Maa - Gollu Aur Pappu by Santokh Singh Dhaliwal, Kunal Ganjawala

Maa - Gollu Aur Pappu arrived from the Gollu Aur Pappu album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 2014. The arrangement here is the work of Santokh Singh Dhaliwal, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

The vocal on Maa - Gollu Aur Pappu is among the better performances Santokh Singh Dhaliwal, Kunal Ganjawala has committed to record. The chemistry of Sandeepa Dharpia, Vir Das, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Dimple Kapadia is embedded in every moment of Maa - Gollu Aur Pappu, making it as much a performance as a song.

By the end of 2014, Maa - Gollu Aur Pappu had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. The mood of the track shifts subtly as it progresses, giving even a single listen a sense of journey.

The 4:40 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.