This is the 14th year of my annual music round-ups.
Here are the previous editions:
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014
2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
The makers and the audio label of the upcoming Malayalam film Hridayam recently announced that they would also be releasing the film’s music via audio cassette and CDs (music to be released in January 2022), besides the usual methods – online streaming. As someone who doesn’t even have a CD drive in any of the laptops at home, and obviously does not have a cassette player anymore, this news sounded at once quaint and nostalgic.
I read this news with amusement as I signed up for YouTube Music paid version for the first time after using the platform for free for many years. The one feature that clinched the deal for me? The ability to lock my phone while I stream music from YouTube 
Unlike books where printed books still outsell ebooks or audiobooks by a huge mile, the way we think of music has completely changed.
The American Enterprise Institute has a brilliant animated chart that traces the sales of recorded music from 1973 to 2021 (this should be US data, obviously; but this should also be representative of music sales around the world too, largely). The fascinating chart starts with vinyl dominating the format, cassettes ruling the roost in the 80s, CDs completely ruling in the 2000s, digital download and streaming gradually starting in the mid-2000s, digital download dominating in the late-2000s and early-2010s, and streaming totally taking over the way we think of music by late-2010s. The resurgence of vinyl is also an interesting story in the chart, of course.
Barring the vinyl story, music is largely free of physical artefacts now. Both the way we play music and the music itself is literally in the air now.
Access to music is mostly free now, thanks to YouTube and most of the ad-supported streaming plans. And that explains why success in music is now judged mainly by ‘plays’ (on streaming platforms) and ‘views’ (on YouTube). It’s very easy to stumble on music that is doing the rounds (aka popular) these days unlike the days of CDs and cassettes where the entry price meant that we depended on sources like radio play and media write-ups to know what was buzzing in music. Now, we could land on songs with ‘1 million views’ as something that is buzzing, though that could well be a factor of the song’s picturization too given that YouTube is a visual platform.
But a legitimate mode in which songs are now also released on YouTube is ‘Lyrical’ videos. And these lyrical videos hitting million+ ‘views’ says more about the pure musical pull than music videos hitting similar numbers.
However, given so many songs hitting the basic threshold of 1000000 views or more, it is easy to be swayed by the sentiment of numbers and assume that these are the best songs around because so many people have bestowed their views upon them. What that misses is the simple fact that there is no cost to access these ‘music’ titles anymore (including rock-bottom mobile data prices)!
So, there is a screaming need for many, many trusted/trustable and independent voices that curate music to make sense of what is worth listening to beyond the many ‘millions’ being the deciding factor. I started Milliblog back in 2005, much before the streaming era, precisely for this reason – to be one of the many voices curating the profusion of music around us, particularly film music that usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to ‘quality’, an unfair tag attached to it because it is more popular.
But as I explain more in the Tamil round-up, even Tamil cinema seems to be gradually tiring of the songs-in-movies shtick. I won’t be surprised if most of the popular film industries in India (across languages) go completely song-free in-film in the next 10-15 years and use ‘songs’ exclusively to promote the films.
I do not generally care for how many people read Milliblog or gain from the weekly playlists I share. I continue doing it only because I want a curated list for myself among the many, many new releases week after week. I’m Milliblog’s first consumer. Even if I’m the only one, I’d still be making these lists week after week as long as I can because I keep asking the question, ‘What should I listen to now?’ every week.
For someone like me who has no formal training in any form of music, to be at this unpaid task for 15+ years seems like a hobby taken too far
PS 1: Unlike last year where I found YouTube missing a lot of songs in my annual lists and simply gave up and resorted only to Spotify playlists, this year has been very good – all the songs are available completely on both YouTube and Spotify.
PS 2: The lists below are based on the individual songs’ release year (2021), and not the films’ release date/year, with the second week of December 2020 as the starting point and late-December 2021 as a cut-off period (since I posted the 2020 annual round-up in the second week of December last year). I hate treating songs as mere appendages of movies and removing any value they have on their own given the tremendous effort behind each song. Of course, they were paid for and driven entirely by the existence of the films they are present in, but they are our Indian equivalent of Western pop songs and to treat them as mere extensions of our films seems wrong to me. So I give them independent legitimacy and treat their release date to decide which annual list they should belong to. So, if you don’t see a Vaathi Coming in the 2021 Tamil list, you know why.
