Balma - Khiladi 786 by Shriram, Shreya Ghoshal

Balma - Khiladi 786 works because it does not try to do too much — it finds one feeling and holds it perfectly. The arrangement here is the work of Himesh Reshammiya, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

Shriram, Shreya Ghoshal's vocal here has a quality that is difficult to describe but impossible to miss — it simply feels true. The story told by a talented ensemble cast in Khiladi 786 finds its musical expression here — Balma - Khiladi 786 is where the film's heart beats loudest.

By the end of 2012, Balma - Khiladi 786 had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. The mood of the track shifts subtly as it progresses, giving even a single listen a sense of journey.

The concision of Balma - Khiladi 786 — just 3:47 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.