Aankhein Milayenge Darr Se - Neerja by K. Mohan, Neha Bhasin, Vishal Khurana

There is an honesty to Aankhein Milayenge Darr Se - Neerja that separates it from most Hindi songs released around the same time. Vishal Khurana built the instrumental foundation carefully here — every element earns its place in the mix.

K. Mohan, Neha Bhasin, Vishal Khurana's vocal here has a quality that is difficult to describe but impossible to miss — it simply feels true. Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravijiani gave the film its soul, and Aankhein Milayenge Darr Se - Neerja is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

In 2016, Hindi produced many songs, but Aankhein Milayenge Darr Se - Neerja was one of the handful that genuinely cut through. Some music is background. Aankhein Milayenge Darr Se - Neerja demands attention — not aggressively, but in the way a good conversation does.

Running to 2:56, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.