ADMITTEDLY it hasn’t been a vintage year for Bollywood music, but in amongst the dull songs have been some hidden gems. With that in mind, the Eastern Eye team got together to compile our top 10 Bollywood tracks of 2017…
Kaabil Hoon (Kaabil): The first original chartbuster of the year was a fine combination of soothing music, heartfelt lyrics and emotion-filled vocals. The title track has been viewed on YouTube over 80 million times and has lots of meaning.
Laila Main Laila (Raees): Being music purists at Eastern Eye, we don’t like the recent very popular trend of taking classic Bollywood songs and doing rubbish cover versions of them. This particular one is forgiven because it gave the original a nice contemporary kick. It proved to be popular and has been viewed over 250 million times on YouTube, but that might also have something to do with the presence of Sunny Leone.
Tamma Tamma Again (Badrinath Ki Dulhania): We forgave this cover version too because the original had nicked the melody from an international hit. This catchy version proved to be a massive hit on dance floors and has been viewed over 200 million times on YouTube.
Sahiba (Phillauri): We still don’t know why this superb movie failed to generate interest. The songs also deserved a lot more credit, and include this artistic beauty which had a wonderful old school charm and a world-class vocal delivery. A special mention also goes to the film’s song Dum Dum.
Baarish (Half Girlfriend): There were a lot of rubbish Bollywood films with good songs released this year – and this was one of them. This gentle song has been viewed over 150 million times on YouTube, and more importantly features the vocals of British singer Ash King. So it gets a thumbs up from us.
Suit Suit (Hindi Medium): A song that was a blockbuster in 2016 was rolled out again in 2017 for the year’s biggest sleeper hit. The catchy song featuring Guru Randhawa and our very own British talent Arjun has collectively clocked up over 200 million views on YouTube.
Mere Rashke Qamar (Baadshaho): If you are going to take a popular qawwali and turn it into a commercial Bollywood song, then this is a perfect example of how to do it. The smash hit helped the not-so-great heist thriller get a great opening at the box office. We had it on repeat and probably contributed to a large part of the 140 million-plus views it has received on YouTube.
Piya More (Baadshaho): It might have been a terrible movie, but it’s the only one to have two songs in Eastern Eye’s 2017 Hot 10. This catchy number proved to be popular, but also got in trouble when a producer of a low budget movie claimed it was ripped off from a song in one of his releases.
Meri Pyaari Ammi (Secret Superstar): This song isn’t a chartbuster, but it gets included because it pays a heartfelt tribute to mums and featured in one of the finest films of the year. This heartfelt number celebrates mothers and we at Eastern Eye are fully supportive of that sentiment.
Ghoomar (Padmavati): The first song of what was supposed to be the biggest Bollywood film of the year was brilliant and loved by everyone. The movie may have been postponed, but that doesn’t take anything away from how glorious this number is.
