It is time to bid farewell to 2025 and take stock of what happened in the music scene. While veterans and established names continued to hold their sway, several up-and-coming talents also made a mark.
Jakes Bejoy emerged the composer of the year with a bunch of releases — Identity, Officer on Duty, Thudarum, Narivetta, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, Paathirathri and Vilayath Buddha. He had releases also in Hindi and Tamil, Deva and Kaantha (background score)respectively. While Justin Varghese added to the fun with songs in Ponman, Daveed, Painkili and Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira, Electronic Kili impressed with his tracks in Thalavara and Maine Pyar Kiya. After creating magic with his music in Kishkinda Kaandam in 2024, Mujeeb Majeed proved his mastery yet again with song/background score in Rekhachithram, Dheeran, Eko and Kalamkaval this year.
Listeners were spoilt for choice when it came to the voices. Here is a run down on the singers who were heard on loop.
Viral voices
Right on top is Sid Sriram, who sang the blockbuster song of the year, ‘Minnalvala’ from Narivetta, with Sithara Krishnakumar, tuned by Jakes. The groovy hook connected with music lovers in no time. Sid also sang in Hridayapoorvam (‘Venmathi’) and Athibheekara Kamukan (‘Premavathi’).
A still from the song ‘Ethu moodu’ from Sahasam
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This Onam, one song that was heard all around was ‘Ethu moodu’ from Sahasam, tuned by Bibin Ashok and sung by rapper Fejo, along with Himna Hilari and Hinitha Hilari. They poured their energy into this catchy track, which became quite an earworm with its vibe and the lyrics by Vinayak Sasikumar.
The superhero of Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra had the apt voice to proclaim who she is, Jyoti Nooran of the Nooran Sisters, who crooned ‘Thani lokah murakkari’ with Shillong-based rapper Reble. The high-energy track almost became an anthem, with even political parties churning out parodies of the song during the election campaign to local self government bodies.
The sensational musician Sai Abhyankar, who swept the Tamil indie music scene with an array of singles, debuted as a film composer with Balti. ‘Jaalakkari’, his duet with Sublahshini, went viral; he was also one of the singers in all other tracks.
Vintage touch
Veteran MG Sreekumar was at his melodic best in ‘Kanmanipoove’ from Thudarum. The tune and the chorus complemented the narrative. Alongside, he showed why he is a master of fast numbers with the track, ‘Kondattam’, a duet with Rajalakshmy, in the movie.
Mohanlal and Shobana in a song sequence in Thudarum
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We also heard the powered-up voice of Usha Uthup yet again in ‘Azrael’ from L2 : Empuraan, composed by Deepak Dev.
Fresh and distinct
Anand Sreeraj, the lead singer of Willingdon Island, an alternative-rock band, literally roared his way into Malayalam cinema belting out ‘Empurane’ in L2: Empuraan.
Thudarum featured a new voice, Gokul Gopakumar, a reality show contestant, who was heard alongside veteran Hariharan in the track ‘Katha thudarum’. Among the frenetic tracks in Painkali was ‘Vaazhkai’ sung by Divyaraja Mazan, which takes you to the Tamil film music of the ‘60s. Neeraj Remesh also impressed in the movie with three songs, the stand-out one being ‘Thetti’ that had Vinayak Sasikumar’s quirky lyrics.
Young music sensation Sanjith Hegde had a handful of songs this year — ‘Everyday’ from Alappuzha Gymkhana, ‘Dupattavali’ from Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira and ‘Nee mayathe’ from Maine Pyar Kiya. Zeba Tommy nailed it with the track ‘Queen of the night’ in Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra.
The cool ‘Hey penne’ from Haal composed by Nandhagopan V also found a place on the charts, thanks to the breezy voice of Adithya RK.
Hanan Shah and Nihal Sadiq who captivated with their indie track, ‘Chirapunji’ early this year, had their share of success in film music as well. Hanan sang the catchy number, ‘Neeye punchiri’ from Lokah.., while Nihal had ‘Manohari’, a peppy duet in Maine Pyar Kiya, with Vijay Anand.
Parvathi Meenakshi, who got her entry into filmdom post her success in a reality show, impressed on her Malayalam debut in Vilayath Buddha with the melody, ‘Kattu raasa’, a duet with Vijay Yesudas.
Sindhu Delson
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It was the old world charm in her voice that saw the world fall in love with the voice of Sindhu Delson, who sang in Kalamkaval — ‘Nila kaayum’, ‘Mannanai’ and ‘En vaighai’, the last one a duet with Sreerag Bharathan, yet another reality show find, who sang two other tracks as well.
Meanwhile, Bollywood singer Ankit Tiwari debuted in Malayalam with the song ‘Hijr’, a duet with Shakthisree Gopalan, in Haal.
Published – December 29, 2025 03:06 pm IST
