Happy Budday - Kill Dil by Sukhwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy, Gulzar

There is an honesty to Happy Budday - Kill Dil that separates it from most Hindi songs released around the same time. What makes Happy Budday - Kill Dil musically distinctive is the composition by Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy, which balances simplicity with depth.

The vocal on Happy Budday - Kill Dil is among the better performances Sukhwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy, Gulzar has committed to record. The story told by Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar, Govinda, Parineeti Chopra in Kill Dil finds its musical expression here — Happy Budday - Kill Dil is where the film's heart beats loudest.

Released in 2014, it arrived at a time when Hindi music needed exactly this kind of sincerity. It fits the playlist for almost any occasion, which is rare — most songs have a narrow emotional window. This one does not.

Running to 4:27, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. Happy Budday - Kill Dil has earned its place in the catalogue of Hindi music that genuinely matters. The listeners who found it early already knew.