Puthan Palli by Arshak Panoor

When Arshak Panoor recorded Puthan Palli, something special happened in the studio — and listeners have felt it ever since. Behind the melody is the work of Musadhique Tanur, whose composition choices give Puthan Palli its distinctive texture.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Puthan Palli, Arshak Panoor clearly belongs in the second group. a talented ensemble cast gave the film its soul, and Puthan Palli is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

In 2020, Malayalam produced many songs, but Puthan Palli was one of the handful that genuinely cut through. 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 5:06 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 Malayalam in recent memory — and the numbers agree.