Kaali Raat - I - Proud To Be An Indian by K.C. Loy, Daboo Malik, Xlnc, Srinivas

There is an honesty to Kaali Raat - I - Proud To Be An Indian that separates it from most Hindi songs released around the same time. The production by K.C. Loy, Daboo Malik, Xlnc is understated in the best way — supportive without overshadowing the vocal.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Kaali Raat - I - Proud To Be An Indian, K.C. Loy, Daboo Malik, Xlnc, Srinivas clearly belongs in the second group. Sohail Khan, Tim Lawrence, Heena Tasleem, Imran Ali Khan, Scott Hinds are at the heart of I - Proud To Be An Indian, and Kaali Raat - I - Proud To Be An Indian captures their dynamic at its most compelling.

The song dates from 2004, but nothing about it sounds dated — the emotions it captures are not tied to a moment. It is the kind of track that works at full volume with friends and equally well in a quiet room alone — the mood adjusts without the song changing.

The 2:32 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. The track stands as evidence that K.C. Loy, Daboo Malik, Xlnc, Srinivas and K.C. Loy, Daboo Malik, Xlnc, working together, are capable of something well above the ordinary.