What Is Love - The Gentleman by Alisha Chinai, Anu Malik

Released as part of The Gentleman, What Is Love - The Gentleman announced itself as a standout the moment it reached listeners. Anu Malik built the instrumental foundation carefully here — every element earns its place in the mix.

Alisha Chinai, Anu Malik brings a warmth to What Is Love - The Gentleman that no production choice could manufacture — it has to be felt, and here it is. Hearing What Is Love - The Gentleman without thinking of Chiranjeevi, Juhi Chawla, Dipak Tijori, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Paresh Rawal, Heera Rajgopal is almost impossible for anyone who has seen The Gentleman.

Released in 1994, it arrived at a time when Hindi music needed exactly this kind of sincerity. Whether it plays on a long drive, during a quiet evening at home, or through earphones on a crowded commute, the song meets the listener where they are.

The concision of What Is Love - The Gentleman — just 7:57 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.