Hindi
2021 Hindi film music truly belonged to debutant composers! Though ‘debutants’ would be an odd fit to both those debutants – I’m referring to Arijit Singh and Justin Prabhakaran. Arijit, already in the middle of a stellar singing career, produced a knockout film composing debut with Pagglait. His music was nuanced, hugely enjoyable, and demonstrated the proficiency of much more experienced composers, probably owing to the kind of influence he has picked up from composers like Pritam and A R Rahman.
As for Justin, he’s hardly a debutant, but in Hindi, he is. His Hindi debut, in Meenakshi Sundareshwar, walked the tightrope of managing pan-Indian/Hindi sensibilities without making it too Tamil (the film’s setting) or reducing the importance of Tamil sounds.
Ironically, or characteristically for 2021, both these films were released directly on OTT – on Netflix.
Beyond these 2 composers and their 2 soundtracks, the rest of the film music in Hindi was largely very lackluster in 2021. Last year’s composer(s) of the year, Shankar Ehsaan Loy had a tepid year with passable music in Toofan, but were less interesting in Bunty Aur Babli 2. Pritam showcased minimal spark towards the end of the year with Tadap. A R Rahman was in considerably better form, with both Mimi and Atrangi Re offering consistently good overall soundtracks. Sachin and Jigar were probably the busiest composers of the year but had only occasional song-specific goodness.
Composer of the year: Justin Prabhakaran and Arijit Singh
- Mann Kesar Kesar – Meenakshi Sundareshwar (Justin Prabhakaran)
- Param Sundari – Mimi (A R Rahman)
- Rait Zara Si – Atrangi Re (A R Rahman)
- Pagglait – Pagglait (Arijit Singh)
- Barbaadiyan – Shiddat (Sachin-Jigar)
- Purvaiya – Toofaan (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy)
- Tere Siva Jag Mein – Tadap (Pritam)
- Ishq Fitoori – Bhavai (Shabbir Ahmed)
- Ranjha – Shershaah (Jasleen Royal)
- Vaada Machaney – Meenakshi Sundareshwar (Justin Prabhakaran)
- Tere Rang – Atrangi Re (A R Rahman)
- Thode Kam Ajnabi – Pagglait (Arijit Singh)
- Tu Yahin Hai – Meenakshi Sundareshwar (Justin Prabhakaran)
- Chori Chori – Grahan (Amit Trivedi)
- Phuljhadiyon – Mimi (A R Rahman)
- Tum Pe Hum Toh – Bole Chudiyan (Raghav Sachar)
- Marjaawaan – BellBottom (Composed by Gurnazar Singh, Music by Gaurav Dev & Kartik Dev)
- Chaka Chak – Atrangi Re (A R Rahman)
- Ishq Namazaa – The Big Bull (Gourov Dasgupta)
- Kiston – Roohi (Sachin-Jigar)
- Hum Dono Yun Mile – 14 Phere (Raajeev V Bhalla)
- Kahe Muskaye Re – Bhavai (Shabbir Ahmed)
- Kheench Te Nach – Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (Sachin-Jigar)
- Ananya – Toofaan (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy)
- Luv Ju – Bunty Aur Babli 2 (Shankar Ehsaan Loy)
- Rammo Rammo – Bhuj: The Pride Of India (Tanishk Bagchi)
- Bansuri – Bhavai (Shabbir Ahmed)
- Tumse Bhi Zyada – Tadap (Pritam)
- O Jogiya – Grahan (Amit Trivedi)
- Milaa Yun – Haseen Dilruba (Amit Trivedi)
Tamil
Kaithi was one of the most successful films of 2019. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, it had one of the leading stars of Tamil cinema (Karthi) and yet had no songs. Lokesh’s 2021 release, Master, had the mandatory 6 songs, though. One of 2021’s successful films, Maanaadu, had one song (for context, no other film starring Silambarasan in the lead had only one song)! Another successful film, Doctor, had just 3 songs – the least number of songs among all movies that starred Sivakarthikeyan in the lead; and he produced this movie too, incidentally! That both these films had popular heroes who are known for their songs did not stop the directors from not having the standard quota of 4-6 songs.
We may be witnessing a very early trend in Tamil cinema where songs aren’t entirely necessary in the larger scheme of things. There used to be a template for Tamil films earlier – ‘4 fights and 6 songs’, but songs may join other potentially defunct features like fights, foreign locations, duets where the leads lip-sync, and so on.
