Oh Priya by Shankar Mahadevan, Jyotsna Radhakrishnan

The Oh Priya album has several strong tracks, but Oh Priya is the one most listeners come back to first. Suresh Peters has a history of strong work, and the music on Oh Priya is among the most memorable of it.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Oh Priya, Shankar Mahadevan, Jyotsna Radhakrishnan clearly belongs in the second group. The story told by Mammootty, Mohanlal in Oh Priya finds its musical expression here — Oh Priya is where the film's heart beats loudest.

By the end of 2020, Oh Priya had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. It fits the playlist for almost any occasion, which is rare — most songs have a narrow emotional window. This one does not.

The 4:49 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. Songs like Oh Priya are the reason people fall in love with Malayalam music and never quite fall out of it.