Look: The future of America may be a mess because Russia installed an animated jack-o-lantern as our next commander-in-chief and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. And trust me, I really want to make a big ol’ joke asking what happens when Hindus for Trump and Stacey Dash walk into a bar; I also want to say some words about desis who are rampantly anti-black, who didn’t seem to care that indigenous people’s rights remain in jeopardy due to for-profit interests, who are generally terrible when it comes to solidarity — but those words are better left for another time, mostly because I’m tired.
I’m just tired of this election cycle; I am tired of the ugliness — and I want to believe in the healing properties of a superlative Bolly-Ballad. So let’s use this opportunity to talk about exactly that.
You may know about the reigning Princess of Bollywood Pop Sunidhi Chauhan. Here she is singing Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GA5xF5oVMc
Here she is singing a Hindi-language version of “Let It Go” from Frozen, because why not?
And of course, here she is nailing “Girls Like to Swing” from the 2015 blockbuster Dil Dhadakne Do.
But all of this is an elaborate build-up to Chauhan’s sweeping vocals for the Alia Bhatt-starring Dear Zindagi in the song “Just Go to Hell Dil.” Listen below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rytPoK27VPs
It has all the makings of a classic Bolly-Ballad:
- An unexpectedly quiet build-up
- A randomly Celtic-sounding strings section
- The big shouty part towards the end
- The fact that the word “hell” prominently features throughout the song, indicating that this is obviously a song about heartbreak and is not to be taken lightly
So, thanks Sunidhi Chauhan for sweeping into 2016 and giving us a soaring Bolly-Ballad. 2016 has been a terrible year overall, but at least you managed to perk up the year’s soundtrack.
Rohin Guha is an editor at The Aerogram. Follow him @ohrohin. Follow The Aerogram @theaerogram.
