Raat Ke Dhai Baje - Kaminey by Vishal Bhardwaj, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala, Suresh Wadkar, Rekha Bhardwaj, Earl E.D

Raat Ke Dhai Baje - Kaminey arrived from the Kaminey album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 2009. Vishal Bhardwaj sets the tone from the very first bar — it is clear from the opening notes that this song means business.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Raat Ke Dhai Baje - Kaminey, Vishal Bhardwaj, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala, Suresh Wadkar, Rekha Bhardwaj, Earl E.D clearly belongs in the second group. Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor gave the film its soul, and Raat Ke Dhai Baje - Kaminey is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

Released in 2009, it arrived at a time when Hindi music needed exactly this kind of sincerity. It fits the playlist for almost any occasion, which is rare — most songs have a narrow emotional window. This one does not.

The concision of Raat Ke Dhai Baje - Kaminey — just 4:31 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. The song continues to find new listeners, which is the surest sign that it was made with something genuine at its core.