My Pod with Bali Brahmbhatt

TALENTED musician and singer turned radio host Bali Brahmbhatt has been surrounded by music from a young age. He regularly plays the biggest songs on his Dil Se radio show 3-6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Not surprisingly he has a massive music collection and found it a challenge to select just 10 songs he loves.

Agar Tum Na Hote (title track): I love singing this song on stage, I always get tears when singing the high notes. The 1983 film starring Rajesh Khanna had this amazing heart touching composition of RD Burman and great vocals of Kishore Kumar.

 Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho from Hanste Zakhm: This song was arranged by my dear friend Kersi Lord, who passed away a year ago. The hero of the film was Navin Nischol, my brother’s best friend, who I used to meet regularly in Mumbai. This song has loads of variations and amazing orchestration. Most of all it had Mohd Rafi’s vocals to do justice to the composer, arranger and lyricist.

Manali Trance from The Shaukeens : Mesmerising music that justifies trance. Neha Kakkar does a brilliant rendition to enhance the music.

Sawan Aaya from Creature 3D: This song is composed by Tony Kakkar, the brother of Neha Kakkar. I am very close to the family. Tony used to come to my music room to listen to my compositions. Arijit Singh sang so beautifully on this and the lyrics are superb.

Chadta Suraj Dheere Dheere by Aziz Nazan: I have always been a fan of Mr Nazan and used to sing his song Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. He once called me and asked me to sing to him and kindly complimented me. This song has great lyrics and precision vocals.

Suit Suit from Hindi Medium: The perfect song for the dance floor from Guru Randhawa. It is today’s music at its best. The song, which has everything, is a perfect mix of great music, lyrics and singing.

Poochho Na Kaise from Meri Surat Teri Ankhen: I am not a classical singer, but love listening to semi-classical songs. The superb Manna Dey was the greatest Bollywood singer when it came to classical renditions. With great music by SD Burman and lyrics of Shailendra, I saw the movie too as a kid and loved all the songs.

Lag Ja Gale from Woh Kaun Thi: One of the greatest evergreen songs of Lata Mangeshkar. There have been so many versions by other singers including Shreya Ghoshal since. It is a true test of singing skills.

In Aankhon Ki Masti from Umrao Jaan: Asha Bhosle ji’s jewel in the crown. This had the amazing combination of Khayyam ji’s wonderful music and great screen presence of Rekha. I got a chance to work on 23 songs of Ashaji for the album Songs Of My Soul as music director and this was one of them.

Sajan Re Joothh Mat Bolo from Teesri Kassam: The melodious and meaningful song boasted the superb team of Raj Kapoor, Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra and Mukesh, who created so many hit songs like this.