Murshida - Begum Jaan by Arijit Singh

Murshida - Begum Jaan works because it does not try to do too much — it finds one feeling and holds it perfectly. The music, composed by Anu Malik, carries the song forward with a confidence that matches the performance.

Arijit Singh inhabits this song completely, making every phrase feel like it was written specifically for this voice. Hearing Murshida - Begum Jaan without thinking of Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Ila Arun, Gauahar Khan, Pallavi Sharda, Rajit Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vivek Mushran, Chunky Pandey, Poonam Singh Rajput, Ridhima Tiwari, Fllora Saini, Priyanka Setia, Mishti, Sumit Nijhawan, Pitobash Tripathy, Rajesh Sharma is almost impossible for anyone who has seen Begum Jaan.

Released in 2017, it arrived at a time when Hindi music needed exactly this kind of sincerity. Murshida - Begum Jaan is the song for the end of a long day when you want music that understands something without being asked to explain it.

The concision of Murshida - Begum Jaan — just 5:25 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.