Khauf by Masoom Sharma, Manisha Sharma

Some songs are made for a single moment. Khauf is made for all of them. Credit goes to Masoom Sharma, Pinna Music for a score that understands exactly what the song needs and nothing more.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Khauf, Masoom Sharma, Manisha Sharma clearly belongs in the second group. For fans of a talented ensemble cast, Khauf is one of those songs that immediately conjures specific scenes and emotions.

By the end of 2022, Khauf had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. There is a quality to Khauf that makes it feel like company — the kind of song you put on when words feel insufficient.

The concision of Khauf — just 2:24 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. Khauf endures because it was built on feeling rather than formula — and that is the one thing streaming numbers cannot manufacture.