Top 15 Solo Bollywood Hits Composed by Anu Malik

Just now, I have added a huge list of 100 chartbusters of Anu Malik, one of the best music composers of Bollywood during 1990-2005. Click on the link to read top Anu Malik songs. Though his career spanned to four decades in the industry, composing his first independent film album in 1980, he remained at his career peak during 1993-2006, and afterwards his career witnessed a steep downfall, apart from a few notable albums like Kambakkht Ishq and Dum Laga Ke Haisha.

The composer extensively worked with Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan during his glorious years, and also gave good opportunities to Vinod Rathod, Sadhana Sargam, Chithra, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, Sonu Nigam, Anuradha Paudwal etc during the same period. His duets were more successful comparing his solo compositions; yet remain a few good ones. Through this column, I shall present 15 of the best solo songs composed by Anu Malik for Hindi music.

1. Yeh Moh Moh Ke Dhage from Dum Laga Ke Haisha – I would like to begin the list with his most popular song in the recent times. After mid-2000s, Dum Laga Ke Haisha remains one such album which brought back some reminiscences of the glorious years of the composer, and Kumar Sanu & Sadhana Sargam’s voice too, after a long time Moh Moh Ke Dhage had two renditions in Papon and Monali Thakur’s voice, and the female singer won both National awards and Filmfare for her lovely rendition. Varun Grover penned the lyrics. The song was filmed on Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. The song also gave Anu Malik, Zee Cine Award for Best Music Director for the year, a film award received after a long time.

2. Dil Mera Churaya Kyon from Akele Hum Akele Tum – Akele Hum Akele Tum will always remain one of the best albums of 1990s, and counted among composer’s best work too. Yet most of the compositions were either copied or inspired, for which the composer was heavily criticized. Yet I am glad that Bollywood fans got opportunity to listen Indian version of some amazing tunes appreciated by millions across the globe! This song is inspired from Wham! – Last Christmas by George Michael (1984), and its lyrics too were not original too! Kumar Sanu rendered his voice for this heartbreaking song featuring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala, and Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the lyrics.

3. Tere Dar Par Sanam from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi – Year 1993 gave a real breakthrough to Anu Malik, who has been waiting for more than a decade for a golden oppurtunity. He gave some of the finest compositions of 1990s in the year 1993, with chartbuster songs belonging to romantic, ghazal, dance number etc trying with every genres of film music, and cemented his position in the industry.

Tere Dar Par Sanam – definitely a career defining songs of Anu Malik is still regarded as one among his best 10 soft melodious compositions, and it gained a lot of popularity when got released. This particular song has two solo versions, one recorded in Kumar Sanu’s voice featuring Rahul Roy and Pooja Bedi and second one in Sadhana Sargam’s voice, featuring Rahul Roy and Pooja Bhatt. Qateel Shifai penned the lyrics. However the song drew inspirations from the theme track of 1971 movie ‘Summer of 42’, composed by Michel Legrand.

4. Sambhala Hai Maine from Naaraaz – This intense romantic track resembles Anu Malik’s Tere Dar Par Sanam somewhere, may be in music arrangement or rendering by Kumar Sanu. Both the songs are filmed almost the same way, the most beautiful and breath taking moments just before the expression of love, and the process to hide the true feelings. Qateel Shifai penned its beautiful lyrics. The song featured Sonali Bandre and Atul Agnihotri. The opening lines of Antara are quite similar to Churake Dil Mera song composed by Anu Malik for Mein Khiladi Tu Anari the same year.

5. Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika from Josh – After 1993, year 2000 remains one of the magnificent years of Anu Malik’s career with a string of hits, and recognition at National and Filmfare awards for the songs of Refugee. The composer also gave some fresh tunes this year. This solo track sung by Abhijeet was filmed on Aishwaya Rai and Chandrachur Singh. Its lyrics were penned by Sameer and Nitin Raikwar.

6. Is Tarah Aashique Ka from Imtihaan – The movie inspired from Humraaz of 1960s has some melodious compositions too. Is Tarah Aashiqui Ka is the most popular song with two male versions, one in Vinod Rathod’s voice and second one in Kumar Sanu’s voice. Kumar Sanu’s version was immensely popular. The song was filmed two times in the movie – first time with Sunny Deol and second time with Saif Ali Khan, and has deep connection to film script too. Raveena Tandon was featured in both versions. The song was loosely inspired from the oldie classic ‘Autumn Leaves’.