That doesn’t sound promising for an annual music round-up, of course, but Tamil cinema may simply be seeking inspiration from Malayalam cinema that is ahead of the curve in terms of treating songs as a distraction in story-telling. We should have realized it when Mani Ratnam, a director known for his hugely imaginative song picturizations, chose to use the many songs of the soundtrack largely as background sounds in his last film, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. Even the busy Santhanam who had 3 releases in 2021, seemed to have lost interest in songs by his 3rd film in 2021 (Sabapathy, which had just 2 songs, compared to Parris Jeyaraj, with 5 songs, and Dikkiloona with 4 songs).
The rise of OTT viewing may possibly accelerate this trend given that viewers could do better than to head out of the theater for a quick smoke/samosa during a song – they could simply fast-forward the song! Ironically though, anthologies like Paava Kadhaigal and Navarasa had proper soundtracks with quite a few songs!
2021 was also unusual in the sense that many films that were half in the grave, came back from the dead and got minor replays for the music that was released long ago! This list included films like Nenjam Marappathillai, Pon Manickavel, and even top-grossers like Doctor and Master that were meant for early 2020 release but got pushed around due to elections and the pandemic. The result was that songs like Chellamma (Doctor) and Vaathi Coming and Kutty Story (Master) that had been released in 2020 and had already featured in most 2020 annual music round-ups had a fresh lease of success in 2021 too.
In terms of sheer consistency and success, Anirudh easily tops 2021 (rather, 2020/2021 for the reason outlined in the previous paragraph). Master and Doctor (with just 3 songs) were easily the best soundtracks of the year. He added to that with good songs from the upcoming Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal. Anirudh remains one of those few composers who produce soundtracks/albums where every song is listenable.
D.Imman, despite being busy (Annaatthe, Laabam, Bhoomi, Teddy, Udanpirappe, Pon Manickavel) had a middling year. Santhosh Narayanan had a considerably better year, delivering excellent music in Karnan, Jagame Thandhiram, and Sarpatta Parambarai, and forgettable music in Parris Jeyaraj and Vellai Yaanai. Yuvan had a similar record – impressive in Maanaadu and Nenjam Marappathillai, but functional in Kalathil Santhippom, Chakra, and Dikkiloona.
Other composers with more than one notable song included Sean Roldan (Jai Bhim), Singer Karthik (Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru, Kutty Story), Vivek-Mervin (Enna Solla Pogirai), Ajesh (Sarbath), Pradeep Kumar (Vaazhl), Ghibran (Maara), Girishh Gopalakrishnan (Netrikann), Vishal Chandrashekhar (Oh Manapenne!), and the lone woman composer of the year in Tamil cinema – Revaa (Mugizh).
As for lesser-heard, but very-listenable songs that deserve more, here goes: Pattu Rosa (Theethum Nandrum, C.Sathya), Usuraiye Ulukkuthey (Thaen, Sanath Bharadwaj), Kaalam Azhagai (Ward 126, Varun Sunil), Kaalai Adhikaalai (Naduvan, Dharan Kumar), Enil Paaindhidum (Sinam, Shabir), Seevanuke (Aelay, Kaber Vasuki), Sokkuren Sokkuren (Chidambaram Railwaygate, Karthik Raja), Murukku Meesakaran (Vettai Naai, Ganesh Chandrasekaran), Muruga (Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir, Nivas K Prasanna), Thattiputta and Ye Rasa (MaaManithan, Ilaiyaraja and Yuvan Shankar Raja), Kaami Kaami (Tughlaq Durbar, Govind Vasantha), Jeeraga Biriyani (Yennanga Sir Unga Sattam, Guna Balasubramanian), Enakkenna Aachu (Kasada Tabara, Yuvan Shankar Raja), Adiye (Bachelor, Dhibu Ninan Thomas), Uchanthala Regaiyile (Pisasu 2, Karthik Raja), Yarathu – (Maddy Engira Madhavan, Hesham Abdul Wahab) and Knockout Song (Arasiyalla Idhellam Saadharnamappa, Madley Blues).
