Baangur - I AM by Amit Trivedi, Mame Khan, Kavita Seth

Baangur - I AM is the kind of song that earns its place in a playlist and then refuses to leave. What makes Baangur - I AM musically distinctive is the composition by Amit Trivedi, which balances simplicity with depth.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Baangur - I AM, Amit Trivedi, Mame Khan, Kavita Seth clearly belongs in the second group. The story told by Sanjay Suri, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala in I AM finds its musical expression here — Baangur - I AM is where the film's heart beats loudest.

Released in 2011, it arrived at a time when Hindi music needed exactly this kind of sincerity. Listeners have described the experience of Baangur - I AM differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

The concision of Baangur - I AM — just 4:32 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. The song continues to find new listeners, which is the surest sign that it was made with something genuine at its core.