Ya Ali Ya Ali - Ajooba by Sudesh Bhosle

Ya Ali Ya Ali - Ajooba is the kind of song that earns its place in a playlist and then refuses to leave. What makes Ya Ali Ya Ali - Ajooba musically distinctive is the composition by Laxmikant, Pyarelal, which balances simplicity with depth.

Sudesh Bhosle's vocal here has a quality that is difficult to describe but impossible to miss — it simply feels true. Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia gave the film its soul, and Ya Ali Ya Ali - Ajooba is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

By the end of 1991, Ya Ali Ya Ali - Ajooba had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. There is a quality to Ya Ali Ya Ali - Ajooba that makes it feel like company — the kind of song you put on when words feel insufficient.

At 7:08, the track does not overstay its welcome — it says what it needs to say and leaves the listener wanting more. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.