Ajnabee Tum Lagte Nahin - I - Proud To Be An Indian by Daboo Malik, Kc. Loy, Xlnc, Sunidhi Chauhan, Babul Supriyo, Instrumental

Released as part of I - Proud To Be An Indian, Ajnabee Tum Lagte Nahin - I - Proud To Be An Indian announced itself as a standout the moment it reached listeners. Daboo Malik, Kc. Loy, Xlnc sets the tone from the very first bar — it is clear from the opening notes that this song means business.

Daboo Malik, Kc. Loy, Xlnc, Sunidhi Chauhan, Babul Supriyo, Instrumental's vocal here has a quality that is difficult to describe but impossible to miss — it simply feels true. On screen, Sohail Khan, Tim Lawrence, Heena Tasleem, Imran Ali Khan bring the emotional world of the song to life in a way that enhances rather than competes with the music.

2004 was a strong year for Hindi music, and Ajnabee Tum Lagte Nahin - I - Proud To Be An Indian was among the reasons why. Listeners have described the experience of Ajnabee Tum Lagte Nahin - I - Proud To Be An Indian differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

The 6:23 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.