15 Best Soundtracks of this decade from Indian Cinema

15. Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015)
Composed by: Gopi Sundar, M. Jayachandran, Ramesh Narayan

For the soundtrack of this movie, M.Jayachandran and Ramesh Narayan worked on the songs and Gopi Sundar was roped in for completing the background score. While scoring for the film, Gopi Sundar recorded an additional song “Mukkathe Penne”, with Sufi notes which became an aid
for successful establishment of film’s emotion to the audience. Breezy “Kannondu Chollanu” sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Vijay Yesudas was one of the most favourite romantic tracks of 2015. The pathos track “Kaathirunnu” from the album won the National Award under Best song category.

14. Amara Kaaviyam (2014)
Composed by: Ghibran

Amara Kaaviyam is one of the best works of Ghibran till date; a soul-stirring album packed with romantic melodies. “MounamPesum”, a poise female solo track sung by KS Chitra has been celebrated by all the contemporary music lovers. Another hit track “Edhedho Ennam Vandhu”, sung by Haricharan and Padmalatha is a perfect duet song, giving out the space for lyrics to flow with the harmony of the tune. “Saridhaana Saridhaana”, “Dheva Dhevadhai” and “Thaagam Theerea” are the other highlighted tracks from the album.

13. Mayaanadhi (2017)
Composed by: Rex Vijayan

The title track “Kiliye” begins with the sound of a hang drum and as the song progresses there are places where the same sound in the beginning of the song is interlaced and constructed beautifully as a whole. Rex Vijayan’s love for hang drum has inspired director Aashiq Abu to some extent, if you listen to the recently released track “Heal” (composed by Sushin Shyam) from the Aashiq Abu directorial movie Virus you will understand how hang drum has been used beautifully in both the title tracks of Mayaanadhi and Virus.

“Mizhiyil Ninnum”, a mellifluous composition with the right dosage of tabla and vocals had cast a magic spell on the listeners and made them to fall in love with the song. “Uyirin Nadhiye” and “Kaatil” are unique beautiful tracks from this album.

12. Udta Punjab (2016)
Composed by: Amit Trivedi

A compelling album with a mixture of genres from Amit Trivedi has won the hearts of many music lovers. The refreshing R&B track “Da Da Dasse”, sung by Kanika Kapoor and Babu Haabi, Shahid Mallya’s version of “Ikk Kudi, the EDM music in the track “Vadiya”, Amit Trivedi and Vishal Dadlani’s singing in the track “Ud-daa Punjab”, were well received and celebrated by the music lovers. All songs were composed by Amit Trivedi and the background score was done for the film by Benedict Taylor and Naren Chandavarkar.

11. Sairat (2016)
Composed by: Ajay Ashok Gogavale, Atul Ashok Gogavale

The composer duo Ajay-Atul used a 66-piece orchestra for recording the soundtrack of this film. “Yad Lagla” sung by one of the composers Ajay has a great orchestral interlude, making it a unique song that Marathi cinema has ever witnessed. “Aatach Baya KaBaavarla”, sung by Shreya Ghoshal is an unignorable beauty. The party song “Zingaat” was a huge chartbuster of 2016; considering the popularity of this song, the same tune was retained in the Hindi soundtrack when the movie was remade in Hindi as Dhadak. The duet song “Sairat Jhala Ji” is yet another chartbuster from the album.

10. Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012)
Composed by: Ilaiyaraja

With this film Gautham Vasudev Menon collaborated with Maestro Ilaiyaraja for the first time and almost all the songs in the soundtrack turned out as a chartbuster among the masses. Keeping away the usual lyrical association with Thamarai, Gautham had brought in the late poet Na. Muthukumar to pen the lyrics for all the songs in this soundtrack. Without any doubt this album is one of the best post millennial works of Ilaiyaraja. Gautham in one of his interviews told that the track “Kaatrai Konjam” sung by Karthik is in his list of all-time favourite songs of Ilaiyaraja. “Saayndhu Saayndhu” crooned by Yuvan Shankar Raja was almost like a loveanthem among youngsters when it got released.

