Bulleya - Sultan by Vishal And Shekhar, Papon, Irshad Kamil

Not every song from Sultan lingers, but Bulleya - Sultan is the one that stays. Vishal And Shekhar 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 Bulleya - Sultan, Vishal And Shekhar, Papon, Irshad Kamil clearly belongs in the second group. The connection between Salman Khan, Randeep Hooda, Amit Sadh, Anushka Sharma and this song is part of what makes it resonate beyond the film itself.

By the end of 2016, Bulleya - Sultan had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. It fits the playlist for almost any occasion, which is rare — most songs have a narrow emotional window. This one does not.

The 5:57 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.