Some gaffes, some smashing hits and some damp-squib remixes; but the year, overall, sang a happy tune

Mona

Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up…wrote Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The line sums up the music scene we witnessed in the year fleeting by!

As much as Kesariya was loved, social media went on overdrive with memes calling out lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya for his Hinglish expression love storiyan in otherwise a pure Hindi song. The meme fest made it the most-searched song of the year. It occupied the top slot on Spotify!

Any publicity is good publicity and Beshram Rang proved it. A similar meme fest, this time the point of contention being a saffron bikini, led to a national debate; but the song continues to grab views.

Going places

That Indian music is loved globally is an established fact. Naatu Naatu — the Telugu song from blockbuster RRR has made it to the 95th Academy Awards ‘original song’ shortlist. This is the third major international nomination for Naatu Naatu after Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award. The song is composed by MM Keeravaani, penned by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj and is picturised on Ram Charan and Jr NTR.

That said, film music still remains the best bet in our country, and as like previous years, 2022 came with its set of remixes…

Pasoori the phenomenon

Debuting on February 7, the Shae Gill and Ali Sethi’s Coke Studio number, Pasoori, crossed boundaries to amass a massive 465,762,310 views (at the time of writing). Immense popularity that it garnered booked it a spot on in Disney+ miniseries Ms. Marvel in August. It became the strong totem of music unites as Indian and Pakistani cricket fans danced on its beats outside Melbourne Cricket Stadium.

Even though most films received a lukewarm response on BO, film music continued its hit run. If Kesariya from Brahmastra was the most streamed song in Hindi, Naach Punjaban from Jug Jug Jeeyo, the title song of Bhool Bhulaiya, Jehda Nasha from An Action Hero, Doobey from Gehraiyaan, Fitoor from Shamshera, Galliyan Returns form Ek Villain Returns, Aafat from Liger won much love.

Regional flavours

Shubh’s No Love, AP Dhillon’ Summer High and Excuses topped the charts in Punjabi music. Diljit Dosanjh’s album Drive Thru did pretty well too. Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava from Pushpa – The Rise came towards the end of 2021 but topped most music charts in 2022. It was the most streamed song in Telugu on Amazon music. With 227mn views, Haryanvi song Gypsy was a reels’ favourite! .

Manike magic

Manike Mage Hithe, a Sinhala-language song by Yohani, Satheeshan Rathnayaka and Chamath Sangeeth, crossed borders and became a smashing hit. It was replicated in different languages—Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Kokborok and Gujarati, and not just Indian but also in international languages such as Portuguese, German, Spanish, Somali and English by different artistes. Bollywood had to have its share of the pie. So Manike, sung by Jubin Nautiyal, Yohani, Surya Ragunnathan, Mellow D was incorporated in the movie, Thank God.

Remixed flavours

Remixes retained their premium spot in 2022. While some versions were embraced by older generation and new alike, most remixes came under fire for doing disservice to the original versions. Neha Kakkar’s O Sajna earned the ire of music lovers. Falguni Pathak was open and vehement in her criticism of the song. Neha and Falguni warred over remixed Maine Payal Hai Chankayi through interviews and social media posts. Sukh-E’s single Coka-Single got a makeover as Coka 2.0 in Liger that marked the debut for Telugu actor Deverakonda in Hindi cinema. Towards the end of the year, we saw Urmila Matondkar’s hit Rangeela Re coming back as Yai Re, which was sung by Yo Yo Honey Singh and Iulia Vantur. Yai Re failed to recreate the magic of the original.

International hits

Globally, As It Was by Harry Styles, Heat Waves by Glass Animals and STAY by Justin Bieber were lauded by one and all. Swifties were all in awe as Taylor Swift’s Midnights became the highest selling album of 2022 within a week of its release in October. Looks like 2023 is in for some fierce competition…