Birthday Special: The most laudable songs of Mika Singh

Mika Singh is a name that one usually associates with controversies and cacophony But the man seems to have mellowed when he isnrsquot singing When it comes to crooning his tunes can force people to groove albeit with two left feet He has been around for 23 years and in these two decades his journey seems to have been very enjoyable just like a lot of his songsBut the man hasnrsquot limited himself to dance numbers or maybe the filmmakers didnrsquot allow that to happen Collaborations with Imtiaz Ali Rahul Dholakia Abhishek Chaubey challenged his oeuvre and expanded his versatility As he turns 44 today here are some of his most laudable itrsquos a tricky one thoughMauja Hi Mauja Jab We Met 2007lsquoJab We Metrsquo was a happysad film The first half is filled with moments of mirth and the second half has montages of miseries The trick that Imtiaz Ali plays is he reverses the moods of the protagonists Kareena Kapoor Khan who rediscovered her voice as an artist made the exuberant character of Geet her own Shersquos dumped by her boyfriend at least she thinks so and goes into a shell Aditya Shahid Kapoor was in throughout the first half Of course they had to unite and the film ends with a cracker of a dance number that Mika sings with aplomb even for GeetIbnEBatuta Ishqiya 2010How to describe Abhishek Chaubeyrsquos debut Once itrsquos a comedy the next moment it turns into a thriller and we have comedic moments again And in between we get romance and sex too The end suggests it was a caper all along with three superb leads The IbnEBatuta song is cosung by Sukhwinder Singh and the camaraderie between the actors is a delight to watch that further elevates the track Akshay Kumar Salman Khan signing Mika for a song may suggest friendship Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj bringing him on board signifies something specialSajnaa Lamhaa 2010A drama dealing with the complexities of the Kashmiris cannot have a number or an item It needs a soundtrack Rahul Dholakiarsquos understanding of the conflicts in the state may have been debatable the song that stood out was Sajnaa where Mika softened his nasal way of singing and delivered an affecting melody It was also an answer to his critics that he can be as versatile as an actor or a filmmaker Think of Mikarsquos attempt to croon this song as Ajay Devgnrsquos attempt to do lsquoRaincoatrsquoSubha Hone Na De Desi Boyz 2011Pritam can weave magic to even underwhelming films with his throbbing tracks Now this is an item a number featuring two hunks Akshay Kumar and John Abraham charming an army of ladies around poledancing and even stripping They are male escorts but we forget this fact when the song plays out and we wish to shake a leg with the actors Itrsquos filled with energy and entertainment that even when it ends on a horrific note in the film you still havenrsquot finished having funHeer To Badi Sad Hai Tamasha 2015The makers of this film promoted this as a happysad song Sad because Tara Deepika Padukone has come back from Corsica after a lifealtering trip And happy because Imtiaz Ali stages this number in a peppy amusing way Tara has fallen in love with Ved aka Don Ranbir Kapoor and pines for a reunion As the song reaches its end five years have passed and she finally spots him She beams with joy but hides her emotions Itrsquos the right time for its end since Heer is now happy And so are Mika Singhrsquos fans for such a number Hopefully his critics tooAlso Read Mika Singh extends a helping hand to the farmers in Delhi