Banna Banni - Revolver Rani by Sanjeev Srivastava, Rekha Bhardwaj

Sanjeev Srivastava, Rekha Bhardwaj has delivered memorable performances before, but Banna Banni - Revolver Rani sits comfortably among the very best. Sanjeev Srivastava sets the tone from the very first bar — it is clear from the opening notes that this song means business.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Banna Banni - Revolver Rani, Sanjeev Srivastava, Rekha Bhardwaj clearly belongs in the second group. The chemistry of Kangana Ranaut, Vir Das, Zakir Hussain, Piyush Mishra is embedded in every moment of Banna Banni - Revolver Rani, making it as much a performance as a song.

The song dates from 2014, but nothing about it sounds dated — the emotions it captures are not tied to a moment. The mood of the track shifts subtly as it progresses, giving even a single listen a sense of journey.

Running to 4:40, 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.