Kaantha Njanum Varaam by M.G. Sreekumar

Few songs from 2020 have held their ground as well as Kaantha Njanum Varaam, a track that keeps finding new audiences. M. Jayachandran's arrangement gives the track a layered quality that rewards repeated listening.

M.G. Sreekumar delivers the lyrics with a nuance that turns an already strong song into something genuinely moving. The song is tied to Mohanlal, Shobana, whose presence gives Kaantha Njanum Varaam a visual dimension that fans of the film will always associate with it.

In 2020, Malayalam produced many songs, but Kaantha Njanum Varaam was one of the handful that genuinely cut through. Listeners have described the experience of Kaantha Njanum Varaam differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

Running to 3:55, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. Songs like Kaantha Njanum Varaam are the reason people fall in love with Malayalam music and never quite fall out of it.