Hridayame by Hesham Abdul Wahab, Anurag Kulkarni, Sithara Krishnakumar, Arun Alat

There is an honesty to Hridayame that separates it from most Malayalam songs released around the same time. The music, composed by Hesham Abdul Wahab, carries the song forward with a confidence that matches the performance.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Hridayame, Hesham Abdul Wahab, Anurag Kulkarni, Sithara Krishnakumar, Arun Alat clearly belongs in the second group. The connection between Nani, Mrunal Thakur, Jaya Ram, Priyadarsh and this song is part of what makes it resonate beyond the film itself.

By the end of 2023, Hridayame had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. There is no right time to listen to Hridayame. There is only the moment you press play and realise it was the right choice.

In 3:24 minutes, Hridayame builds, opens up, and resolves in a way that feels complete rather than truncated. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.