FC Song of the Day: Aadhe Aadhe Se from Raat Akeli Hai

In FC Song of the Day, we pick a new film song we like on a weekly/fortnightly/monthly basis depending on their frequency. 

Song: Adhe Adhe se

Film: Raat Akeli Hai 

Composer: Sneha Khanwalkar 

Lyricist: Raj Shekhar

Singer: Shilpa Rao, Mika Singh 

Mika Singh's default mode—drunk, loud and irreverent—makes him a natural choice for high-spirited dance numbers. Even when a 'classier' composer like Vishal Bhardwaj has worked with Singh, in "Ibn e Batuta" from Ishqiya, we've got a classier version of the same Mika we had heard in "Mauja Hi Mauja" or "Ganpat".

He was a revelation in a song called "Saajna"—the alternate version of the more popular "Madno" from Lamha (2010)—where the composer, Mithoon, tapped into the softer side of the singer. "Aadhe Aadhe se" from Raat Akeli Hai recalls the Mika Singh of "Saajna"—all texture, probably even imperfect in a strictly technical sense but full of character.

In Shilpa Rao he has for company a singer whose voice is equally full of character. It's a romantic duet but it's also a mood piece, with an ambient bass-line, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on the Mohan Veena filling up the interludes. True to the song title, the melody and lyrics (Raj Shekhar) meet half-way, as if they're following the sound rather than meaning.

In spite of all the interesting things it does, this is a surprisingly conventional song for someone like composer Sneha Khanwalkar, who is known for radical experimentations with the Hindi film sound. It's mellow and earwormy: adjectives we don't generally use to describe her music.