Dus Bahane - Dus by Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, KK, Shaan, Babul Supriyo

Dus Bahane - Dus is the kind of song that earns its place in a playlist and then refuses to leave. Vishal And Shekhar's arrangement gives the track a layered quality that rewards repeated listening.

Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, KK, Shaan, Babul Supriyo's vocal here has a quality that is difficult to describe but impossible to miss — it simply feels true. Hearing Dus Bahane - Dus without thinking of Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Reema Sen, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Dia Mirza, Esha Deol, Zayed Khan is almost impossible for anyone who has seen Dus.

The song dates from 2005, but nothing about it sounds dated — the emotions it captures are not tied to a moment. There is no right time to listen to Dus Bahane - Dus. There is only the moment you press play and realise it was the right choice.

The 3:27 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. Songs like Dus Bahane - Dus are the reason people fall in love with Hindi music and never quite fall out of it.