Top 10 Bollywood songs of the decade of 2010s (2010 – 2019)

Most recently I published two articles – Top 25 Bollywood songs of the new millennium (2000-2019) as well as Top 150 Bollywood songs of the past two decades. Now let me try to find, 10 of the best songs of the last decade (2010-2019). It’s purely based on personal choice and hence I chose melodies over fast numbers. In my opinion, ‘Aashiqui 2’ is the album of the decade and ‘Aashqui Tum Ho’ is the song of the decade. Arijit Singh is the most popular voice of the decade, while many new talents also emerged during this time. Also have a look of top 25 songs of 2000s.

Aashiqui Tum Ho from Aashiqui 2 (2013) – Music: Mithoon, Lyrics: Mithoon, Playback: Arjit Singh

Let me begin the list with the most popular song of the decade. I am sure, you will definitely agree to it. This single rain song established Arijit Singh as the leading male playback singer of Hindi cinema. This song earned him the first Filmfare award for best playback singer, and after that he received most awards of this decade in this category, and also equalled Kumar Sanu’s record of 5 awards in a row. This romantic song filmed on Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor is perhaps the most loved song of last two decades. Music Composers of the movie jointly earned Filmfare award for best music.

Sunn Raha Hai from Aashique 2 (2013) – Music: Ankit Tiwari, Lyrics: Sandeep Nath, Playback: Ankit Tiwari/Shreya Ghoshal

Sunn Raha Hai is the next popular song of the album, where Aditya Roy Kapoor is seen as a stage performer. It’s the opening song of the movie and Shraddha Kapoor also performs the female version of the song, a few moments later. Male version was more popular. However, only the female version earned a nomination at Filmfare awards. Title track and Sunn Raha Hai became a rage across the nation when the album got released.

Pareshaan from Ishaqzaade (2012) – Music: Amit Trivedi, Lyrics: Kausar Munir, Playback: Shalmali Kholgade

Shalmali Kholgade earned Filmfare award for best female playback for this song filmed on Parineeti Chopra and debutante Arjun Kapoor. The song was one of the most loved songs of the year, and still loved by music fans.

Pashmeera from Fitoor (2016) – Music: Amit Trivedi, Lyrics:  Swanand Kirkire , Playback: Amit Trivedi

I think it’s one of the underrated works of Amit Trivedi. Tunes are so fresh and melodious, and after listening to this album, my expectations about the composer have only increased. His voice is too good for playback singing too. He gives preference to melodies than anything else. Dear Zindagi, Andhadhun, Udta Punjab, Ishaqzaade, Manmarziyan, Lootera, English Vinglish, Udaan, Aisha – most of his works got noticed.

One of the top romantic tracks of the year, the original song featured artists who played childhood roles of Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapoor. I have never watched this video online. A promotional video starring the leading stars was released, which is available in Youtube.

Gustaq Dil from English Vinglish (2012) – Music: Amit Trivedi, Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire, Playback: Shilpa Rao

Let me add one more Amit Trivedi album to this list, third song in a row! English Vinglish marked glorious comeback of Sridevi and Gustaq Dil is my favourite song from the album. After the legendary actress left the world, I can’t count how many times I listened to this song. What a wonderful tune! Each and every musical instrument associated with the song is absolutely perfect.

Jag Ghoomeya from Sultan (2016) – Music: Vishal-Shekhar, Lyrics:  Irshad Kamil, Playback: Rahet Fateh Ali Khan

Salman is mostly associated with comic and action roles in the recent past. But in Jag Ghoomeya from Sultan, he shows some shades of romance and heart break, and a music lover can never miss this track from this playlist. Though Rahet Fateh Ali Khan was nominated at Filmfare awards in male playback category, he didn’t receive the honour. However the female rendition by Neha Bhasin earned an award at Filmfare. The song was first recorded in Arjit Singh’s voice and later re-recorded in Pakistani singer’s voice, and the move invited a few controversies too. But “Jag Ghoomeya” in Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice is really touching and no one can deny.

Mere Naam Tu from Zero (2018) – Music: Ajay-Atul, Lyrics: Irshad Kamil, Playback: Abhay Jodhpurkar

It’s after a long time, a romantic song of SRK touched listeners’ hearts and his fans loved this romantic avatar. The song was lovely and colorfully filmed just like a Holi song. Anushka is wonderful, SRK is magic with his lovely dance steps and so are its artists associated with it. I could found some shades of melodious ‘Sapna Jahan‘ song of Brothers of the same composer duo, which itself lifted a segment of ‘Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai‘ of 1996 film, Khamoshi: The Musical. I also got glimpses of SPB’s voice in Abhay Jodhpurkar and 1980s/1990s Tamil tunes of Illayaraja somewhere, which made me listen this song over and over without any break.

Tere Mere from Bodyguard (2011) – Music: Himesh Reshammiya, Lyrics: Shabbir Ahmed, Playback: Rahet Fateh Ali Khan & Shreya Ghoshal

The top romantic song of the year 2011, the song featured Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Though Himesh Reshammiya’s song was accused to be a copy of a Romanian song, it became extremely popular among music lovers. Definitely its Mukda was copied, but not its Antara. A few years later, the song ‘Teri Meri Kahani’ from Gabbar Is Back featuring Kareena Kapoor & Akshay Kumar revived some moments of this iconic song.

E Dil Hai Mushkil from E Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) – Music: Pritam, Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya, Playback: Arijit Singh

E Dil Hai Mushkil featuring Ranbir Kapoor was the top chartbuster song of the year, and it bagged best music album and best male playback awards at Filmfare. It’s one of the most popular heart breaking songs of the recent times.

Teri Mitti from Kesar (2019) – Music: Arko, Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir, Playback: B Praak

Goosebumps for such a lovely piece of music, heart touching rendition as well as wonderful lyrics, which is not common in Bollywood nowadays. The song gives glimpses of the last few moments of a soldier’s life, his dreams and memories, and the situation is very much related to the tragic climax of a real life incident, when Sikhs fought Battle of Saragarhi against British to save their honours. I think definitely “Teri Mitti” is the best patriotic song happened after “Sandeshe Aate Hain”; the song moved many human hearts and forced them to shed a few tears too.

Before I conclude, let me mention a few more popular songs of the decade – Haal-E-Dil Mera & Title track from Sanam Teri Kasam, Jalte Diye from Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Jiya Laage Na from Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, Mannat from Daawat-E-Ishq, Mein Chali from Force, Sadka Kiya and Bahara from I Hate Luv Storys, Mohe Mohe Ke from Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Pani Da from Vicky Donor etc.