So far, we have seen a number of smash-hits being delivered this year in terms of Hindi film songs. Composers like Amit Trivedi, Clinton Cerejo and Shankar-Ehsaan Loy have come up with soulful and party numbers alike.
Singers like Arijit Singh, Ankit Tiwari and Vishal Dadlani distinguished themselves from the herd. But when it comes to film music albums as a whole, there were five film soundtracks that shone brightly so far in 2016. Let us take a look at them.
"Fitoor"
After having a mediocre year in 2015, Amit Trivedi bounced back with the soundtrack of "Fitoor" in early 2016. While many would give preferential treatment of the film's title track by Arijit Singh, "Pashmina" is the song that summarises Trivedi's prowess as a composer and singer. Zeb Bangash's "Haminatsu" is also a song to watch out for.
Composer: Amit Trivedi
"Udta Punjab"
Another gem of an album by Trivedi, the soundtrack of this film saw the composer doing something that he has never done before and that is, experimenting with hip hop and psy-trance. "Ikk Kudi" reprise version sung by Diljit Dosanjh, "Da Da Dasse" by Kanika Kapoor and Babu Haabi and "Vadiya" by Trivedi are songs to watch out for.
Composer: Amit Trivedi
"Sultan"
Composer duo Vishal-Shekhar were almost silent last year. But it looks like 2016 is going to be a great year for them, one of the reasons being the soundtrack of "Sultan." The entire album is special for its earthly folk-ish feel. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's "Jag Ghoomeya," Papon's "Bulleya" and "Sachi Muchi" by Mohit Chauhan and Harshdeep Kaur are songs you cannot afford to not listen to.
Composer: Vishal-Shekhar
"Te3n"
It was proved over the years that the combination of Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya can create magic in terms of music. But this year we saw Bhattacharya and Clinton Cerejo can also do the same. Don't believe us? Listen to songs such as "Rootha" and "Kyun Re" from "Te3n."
Composer: Clinton Cerejo
"Raman Raghav 2.0"
Composer Ram Sampath is known for churning out edgy songs but the soundtrack of the psychological thriller "Raman Raghav 2.0" is him being at his commercially-viable best. That being said, the songs in the film are quite diverse in nature. For example, listen to Sona Mahapartra's acoustic version of "Qatl-E-Aam" and Siddharth Basrur's "Paani Ka Raasta" back to back.
Composer: Ram Sampath