Sarigamapa by K.J.Yesudas, Madhu Balakrishnan, Afsal, Franco

Sarigamapa works because it does not try to do too much — it finds one feeling and holds it perfectly. The arrangement here is the work of Berny Ignatius, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

The vocal on Sarigamapa is among the better performances K.J.Yesudas, Madhu Balakrishnan, Afsal, Franco has committed to record. Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Nayanthara, Jayaram, Bhavana gave the film its soul, and Sarigamapa is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

2008 marked the release of Sarigamapa, and Sarigamapa was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. The emotional register of Sarigamapa is wide enough to fit celebration and solitude equally well.

Running to 4:56, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Malayalam in recent memory — and the numbers agree.