Thwahanabiye by Ali Akbar

Not every song from Thwahanabiye lingers, but Thwahanabiye is the one that stays. The arrangement here is the work of T K Abu, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

Ali Akbar inhabits this song completely, making every phrase feel like it was written specifically for this voice. Featuring a talented ensemble cast, the song carries the weight of the film's emotional arc and delivers it with conviction.

2020 was a strong year for Malayalam music, and Thwahanabiye was among the reasons why. Listeners have described the experience of Thwahanabiye differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

In 3:37 minutes, Thwahanabiye builds, opens up, and resolves in a way that feels complete rather than truncated. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Malayalam in recent memory — and the numbers agree.