad Rashid Khan
15. Chhile bondhu – Finally Bhalobasha | Music: Neel Dutt | Lyrics: Anjan Dutt | Vocals: Neel Dutt
14. Subhash ji – Gumnaami | Music & Lyrics: Resident Indians of East Asia | Re-created by: Indraadip Das Gupta | Vocals: Sonu Nigam
13. Tomay mone porchhilo – Robibaar | Music: Debojyoti Mishra | Lyrics: Debojyoti Mishra | Vocals: Rupankar Bagchi
12. Ki kore haye – Kia and Cosmos | Music: Neel Adhikari | Lyrics: Sudipto Roy, Neel Adhikari | Vocals: Neel Adhikari
11. Shobai chup – Kanttho | Music: Prasen | Lyrics: Dipangshu Acharya | Vocals: Sahana Bajpaie
10. Bondhu maanei – Tarikh | Music: Rocket Mondal | Lyrics: Kaushik Ganguly | Vocals: Rupankar Bagchi
09. Tomake – Parineeta | Music: Arko | Lyrics: Arko | Vocals: Shreya Ghoshal
08. E kul bhange – Bijoya | Music: Indraadip Das Gupta, Dohar | Lyrics: Kazi Nazrul Islam | Vocals: Arko Mukherjee
07. Ki ba tomar ange rakhi – Rajlokkhi o Srikanto | Music: Tanmoy Sarkar | Lyrics: Tanmoy Sarkar | Vocals: Bablu Das
06. Bolo na Radhika taake – Shah Jahan Regency | Music: Prasen | Lyrics: Ritam Sen | Vocals: Monali Thakur
05. Tomar pasher desh – Bijoya | Music: Indraadip Das Gupta | Lyrics: Kaushik Ganguly | Vocals: Arijit Singh
04. Baat chalat – Mitin Mashi | Music: Pt. Bickram Ghosh | Lyrics: Sugato Guha | Vocals: Madhubanti Bagchi
03. Sagar kuler naiyya – Tarikh | Music & Lyrics: Traditional folk | Vocals: Sagardweep Deb
02. Amar etuk shudhu chaoa – Rajlokkhi o Srikanto | Music: Anirban Das | Lyrics: Anirban Das | Vocals: Timir Biswas
01. Kichhu chayi ni aami – Shah Jahan Regency | Music: Prasen | Lyrics: Dipangshu Acharya | Vocals: Madhubanti Bagchi / Anirban Bhattacharya
So that was the Third Vantage Point Selection of the Best Bengali Film Songs of the Year. Needless to say, these were the ones that played the most on my playlist this year, what was on yours? What were your favorite songs for the year? Do rewind back listening to some of the best melodies of the year, and share…
You can also find the extended coverage of the entire Best of the Decade and Year Series here.
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