Jallikattu by Karthik, Senthil Das

Few songs from 2020 have held their ground as well as Jallikattu, a track that keeps finding new audiences. The arrangement here is the work of Yuvan Shankar Raja, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Jallikattu, Karthik, Senthil Das clearly belongs in the second group. For fans of Arya, Ameer, Sathya, Adhiti Menon, Jallikattu is one of those songs that immediately conjures specific scenes and emotions.

2020 marked the release of Jallikattu, and Jallikattu was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. Listeners have described the experience of Jallikattu differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

At 4:33, the track does not overstay its welcome — it says what it needs to say and leaves the listener wanting more. Jallikattu has earned its place in the catalogue of Malayalam music that genuinely matters. The listeners who found it early already knew.