Rabba Re Kya Hua - Aashayein by Shiraz Uppal

Rabba Re Kya Hua - Aashayein is the kind of song that earns its place in a playlist and then refuses to leave. The arrangement here is the work of Shiraz Uppal, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Rabba Re Kya Hua - Aashayein, Shiraz Uppal clearly belongs in the second group. Hearing Rabba Re Kya Hua - Aashayein without thinking of John Abraham, Anaitha Nair, Farida Jalal, Girish Karnad is almost impossible for anyone who has seen Aashayein.

2010 marked the release of Aashayein, and Rabba Re Kya Hua - Aashayein was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. 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 concision of Rabba Re Kya Hua - Aashayein — just 4:30 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.