Saansein - Karwaan by Prateek Kuhad

Released as part of Karwaan, Saansein - Karwaan announced itself as a standout the moment it reached listeners. What makes Saansein - Karwaan musically distinctive is the composition by Prateek Kuhad, which balances simplicity with depth.

Every line Prateek Kuhad sings feels considered, as though the performance was thought through long before recording began. Mithila Palkar, Dulquer Salmaan, Irrfan Khan gave the film its soul, and Saansein - Karwaan is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

The 2018 release gave fans something to hold onto — a track built for repeated listening rather than a single play. The emotional register of Saansein - Karwaan is wide enough to fit celebration and solitude equally well.

The concision of Saansein - Karwaan — just 4:26 — 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.