9. Poomaram (2018)
Composed by: Perumbavoor G. Raveendranath, Gopi Sundar, Faisal Razi, Leela L GiriKuttan, Arackal Nandakumar, Nasil P, K.A. Anish, Vishnu Sivasankar, Sayoojya Das

The soundtrack features 10 songs, each composed by a different composer, adding diverse musical flavors. Centered around a college cultural fest, the film naturally provides ample room for musical expression. Karthik, the versatile singer, contributes his voice to four songs: ‘Neramayi,’ ‘Ini Oru Kaalathe,’ ‘Kadavathoru Thoni,’ and ‘Ore Suryanalle.’ The subtle classical melody ‘Mruthu Mandahasam,’ sung by KS Chitra, captivates from the first note. Another standout is ‘Poomaram,’ where Faisal Razi’s voice harmonizes beautifully with acoustic guitars and a captivating chorus.

8. Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal (2013)
Composed by: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Director Vasanth and composer Yuvan Shankar Raja joined for the third time after their successful previous associations, PoovellamKettupaar and Satham Podathey. The album has 6 songs with lyrics written by the late poet Na.Muthukumar for all the songs. The track “Unakaagave” was the first dubstep song to release in Tamil cinema. “Aaha Kaadhal” sung by Nandini Srikar is a refreshing classical track. The female solo track “Kaadhal Endhan Kaadhal” sung by Neha Bhasin has a unique sound pattern. The album garnered positive reviews all over when it got released.

7. Solo (2017)
Composed by: Abhinav Bansal, Ajmal Mujeeb, Govind Vasantha, Gaurav Godkhindi, Ragini Bhagwat, Prashant Pillai, Sooraj S Kurup, Thaikkudam Bridge (Band), Masala Coffee (Band), Filter Coffee (Band), Agam (Band), Sez On the Beat (Band)

Soundtrack of this Tamil – Malayalam bilingual anthology film has various artists contributing towards the music. The album has about 17 tracks, almost all are hit numbers. The melody track “Sita Kalyanam” was loved by the people in all corners. The already popular indie track “Aal Ayaal” composed by the music band Masala Coffee was used for this movie. “Roshomon”, “Singakutty” and “Shiv Taandav” are among the energetic tracks from the album. “Dhevadhai Pol Oruthi” and “Thoovanam” are captivating melodies. “Uyiraagi” and “Kariyaadhe” are poignant tunes, bringing an essence of sadness to the listeners.

6. 96 (2018)
Composed by: Govind Vasantha

With all those EDM music cropping up as the trend, there came an album breaking the trend and won the hearts of many music lovers. The very first teaser of the movie came with a one-minute version of the track “Kaathale Kaathale”; that music piece went viral and Govind composed a three- minute song and it was featured in the album. The track “Anthaathi” is a peppy number with the same tune as Kaathale Kaathale, which has a poetry written by the film’s director Prem and recited by actor Nasser.

The major contribution to this album on the vocal part was from Pradeep Kumar and Chinmayi. Chinmayi who has lent her voice for dubbing for the lead character Jaanu, sang all the female portion of all the songs featuring actress Trisha as Jaanu. “The Life of Ram” sung by Pradeep Kumar became like an anthem among the youths and the composer stated that he was blown away by the visuals shot for the song when the director showed it for the first time to him.

5. Gullyboy (2019)
Composed by: Divine, Naezy, Dub Sharma, Ankur Tewari, Spitfire, Sez on the beat (Band), Rishi Rich, Raghu Dixit, Midival Punditz (Band), Karsh Kale, Chandrashekhar Kunder, Jasleen Royal, Mickey McCleary, Ace, Ishq Bector, Prem-Hardeep, Viveick Rajagopalan and Kaam Bhaari

The movie about real life rappers in Mumbai had about 18 songs in the album. Various artists collaborated for the soundtrack and it worked big time. Ankur Tewari, the music supervisor of the film was doubtful on whom to rope in for rapping the lead character Murrad’s portion; Zoya Akthar, the director of the film, told Ankur that Ranveer Singh himself will rap for his songs and Ranveer aced it with perfection. Ranveer Singh was so sincere and religious towards the recording, that he even used the same microphone and speakers which DIVINE used for his first recording. Ranveer’s character Murrad is loosely based on the real-life rapper DIVINE and the already released track “Mere Gully Mein” sung by DIVINE was used for this soundtrack.

