Nov 08, 2026 11:00am IST
7 Songs On Loop: Here are Ehsaan Noorani’s Favorites
In this series, Variety India asks film and music celebs to list their seven favorite songs of all time, along with ‘notes’ on what makes them personal choices. Composer Ehsaan Noorani (of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) shares his favorites.
‘Here Comes the Sun’ (1969)
“This is my first choice for a great reason. When a friend played it sometime in the mid-1970s, this song by the Beatles, tuned by George Harrison, tempted and inspired me to learn the guitar. The song was originally released in the album “Abbey Road” in 1969.”
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‘Imagine’ (1971)
“This one is really beautiful. It is sung by John Lennon. At that time, again in the 1970s, it was a very forward-thinking song about a world so ideal that I think this song should be taught to students in school. My sister would listen to a lot of music and that’s how I came to know about it and the powerful lyrics.”
‘Kuch Dil Ne Kaha’ from “Anupama” (1966)
“When I traverse to our Hindi songs, a gem I really love is “Kuch Dil Ne Kaha,” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and composed by Hemant Kumar (lyrics by Kaifi Azmi). I find it one of the most beautiful songs in the Hindi film music industry ever. Beyond the beautiful composition, what is amazing is that the arrangements are so perfect. I really think that Hemant-da, or Hemanta Mukhopadhyaya, to give his original name, was a genius who deserved much more credit than he got in his lifetime. And I have watched the film itself at least four or five times. Even the other song by Lataji. “Dhire Dhire Machal” was also outstanding.”
‘Tum Pukar Lo’ from ‘Khamoshi’ (1969)
“When I first listened to this lovely number—again composed by Hemant Kumar (lyrcis by Gulzar)—I was a child, and I found it so, so haunting! It has perfect music sections that were not overdone (like a lot of film music that came later) but well-arranged and aesthetically beautiful. Hemantda never found it necessary to have a first music and a different second music and believed in simplicity and perfection. He also rendered this song and was great as a singer too.”
‘Tum Mile’ from ‘Criminal’ (1995)
“This is one song written by Indeevar that really affected me. M.M. Kreem-sir composed this song in Raag Bhimpalasi, which is one of my all-time favorite raags. It is a strong raag, so its bandish comes out the same. I love to compose on this raag, and our “Bol na halke halke” from “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” is also based on it. Raag Bhimpalasi always has an emotional effect on me.”
‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ Title track (2003)
“One song of ours, written by Javed Akhtar, that always has an effect on me is the title song of “Kal Ho Naa Ho.” Loy (Mendonsa) composed the first line; I wrote the second part and Shankar (Mahadevan) wrote the last line of the mukhda. So it was truly a collab, and a magical one at that. I am delighted that it is considered one of the most beautiful songs in modern Hindi film music today.”
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‘Kajra Re’ from ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ (2005)
“Even now, when we perform this song, people go mad, because it has such a sense of perennial celebration. It is interesting to know how we cracked this track. We had only come up with the line “Kajraare kajraare tere kaale kaale naina.” Gulzar saab kept that line and took it further. Most of the composition was by Shankar and me. But the tune for the first line of the antara, “Surme se likhe tere vaade, ankhon ki zabaani aate hai,” was actually created by Aditya Chopra! He suggested it, and it fit perfectly.”
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