2021 has been a disappointing year as far as Hindi film music is concerned. In fact, we can extend it to say that 2021 was as such disappointing for Hindi films too (other than one exceptional film, and a few good ones), but more on that later. Coming back to music, there wasn’t one single album which could even claim that it had three or four real good songs. Most of the times it was one good song here, another decent song there. Even the albums like Atrangi Re that had solid names associated with it finally delivered only a couple of good songs. As an album, Meenakshi Sundareshwar was possibly the best of lot with two or three very good songs, lot of freshness, but then there was so much mediocre and forgettable music all around, that anything slightly more melodious than the rest stayed back. One has to mention about the background score of Sardar Udham though, that was as brilliant as the film was, even though it didn’t have good songs in the offer and rightfully so. There were a few surprises thrown in from unlikely quarters, but overall the music scene was just dull. So much so that when I sat down to compile the best hindi songs of the year, I could not get to 10 songs even. So, here goes my pick of 7 Best Hindi Songs of 2021. It is of course a very personal list, and your choices could be very different than mine. Also it is not a ranked list in any chronology.

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2018 in Hindi Films was an year of tectonic shifts of sorts for its leading men. It was the year when the audience rose above the massive stardom of all the three major Khans, and only the classiest of the Khans delivered in a highly experimental world. It was the year when two of the biggest names in the current generation of actors delivered the weakest performances of their careers in two blockbusters films. But it was also the year when the new breed of actors broke new ground and continued to rise and rise in very interesting characters, and age became just a number on either side of the curve for the best performers of the year. With all this and more, it was a difficult task to pick up Best of Leading Performances by Male Actors for 2018, a category that will possibly have the widest range of personal perspectives and rightfully so. 

Continue reading “Roundup 2018 : The Top 10 Leading Performances (Male) in Hindi Films” →

Leading female actors of Hindi Cinema will all remember 2018 as the year where flawed, relatable and deeply layered characters, very different from the inconsequential formulaic ones that usually titillate the box office , were written and then deliciously played by them. There was a plenty of range to love and choose from for picking up the Best of Leading Performances by Female Actors for 2018. 

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2018 in Hindi Cinema saw very interesting characters being written not just for the lead roles, but even for the supporting characters who raise the bar of the film through their sheer craft even in limited screen time. Men or women, they are at times the foundation on which the film flourishes. Here is looking at the Top 10 Supporting Performances of 2018 in Hindi films – playing some of the most memorable characters of the year and hence deserve to be celebrated in their own right!

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After having looked at the Best Playback Performances of the year, here is looking at the songs that mesmerized the most with their words and are the Songs with Best Lyrics for the year. At times poetic, at times quirky, at times a deep emotion, at times a simple thought of life – these songs weaved magic through their words and stood out with what they said and how they said it. The poets behind these songs were true magicians of words.

Continue reading “Roundup 2018 : The Top 10 Lyrics in Hindi Film Songs” →

We start the year end roundup for 2018 by looking back at some of the best that Bengali Film Music had to offer, but then music is often above language. And happy to start on the note that it has actually been a good year for music in Bengali Cinema. For the past couple of years, other than one album here and two songs there, nothing was good enough to stay with you for long. But this year, there have at least been a few albums and quite a few songs that have played on playlists through the year. Here is looking at the best overall bengali film albums and the most memorable bengali songs from the year. Tune in…

Continue reading “Roundup 2018 : BEST OF MUSIC IN BENGALI FILMS” →