Composer of the year: Anirudh
- So Baby – Doctor (Anirudh)
- Tum Tum – Enemy (Thaman S)
- Thooriga – Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru/Navarasa (Karthik)
- Theeranadi – Maara (Ghibran)
- Nagarodi – Jail (G.V. Prakash Kumar)
- Polladha Ulagathiley – Jai Bhim (Sean Roldan)
- Aasai – Enna Solla Pogirai (Vivek – Mervin)
- Kandaa Vara Sollunga – Karnan (Santhosh Narayanan)
- Thangamey – Paava Kadhaigal (Justin Prabhakaran)
- Oh Manapenne – Oh Manapenne (Vishal Chandrashekhar)
- Meherezylaa – Maanaadu (Yuvan Shankar Raja)
- Kaathirundhen – Maara (Ghibran)
- Slum Anthem – Kodiyil Oruvan (Nivas.K.Prasanna)
- Pattu Rosa – Theethum Nandrum (C.Sathya)
- Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum – Netrikann (Girishh Gopalakrishnan)
- Naanum – Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru (Karthik)
- Unnale Unarndhene – Sarbath (Ajesh)
- Maayakkara – Mughizh (Revaa)
- Nethu – Jagame Thandhiram (Santhosh Narayanan)
- Maayangal – Kutty Story (Karthik)
- Kavi Solla – Sarbath (Ajesh)
- Harla Farla – Chakra (Yuvan Shankar Raja)
- Thattiputta – Maamanithan (Ilaiyaraja and Yuvan Shankar Raja)
- Usuraiye Ulukkuthey – Thaen (Sanath Bharadwaj)
- Yaazha Yaazha – Laabam (D.Imman)
- Kalyanam Senju – Madurai Manikkuravan (Ilayaraja)
- Bodhai Kaname – Oh Manapenne (Vishal Chandrashekhar)
- Anale Anale – Jango (Ghibran)
- Jeeraga Biriyani – Yennanga Sir Unga Sattam (Guna Balasubramanian)
- Enakkenna Aachu – Kasada Tabara (Yuvan Shankar Raja)
Telugu
Among all the leading film producing languages, I believe that only the Telugu film industry still revels in the song-dance tradition in films. The overall output of songs for Telugu still continues to be better both in terms of quantity and quality, even though the quality factor is slightly questionable given the musical world Telugu creates in itself.
The best part is that there’s a wide variety of composers who compete mighty well, even beyond A-listers like Devi Sri Prasad and Thaman who are clearly, and consistently, the picks for A-list stars. A Pawan Ch could come from nowhere and blow our mind with Lovestory, while veterans like Keeravani demonstrate superb form with films like Pelli SandaD and Kondapolam.
The odd situation that I had mentioned in my Tamil round-up—of the pandemic-infused delay in the release of the film after the release of the music in 2020—is applicable to Telugu too. Case in point: much of the songs of Rang De, Uppena, and Lovestory were out in 2020, and I had featured some of them in my 2020 annual round-up too! These films were released only in 2021.
As for the other composers, I was glad to see Shravan Bharadwaj get much better visibility with the one film he did this year – Natyam. The film though, bombed, but I do hope he gets more work to prove his mettle given his hugely impressive but largely-unheard body of work so far. Chaitan Bharadwaj too continues to impress and his Maha Samudram had great music. Mickey J Meyer had a good run in Sreekaram and a bit less impressive, though listenable run in Shyam Singha Roy.
Song-level highlights—if we look past soundtrack-level—included Chitti (Jathi Ratnalu, Radhan), Kolu Kolu (Virata Parvam, Suresh Bobbili), Ayyayyayyo (Aakasa Veedhullo, Judah Sandhy), Devi Kalyana Vaibogame (Vivaha Bhojanambu, AniVee), Entha Baavundo (Gunde Katha Vintara, Masala Coffee), Kannaye Kallu (Ee Kathalo Paathralu Kalpitam, Karthik Kodakandla), Ala Ila (Stand Up Rahul, Sweekar Agasthi), Bandeena Bandeena (Raja Raja Chora, Vivek Sagar), So So Ga (Manchi Rojulochaie, Anup Rubens), Idhi Nijamaa (Bathuku Busstand, Mahavir) and Ra Ra Linga (Skylab, Prashanth R Vihari).
