"Duaa" () is a sad Hindi song from the

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Bollywood film, '' Shanghai''. Composed by Vishal–Shekhar ( Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani), the song is sung by

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (born 25 April 1987) is an Indian singer and music composer. He sings predominantly in Bengali and Hindi, but has also performed in various other Indian languages. He is the recipient of a National Award and six Filmfare Awards ...

, Nandini Srikar and Shekhar Ravjiani, with lyrics penned by

Kumaar Rakesh Kumar Pal, known mononymously as Kumaar, is an Indian lyricist active in Bollywood cinema. Some of his more successful songs include '' Rula ke gaya ishq, '' Tu bhi royega'', '' Dil ki aadat'', ''Baby Doll'','' Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan'', ...

. The music video of the track features actors

Emraan Hashmi Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hashmi debuted in 2003 with the crime thriller film ''Footpath'' and subsequently appeared in films include ''Murder'' (2004), '' Kalyug'' ...

Abhay Deol Abhay Singh Deol (born 15 March 1976) is an Indian actor and producer who is known for his work in Hindi films alongside one Kannada and one Tamil film. Born in the Deol family, he made his on-screen debut in 2005 with Imtiaz Ali's romantic c ...

and Kalki Koechlin.

Background

The song is composed by Vishal–Shekhar with lyrics written by

. The song is sung by

and Nandini Srikar with additional vocals by Shekhar Ravjiani. Srikar met Singh for the first time, during the recording of the song. It is a small song which consists of one mukhda and one

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. Towards the end of the song, Srikar performs a long alaap, which was kept as it is in the final version of the album as of the recording without any editing. Shekhar's voice is used in the song in an alaap in the interlude. The track is a slow moving number which has a sad undertone to it and set in a semi-classical style. Vishal–Shekhar use a mix of Indian and Western sounds. The voice of a haunting cry is used, in the background of the song. The song dominates on vocals with minimum use of orchestra.

Release and success

The song was released on music-streaming platforms, along with other track on 4 May 2012. The music video of the song was officially released through the YouTube channel of T-Series on 23 May 2012. Arijit Singh won Upcoming Male Vocalist of The Year award at 2013 Mirchi Music Awards for the song.

Critical reception

Reviewers from The Times of India stated that Nandini Srikar's strong voice modulations match well with

and Ravjiani's vocals. Bollywood Hungama's Joginder Tuteja commented that

does well as a lyricist in the song and "when one listens to the song, it teases listener to find out more about the film".

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's Shivi felt that the 'inherent sadness' of the song was acutely conveyed by the singers and lyrics. