Bewafa Beauty - Blackmail by Pawni Pandey

Bewafa Beauty - Blackmail arrived from the Blackmail album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 2018. Amit Trivedi built the instrumental foundation carefully here — every element earns its place in the mix.

The performance by Pawni Pandey is the centrepiece here — controlled where it needs to be, open where it counts. Hearing Bewafa Beauty - Blackmail without thinking of Irrfan Khan is almost impossible for anyone who has seen Blackmail.

2018 marked the release of Blackmail, and Bewafa Beauty - Blackmail was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. There is a quality to Bewafa Beauty - Blackmail that makes it feel like company — the kind of song you put on when words feel insufficient.

Running to 4:41, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.