4. Joker (2016)
Composed by: Sean Roldan

A groundbreaking album propelled Sean Roldan into the well-deserved spotlight, marking his journey from a Carnatic singer and independent musician to the accomplished composer he is today. The poignant track ‘Chellama,’ opening with Hindi lyrics and featuring Lalitha Sudha’s captivating voice, creates magic. The romantic track ‘Ola Ola Kudisaiyila’ stands out as a mellifluous composition, complemented by the quirky and satirical vibes of ‘Ennanga Sir Unga Sattam’ and ‘Mannar Mannan Theme’. Sundarayyar, who sang ‘Jasmine-u,’ earned the National award for Best Singer, solidifying the album’s success.

3. Rockstar (2011)
Composed by: AR Rahman

Director Imtiaz Ali collaborated with AR Rahman for the first time on this film, recorded across Chennai, Mumbai, and London. Mohit Chauhan lent his voice to 9 out of the 14 tracks. ‘Sadaa Haq’ emerged as a youth anthem, highlighting the album’s popularity. The diverse genres within the album boast 14 super-hit tracks, with ‘Kun Faya Kun’ standing out for its sufi flavor. AR Rahman brought in Orianthi, a member of Michael Jackson’s band, for the electric guitar parts. The percussion arrangement and vocals in ‘Naadan Parindey’ showcase Rahman’s brilliance. This soundtrack undeniably secures a place among Rahman’s greatest works.

2. Pariyerum Perumal (2018)
Composed by: Santhosh Narayanan

Santhosh Narayanan’s soundtrack features both rooted and genre-shifting tracks. The first single, ‘Karuppi,’ is a unique, emotional, and hard-hitting requiem song. In an interview, Narayanan mentioned the challenge of recreating ‘Karuppi’ from scratch for the album. Another powerful tune, ‘Naan Yaar,’ sung by VijayNarain, Ananthu, and Santhosh Narayanan, lyrically questions the immorality of our society.

The folk numbers “Vanakkam Vanakkamunga” and “Engum Pugazh Thuvanga” are more authentic rural tunes. “Pottakaatil Poovasam” is a melodic, captivating tune. “Vaa Rayil Vida Polama” sung by Prithika brings all the intended emotions of the film in a single song so beautifully.

1. Kochadaiiyaan (2014)
Composed by: AR Rahman

This is one of the special albums in the discography of AR Rahman.AR Rahman’s extraordinary effort for this film resulted in phenomenal songs and an astounding background score. Examining the background score, AR Rahman skillfully integrated orchestral arrangements, enhancing the narration of this flawlessly animated content. Engaging British music engineer Geoff Foster in mixing 200 orchestra tracks for Kochadaiiyaan, Rahman noted the unique challenges posed by the film’s narrative demands. The title track “Engae Pogudho Vaanam” is the best track from the album for all the layers of music, orchestra, backing vocals and the powerful singing of S.P. Balasubrahmanyam.

Singer Haricharan who crooned the track “Maatram Ondrudhan Maaraadhadhu” along with Rajinikanth, said in an interview that the track “Engae Pogudho Vaanam” deserves an Oscar for the kind of music it has in it. This soundtrack made it to the Oscar’s contention list but it was not shortlisted for the final nominations list. This album deserves more accolades than it has ever got.

Special Mentions:

There are several good albums, we have picked some of them under the special mention category.

• Manmarziyaan (2018)
Composed by: Amit Trivedi
• Enai Noki Paayum Thota (2019)
Composed by: Darbuka Siva
• Meyaadha Maan (2017)
Composed by: Pradeep Kumar & Santhosh Narayanan
• Uttama Villain (2015)
Composed by: Ghibran
• Mayakkam Enna (2011)
Composed by: GV Prakash Kumar