Your Weekend Playlist Fix: Indie Sensation Prateek Gandhi, Ankur Tewari’s Lullaby, and OK Kanmani’s Hidden Gem

At Film Companion, we have curated playlists from noted musicians like T.M.Krishna and Varun Grover. This edition of Your Weekend Playlist, our Editorial Team curates songs of fertile music, lush poetry, and honeyed hammer beats. 

Also Read: The last edition your Weekend Playlist Fix: Ali Sethi, Enjoy Enjaami and more

1) Tum Aao Na by Prateek Gandhi

 This atmospheric-pop brings in Gandhi's classical vocals, and flushes it with deep drops, bass lines, and auto-tuned alaaps. 

2) OK Kanmani's 'Thank You Clip' by AR Rahman

When the album of OK Kanmani came out, it was an instant sensation. From the trailer music, to the one-minute teasers everything was playing on loop. To celebrate the success of the album, the team put out a 30 second music clip, picturized on the swing from 'Parandhu Sella Vaa', with Tara (Nithya Menen) going up the classical scales, and Adi (Dulquer Salmaan) beat-boxing his way in, till he takes up the notes she forgets and runs with it. Unfortunately the video was taken down by them from YouTube, and is now available only on a Facebook fan page. To celebrate 6 years of this movie, here's a sort-of unreleased gem. 

3) Hmm by Ankur Tewari

Anyone who has been to Ankur Tewari's Instagram lives knows the vibe he is going for — stoned guitar singer by the fireside meets lullaby hope. This 90 second song is just that. 

4) Sofia — AR Rahman

The 99 Songs album in Hindi and Tamil have, unlike Rahman's usual bilingual albums, a different feel depending on the language. We are recommending the Tamil version of the song 'Sofia', not just because of its lush, hagiographic quality, but also because mid-way through the song, when Sreekanth Hariharan sings 'Un mounathile Sofia', he twists his vocals with serene Carnatic gamakas; a stunning piece of ornamentation.  

5) Bikhra Hoon Main — Jal, The Band

The famous Pakistani pop band (Atif Aslam was part of it) had its fair share of success in the mid-aughts. This song from their album was reused in 2005's Mohit Suri film Kalyug, recreated by Mithoon, sung by Atif Aslam and also in Chocolate the same year under the name 'Zahreeli Raatein', recreated by Pritam. The band recently released a new version of it, to introduce their new vocalist Farhan Saeed.

6) Mohabbat — Arooj Aftab 

Sid Sriram's recommendation (from Instagram), sung by the subject of an Al Jazeera Profile, this song, described as "neo-sufi" has been hat-tipped by Pitchfork. Originally written by Hafeez Hoshiarpuri, the song has been covered by famous Pakistani singers like Mehdi Hassan and Iqbal Bano, and now the mantle has passed onto a newer generation that sees between qawwali and jazz not a chasm but a hop-skip-jump distance.