Composer of the year: Devi Sri Prasad
- Leharaayi – Most Eligible Bachelor (Gopi Sundar)
- Evo Evo Kalale – Lovestory (Pawan Ch)
- Rangule – Rang De (Devi Sri Prasad)
- La La Bheemla – Bheemla Nayak (Thaman S)
- Ekkesinde – Manchi Rojulochaie (Anup Rubens)
- Hey Rambha Rambha – Maha Samudram (Chaitan Bharadwaj)
- Madhura Nagarilo – Pelli SandaD (M.M.Keeravani)
- Chettekki – Kondapolam (M.M.Keeravani)
- Hey Abbayi – Sreekaram (Mickey J Meyer)
- MBA MCA – Chalo Premiddam (Bheems Ceciroleo)
- Hey Manasendukila – Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu (Pravin Lakkaraju)
- Jala Jala Jalapaatham – Uppena (Devi Sri Prasad)
- Entha Entha Choosinaa – Gamanam (Ilayaraja)
- Thoorpu Padamara – Natyam (Shravan Bharadwaj)
- Ninnu Chudagane – Atithi Devo Bhava (Shekar Chandra)
- Korameesam Polisoda – Krack (Thaman S)
- Ishtam – Khiladi (Devi Sri Prasad)
- Nailu Nadi – WWW (Simon K King)
- Srivalli – Pushpa (Devi Sri Prasad)
- Manasulone Nilichipoke – Varudu Kaavalenu (Vishal Chandrashekhar)
- Venuvulo – Natyam (Shravan Bharadwaj)
- Digu Digu Digu Naaga – Varudu Kaavalenu (Thaman S)
- Premante Enti – Pelli SandaD (M. M. Keeravani)
- Okey Oka Lokam – Sashi (Arun Chiluveru)
- Title song – Bheemla Nayak (Thaman S)
- Sandalle Sandalle – Sreekaram (Mickey J Meyer)
- Ningina Jarina – Swa (Karanam Sri Raghavendra)
- Idhi Chala Baagundhile – Sehari (Prashanth R Vihari)
- Rendu Kannultho – Dil Se (Srikar Velamuri)
- Neevevvaro – Boyfriend For Hire (Gopi Sundar)
Malayalam
Probably owing to the pandemic-related constraints and delays, I’d put the Malayalam film music output in 2021 as largely middling. There were good songs all through the year, but compared to the previous years or looking at the quality of music overall, I found it lacking in both range and quality. I missed the kind of outstanding soundtracks from composers like Shaan Rahman or a Prashant Pillai that they are known for. Perhaps next year when the effects of the pandemic are on the wane… hopefully.
In terms of highlights that could have more impact next year, I look forward to what more Pradeep Kumar does in Veyil (his Malayalam debut), and Prashant does in Moonwalk, considering we have just one song so far from both films. So far, given the few songs released, it looks like Hesham Abdul Wahab has a very well-put-together album in Hridayam and I look forward to the other songs in the soundtrack, beyond the 2 in this list below.
Composer of the year: None.
- Darshana – Hridayam (Hesham Abdul Wahab)
- Innale Mellane – Nizhal (Sooraj S Kurup)
- The Hey Song – Veyil (Pradeep Kumar)
- Madhuradhari – Karlmarx Bakthanayirunnu (Manikandan Ayyappa)
- Paathira Kaalam – Kurup (Sushin Shyam)
- Kanvaathil – Roy (Munna PM)
- Ollulleru – Ajagajantharam (Justin Varghese)
- Kantharipenne – Marathon (Bibin Ashok)
- Thee Minnal – Minnal Murali (Sushin Shyam)
- Varavayi Nee – Sara’s (Shaan Rahman)
- Theerame – Malik (Sushin Shyam)
- Maaran – Kudukku 2025 (Bhoomee)
- Oh Kinakaalam – Moonwalk (Prashant Pillai)
- Hijabi – Meow (Justin Varghese)
- Enthinanente Chenthamare – Karnan Napoleon Bhagat Singh (Ranjin Raj)
- Kannil Minnum – Meppadiyan (Rahul Subrahmanian)
- Munthiripoovo – Bhramam (Jakes Bejoy)
- Pakaliravukal – Kurup (Sushin Shyam)
- Pinnenthe – Ellam Sheriyakum (Ouseppachan)
- Eeran Nila – Meri Awas Suno (M.Jayachandran)
- Vetta Mrigam – Kuruthi (Jakes Bejoy)
- Ilaveyil – Marakkar (Ronnie Raphael)
- Kinavil – Sumesh & Ramesh (Yakzan Gary Pereira & Neha S Nair)
- Ozhukidum Nithaantha – Black Coffee (Bijibal)
- Mele Vinpadavukal – Sara’s (Shaan Rahman)
- Alare – Member Rameshan 9aam Ward (Kailas Menon)
- Kanakam Kalaham – Kanakam Kamini Kalaham (Yakzan Gary Pereira & Neha S Nair)
- Mathilkakathu – Karlmarx Bakthanayirunnu (Manikandan Ayyappa)
- Uyire – Minnal Murali (Shaan Rahman)
- Arike Ninna – Hridayam (Hesham Abdul Wahab)
Kannada
As always, I find the overall quality of Kannada film music to be abysmal. Even the so-called masala/commercial music lacks the finesse and imagination of Telugu commercial film music that seem to be mounted far, far better.
