Best of 15 Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bollywood Songs

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his striking visual vibrancy in his work. Sanjay’s movies are very colourful and have set a new kind of film making in Bollywood. And what about its songs and song picturization! So lovely and a visual treat to eyes! Most of his stories are woven around historic events, classic works and have given much preference of India’s traditional culture, costumes and accessories. He gives a classic touch to his films, and most of his film songs use traditional music instruments, and are pleasant to ears. Majority of his films have also met with critical acclaim and commercial success.  So, let us see some of the most popular songs of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s films. Also read: Songs sung by Alka Yagnik for Bhansali films.

Though he has remained a producer and writer of many Bollywood films, I have included songs only from his directorial ventures, which we tag as Bhansali movies.  I have added songs in the order of the year the movies were released. Personally I feel that Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam is the most wonderful album and the career best film of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

1. Baahon Ki Darmiyaan from Khamoshi: The Musical –  Both the song and movie are so special to Bhansali. After assisting Vidhu Vinod Chopra for a few years since late 1980s, Sanjay ventured into direction field with this highly appreciated film. Though the movie got tagged as no:1 flop of the year 1996, the songs composed by Jatin Lalit were well recognized. Baahon Ki Darmiyaan is widely regarded as one of the top romantic songs of 1990s, and hence deserves top position in Sanjay Leela Bhansali list. The duet was sung by Hariharan and Alka Yagnik, and lyrics written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Also read: Top Bollywood songs of Hariharan.

2. Aaj Mein Upar from Khamoshi: The Musical – One of the best songs of Kavita Krishnamurty’s career, she received Filmfare award for best female singer for this lovely song. The song featured Salman Khan and Manisha Koirala. Lyrics written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, it’s a joyful song suited for all occasions.

3. Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai from Khamoshi: The Musical – The most melodious solo of the movie, Kavita Krishnamurty’s soulful voice added a new life to this melody. The song is actually inspired from the single, “Bring the wine” of the famous Canadian-American artist, Paul Anka.

4. Dhol Baaje from Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam – The movie is regarded as the milestone movie of director’s career. After the huge setback of critically acclaimed, Khamoshi: The Musical, the talented director bounced back with the colourful Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam (1999). The film excelled in every department, and its songs and the screen chemistry between the lead pair, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai were just amazing. The movie marked the debut of Ismail Darbar as a music composer, who was inspired by many folk tunes and used for the film. There is not even a single weak track in the film, and the music composer also bagged National awards. This particular dance sequence featured Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai, and was widely appreciated for its dance sequences for Navaratri Eve. The song was sung by Vinod Rathod, Kavita Krishnamurty and Karsan Sagathia.

5. Tadap Tadap from Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam – As I told earlier, there is not even a single weak track in the album. The song gave KK the much awaited breakthrough to Bollywood singing world, and this song is always regarded as one among his career best. Dominique Cerejo provided the back vocals. In fact the movie gave break big break and new career definition to many Bollywood artists such as Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgan, KK, Ismail Darbar and definitely the captain of the crew. Also read: Top 25+ South Indian singers who earned fame in Bollywood.

6. Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan from Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam – Definitely the most romantic song of the film, this lovely song featured Aishwarya and Salman Khan. The song was sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy and Kumar Sanu, and widely regarded as one of their career bests.

7. Title Track from Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam – The climax song from the film featured Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai, and was lovely captured. Vocals were provided by Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Salamat and Dominique Cerejo. The movie also included a few more fine tunes composed by Ismail Darbar – Nimbooda, Chand Chupa, Albela Sajan and Manmohini among the others. Movie lyrics were penned by Mehboob. Also read: Major music composers of Aishwarya Rai Films.

8. Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka from Devdas – Yet another colourful film, the movie pictured several beautiful songs. This solo song sung by Shreya Ghoshal featured Aishwarya Rai. Also read: Top solo tracks of Shreya Ghoshal. After Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Ismail Darbar joined hands with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for this film, and it’s an outstanding work indeed. It’s quite surprising that the music director who made two iconic music albums of his career with Bhansali couldn’t repeat the same success with other film directors. Movie lyrics have been penned by Nusrat Badr. The movie was released in the year 2002.

9. Bairi Piya from Devdas – Devdas marked film debut of Shreya Ghoshal, and she won National award for her debut recorded song. Though Udit Narayan’s voice was used for the song, it was edited off from the film. It’s the most popular romantic track of the album. Hamesha Tum Ko Chaha and Dola Re are other popular songs featuring Ash.

10. Maar Daala from Devdas – Lovely dance sequence featuring Madhuri Dixit, the movie also witnessed the actress’ dance moves after a short break. Kavitha Krishnamurty provided the vocals. The movie also included Dola Re and Kaahe Chhed, featuring Madhuri.

11. Jab Se Tere Naina from Saawariya – One of the most awaited movies of the year 2007, the movie launched two actors from famous Bollywood families – Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. However it was the first movie of Bhansali’s career with negative reviews, and the movie also flopped at box office. Since the movie – Black, Bansali worked with a new music director after Ismail Darbar, who gave two big musical hits to Bollywood. They never worked together, and now it’s 15 years. His association with Monty Singh began with movie, Black which had a single song, quite rare in director’s career. Jab Se Tere Naina caught attention of the public for many reasons. The song also gave Filmfare best playback singer (male) to Shaan – his second award.

12. Udi Teri Aankhon Se from Guzarish – The second movie of Bhansali’s career in a row with negative reviews, the movie also flopped at box office. Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his debut as a film song composer with this movie, and since then he regularly composes for his films. This particular song was sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Shail Hada, and lyrics penned by A. M. Turaz. Vibhu Puri and Jagdish Joshi also penned lyrics for a few more tracks of the album. The song featured Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.

13. Nagada Sang Dhol from Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela – Definitely this song can never miss our list. Music composed by director himself, this song stands high among all the song tracks, and tries to bring back on screen ‘Dhol Baaje’ magic. After Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone remains the most popular heroine choice for the director, and including the upcoming project, Padmavati, they worked in three films in a row.  Ranveer Singh plays the lead hero in all these three films too. Nagada Sang Dhol was sung by Shreya Ghoshal. The lyrics are penned by Siddharth–Garima. “Ram Chahe Leela” is yet another popular song of the movie, featuring Priyanka Chopra.

14. Pinga from Deewani Mastani – This song caught controversies for tampering historic facts. Yet the song featuring Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone became an instant hit. The song was composed by the director himself, and lyrics penned by Siddharth–Garima. Sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Vaishali Mhade, the song made us remember “Dola Re Dola” of Devdas, featuring Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai.

15. Deewani Mein Deewani from Deewani Mastani – This song was definitely the highlight of the film. Deepika Padukone looked like a princess in this song, and this lovely song sung by Shreya Ghoshal bagged Filmfare award for best female voice. It was after a long break the singer received a Filmfare award. Also read: Top duets of Shreya Ghoshal.

Ghoomar song of Padmavaat is the recent addition to this list, while I am updating this topic. Music was composed by Bhansali. We also know this Shreya Ghoshal track filmed on Deepika invited a lot of controversies, and later a few modifications were made to the video to get film release. Also read: Top 10 songs of Deepika Padukone Let us wait for many more melodious additions to this list. We all know Bhansali is one such top class filmmaker of Bollywood who gives preference to classical and folk tunes, and rarely uses western musical instruments for his songs.

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