Quite a yearful

Himesh was mediocre, Pritam was the busiest, Shantanu Moitra's Khoya Khoya Chand score was brilliant... We review this year's Indian pop music scene.

Most people will agree that analysing the past year to list what rocked and what didn't is great fun. So let's check how Indian popular music fared this year.

Music company executives complained about bad reviews and diminishing sales, but we won't blame them. Illegal MP3 downloads are eating into their sales, but mediocre releases aren't helping the situation either.

This year, among hundreds of releases, only a few stood out for their originality and were the ones that made money.

How the composers fared
Composers such as Monty Sharma (Saawariya) Shantanu Moitra (Khoya Khoya Chand), Rabbi Shergil (Delhi Heights), Ilaiya Raja (Cheeni Kum), Mithoon (Train), Lesley Lewis (Apna Aasman) and Anand Raj Anand (Chhodo Na Yaar) had a good year.

Pritam (A Life In Metro, Jab We Met, Kya Love-story Hai) and
Vishal- Shekhar (Tararumpum, Om Shanti Om, Honeymoon Travels, Cash) were the busiest composers of the year and besides routine fillers, they managed to dish out a few good songs as well.

The top guns Shankar-Ehsan-Loy had a mixed year. The scores of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Hey Babyy proved popular but Marigold and Johnny Gaddaar weren't very well received.

Last year's craze, Himesh Reshammiya didn't do too well. Apart from Aap Ka Surroor and Namastey London, his soundtracks in albums like Good Boy Bad Boy, Red, Fear and Darling found no takers. After all, how long one can repeat (and tolerate) the same formula.

Non-film albums
Among non-film albums, only a few such as The Ustad & The Divas (Ustad Sultan Khan with Sunidhi, Shreya and Chitra), Kisi Din (Adnan Sami) and Saadgi (Lata Mangeshkar) were worth listening to.

Recently, new unconventional voices have been making their presence felt. Names such as Hamsika Iyer (Khushboo Se), Shail Hada (Saawariya), Soham (In Dinon), Mustafa Zahid (Toh Phir Aao) and Shiraz Uppal (Roya Re) often make it to the FM charts. But, like last year, the top spots were cornered by Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chouhan. The veteran singers Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik seem to have lost their premier status.

Fusion music
The trend in global fusion music is here to stay and synthesizers, advanced mixing technology and Hinglish lyrics are now permanent fixtures in today's music.

Remixes
The painful glut of remixes has slowed down, though not stopped entirely. Now, composers include remixed versions on the original albums before anyone else has a chance to manipulate the tunes. In short, this trend is a lesser of the two evils.

Top songs
Last year's top song was definitely Beedi Jalai Le. Its trendy folk-flavour floored everyone in 2006. This year, Chak De India's anthem was by far the best song of the year. The singer Sukhvinder Singh, who also had a major role in Beedi's success, has thus received top of the year honours twice.

Top 10 Songs
Amidst largely similar-sounding songs, a few songs made a difference.

1. Chak De
(Chak De India) Sukhvinder Singh
2. Aankhon Mein Teri
(Om Shanti Om) KK
3. Jabse Tere Naina
(Saawariya) Shaan
4. Halke Halke
(Honeymoon Travels) Neraj Shridhar
5. In Dinon Dil Mera
(Life In A... Metro) Soham
6. Kitni Der Tak
(Delhi Heights) Sonu Nigam
7. Cheeni Kum Hai
(Cheeni Kum) Shreya Ghoshal
8. Mind Blowing Mahiya
(Cash) Sunidhi Chouhan
9. Aye Ganpat
(Shootout at Lokhandwala) Mika Singh
10. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
(Jhoom Barabar Jhoom) Shankar Mahadevan

ARTISTE'S CHOICE

Shankar Mahadevan
"I think our work, as composers,in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (he was a part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composer-trio for JBJ) was appreciated, even though the film did not do well at the box-office. As a singer, I enjoyed singing its title song. I am happy to explore different music genres on different soundtracks."

Shreya Ghoshal
"Luckily, this year I managed to sing quite a few good songs such as the title song of Cheeni Kum, the slow version of Tara Rum Pum, the item number Yeh Ishq Haaye and the semi-classical Chhand Re. In Khoya Khoya Chaand, I enjoyed singing Thirak Thirak, a duet with Sonu Nigam, where I received specific instructions not to go overboard. I also sang Chale Aao Sainya, which was a good classical number."

Shaan
"I loved the title-songs of Johnny Gaddar, Aankhon Mein Teri, Om Shanti Om and the romantic duet – Bol Na Halke from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Among my own efforts, I liked Jabse Tere Naina from Saawariya and Yeh Pyar Kya Hai – the romantic ballad from Marigold."

PEOPLES' CHOICE

A.G. Chini (Radio Presenter)
"Deewangi and Main Agar Kahoon from the film Om Shanti Om are vibrant and fun to listen to. Recently I heard the songs from Khoya Khoya Chaand. They have a very old world charm. I think Swanand Kirkire and Ajay Jhingran's title song from that album is most appealing."

Chandramohan (Music Buff)
"The Jhoom Barabar Jhoom dance-medley version, Darde Disco, Chak De India and Dil Mein Baji Guitar are some of the songs that have pulsating rhythms with loads of energy. The song that I loved the most was Ilaiya Raja's melodious composition Cheeni Kum Hai, which was beautifully rendered by Shreya Ghoshal"

Farrukh Viqar (Radio Presenter)
"Sukhvinder Singh's Chak De perfectly captured the spirit of Indian patriotism and it almost became an unofficial national anthem, especially during India's thrilling win at the 20-20 World Cup. I was very impressed by the way in which KK rendered the romantic ballad- Aankhon Mein Teri in Om Shanti Om."

Top 5 Albums of the year
1. Khoya Khoya Chand by Shantanu Moitra
2. Life In A Metro by Pritam
3. Saawariya by Monty Sharma
4. Om Shanti Om by Vishal-Shekhar
5. Delhi Heights by Rabbi Shergil