Jhiri Jhiri by Zubeen Garg

There is an honesty to Jhiri Jhiri that separates it from most Bengali songs released around the same time. The music, composed by Jeet Gannguli, carries the song forward with a confidence that matches the performance.

The voice of Zubeen Garg carries Jhiri Jhiri effortlessly, which is the highest compliment a song can give its singer. The story told by Tamal Roy Chowdhury, Priyanka Sarkar, Rahul Banerjee, Rudranil Ghosh, Sujit Dutta, Rita Koiral in Chirodini Tumi Je Amar finds its musical expression here — Jhiri Jhiri is where the film's heart beats loudest.

2008 marked the release of Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, and Jhiri Jhiri was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. Listeners have described the experience of Jhiri Jhiri differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

In 5:54 minutes, Jhiri Jhiri builds, opens up, and resolves in a way that feels complete rather than truncated. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Bengali in recent memory — and the numbers agree.