That said, I do expect a lot from talented composers like Ajaneesh Loknath, Charan Raj, and Judah Sandhy who have been largely consistent in delivering good music that aims to truly compete with the rest of the country’s best. I was a big fan of Arjun Janya’s music when he was a fresh talent, but he seems to have settled into a mind-numbing sameness of late. Hope he finds adequate inspiration and better scripts to get his creative mojo back.
Composer of the year: B Ajaneesh Loknath
- Nenapina Hudugiye – Hero (B Ajaneesh Loknath)
- Tininga Miniga Tishaa – Salaga (Charan Raj)
- Nee Parichaya – Ninna Sanihake (Raghu Dixit)
- Premakke Kannilla – Sakath (Judah Sandhy)
- Gicchi Gili Gili – Rathnan Prapancha (B Ajaneesh Loknath)
- Khali Khali – Puksatte Lifu (Vasu Dixit)
- Bareve Bareve – H34 Pallavi Talkies (B Ajaneesh Loknath)
- Endo Bareda – Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (Midhun Mukundan)
- Yaare Yaare – Ek Love Ya (Arjun Janya)
- Shuruvaagide – Sakath (Judah Sandhy)
Non-film music:
Non-film music – Hindi
- Roz Roz – The Yellow Diary ft. Shilpa Rao
- Charkhe – Nyasa
- Tohfa – Vayu
- Churaya – Amit Trivedi
- Baaton Baaton Mein – Ishq-Songs of Love (Hariharan, Bickram Ghosh)
- Piya More Piya – Santanu Ghatak feat. Sharmistha Chatterjee
- Rusvaaiyaan – Amit Trivedi
- Angana Morey – Soumyadeep Ghoshal Ft. Shreya Ghoshal
- Dhoom – Maati Baani
- KTMBK – Genesis 1:1 (Zaeden)
Non-film music – Tamil
- Enjoy Enjaami – Dhee ft. Arivu (Santhosh Narayanan)
- Idhu Varai – Staccato
- Maya – Three Songs For The Night (Sean Roldan)
- Thunai – Keerthana Vaidyanathan & Prashanth Techno
- Yaathi Yaathi – Abhishek CS
- So Soku – V2 Vijay Vicky
- Mannavanaanalum – Ghibran
- Kanaa – Nucleya, 2jaym & Sublahshini
- Kooda Vaa – Ghibran
- Kan Munnale – Varun Sunil (Ft. Shweta Mohan)
Non-film music – Malayalam
- Chiri Paatu – Varkey
- Pilleranu – Rithu (Sithara’s Project Malabaricus)
- Malhaar – Arun Kamath
- Pularikal – Pina Colada Blues
- Mukile Mukile (Kanmoodi Parthaal) – Sam Simon George, ft. KS Harisankar
- Kanmani Kanmani – Shaan Rahman
- Naale – Everafter
- Arutharuthu – Sithara’s Project Malabaricus
- Thonnal – Govind Vasantha
- Oblivion – Ashwin Renju
Non-film music – Instrumental
- So… Now Hear This – Abhay Nayampally (Abhay Nayampally)
- The Khamaj Connection – Mahesh Raghvan and Nandini Shankar
- The Road Not Taken – The Immersive Experience (Sandeep Chowta, feat. Abhay Nayampally & Seb Read)
- Hues – Abhay Nayampally (Abhay Nayampally)
- Ballad of Krishna – Abhay Nayampally (Abhay Nayampally)
- Shanmukhapriya – – Unbounded (Abaad) – Purbayan Chatterjee
- Kaleidoscope – Fusion Fission (Sandeep Chowta)
- Ex-Animo – Abhay Nayampally (Abhay Nayampally)
- The Dune Tune – Fusion Fission (Sandeep Chowta)
- Ragamaya – Intuition (Apoorva Krishna)
Happy listening