7. Agar Tum Mil Jaayo from Zeher – Agar Tum Mil Jaayo can’t be tagged to be an original song, either in terms of lyrics or music. Yet it’s one among the two compositions from the album credited to Anu Malik. The top romantic song of the album was recorded in two solo versions – one in Shreya Ghoshal’s voice and second one in Udit Narayan’s. Both its lyrics and tune were copied from a song from 1974 Pakistani Urdu movie, Imandar rendered by Tassawar Khanum. Mukda of the song is a direct lift, both lyrics and tune. Sayeed Quadri re-wrote the Antara of the song, while he didn’t alter the Mukda.

8. Chamakte Chand Ko from Awaargi – It can be said that the era of Anu Malik began in the early 1990s with this beautiful ghazal sung by Ghulam Ali. The song featuring Anil Kapoor and Meenakshi Sheshadri was penned by Anand Bakshi.

9. Jhanjariya from Krishna – The solo song with a folk touch had two solo versions recorded in the voices of Abhijeet and Alka Yagnik, and both became extremely popular. The male version featuring Suniel Shetty and Karishma Kapoor was one of the most expensive songs of Bollywood in the 1990s with more than 500 dancers, while the female version too was a dance version featuring Karishma Kapoor. Anand Raaj Anand wrote separate lyrics for both versions.

10. Rabba Mere Rabba from Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai – It’s one of the career best songs of Sonu Nigam, beautifully filmed on Tusshar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor was lovely filmed. Sameer penned the lyrics. Anu Malik received a Filmfare nomination for the music album, which was a huge chartbuster of 2001.

11. Bani Bani from Mein Prem Ki Diwani Hoon – Kareena Kapoor appeared as a performer on stage for this beautiful solo track sung by Chithra, and penned by Dev Kohli. The movie included 8 tracks sung by south Indian nightingale, both duets and solos, and this song is my pick for the best solo. Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Kapoor and Himani Shivpuri also featured in this song.

12. Raat Ka Nasha from Asoka – Raat Ka Nasha is one of the finest Bollywood songs sung by south Indian Nightingale – Chithra, and the credit goes to its composer as well. The song was so popular that Anu Malik later used Chithra’s voice to record a series of songs for Kareena Kapoor in Mein Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, and the songs turned to be huge chartbusters too. Its lyrics were penned by Gulzar.

13. San Sanana from Asoka – The only song from the album penned by Anand Bakshi, it was one of his last works before he passed away a few months later in 2002. He worked in 26 films with Anu Malik, and was quite active during last years. The sizzling track, a bath sequence was filmed on Kareena Kapoor, and Shah Rukh Khan also appears in the song. Alka Yagnik who was the leading voice of the song received a Filmfare nomination, and back vocals were provided by Hema Sardesai. The second antara of the song was edited from the film before its release, though its full version is available in cassettes and CDs.

14. Chupana Bhi from Baazigar – Anu Malik is definitely a master to truly express or hide the hidden expressions of love in his compositions. For this particular genre of film music which was quite popular in the 1990s, Chupana Bhi Nahi Aata deserves a special space. In this song Siddharth Ray, who plays a police officer in the film tries to hide his feelings for Kajol. A party song with a ghazal touch featuring Shah Rukh Khan too, the song also features Vinod Rathod as a performer, and Anu Malik as composer. It’s one of the career best songs of Vinod Rathod. Music fans still love it for the amazing lyrics penned by Dev Kohli. The song had one more rendition by Pankaj Udhas, but not included in the film. Anu Malik earned his first Filmfare awards for Baazigar, the movie which gave a major breakthrough to the composer as well as the lead three actors.

15. Tumse Milke from Mein Hoon Na – Anu Malik earned his second Filmfare award for best music direction for this Shah Rukh starrer. Javed Akhtar’s song with qawwali shades was best noticed for its magical rendering by Sonu Nigam as well as the choreography. The song was filmed on Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan, with a group of singers and dancers.

Let me add a few more popular solos composed by Anu Malik – Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye/Mere Saasom from Soldier, Sabke Baaratein from Jaanam Samjha Karo, Haan Judai Se Darta Hai Dil from Kareeb, Aye Meri Zindagi from Saaya, Title track of Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai, Sau Dard from Jaan-E-Mann, Bebo Mein Bebo from Kambaqt Ishq, Ho Nahi Sakta from Diljale, Mela Dilon Ka from Mela, Yeh Kaali Kaali from Baazigar, Chamma Chamma from China Gate etc.

Read a few more interesting articles about the celebrated music composer of 1990s – Anu Malik