Tokhon Baje Barota by Nakash Aziz

Few songs from 2018 have held their ground as well as Tokhon Baje Barota, a track that keeps finding new audiences. Dev Sen sets the tone from the very first bar — it is clear from the opening notes that this song means business.

The voice of Nakash Aziz carries Tokhon Baje Barota effortlessly, which is the highest compliment a song can give its singer. The connection between Shakib Khan, Nusrat Jahan, Sayantika Banerjee and this song is part of what makes it resonate beyond the film itself.

2018 was a strong year for Bengali music, and Tokhon Baje Barota was among the reasons why. Listeners have described the experience of Tokhon Baje Barota differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

The 2:51 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.