Patakha Guddi

A R Rahman's 'Patakha Guddi', sung with electrifying abandon by sisters Sultana and Jyoti Nooran, is a spiritual detonation wrapped in a gypsy scarf and flung into the wind. From the first beat, it grabs you by the collar and hurls you into a landscape of rebellion, joy and divine mischief.

The Nooran sisters' voices in this song from the 2014 Imtiaz Ali film, 'Highway', are raw, ecstatic and uncontainable - like two firecrackers arguing with the sky. Their Sufi-infused vocals soar, loop and dive like kites possessed by freedom.

Rahman's composition is a masterclass in controlled chaos: rhythms gallop, synths shimmer, and the melody dances like a barefoot runaway on a highway to nowhere. It's a hymn to the wild child - the girl who refuses to be tamed, who laughs at rules and rides the wind.


Irshad Kamil's exhilarating lyrics, 'Maula tera maali,/ O   hariyaali junglewaali,/ Tu  de har gaali pe taali,/ Uski kadam kadam rakhwaali...' - Lord is your gardener,/ O queen of the green and jungles/ You clap away any abuse coming your way,/ His protection is at your every step... - makes the song an ethereal modern classic.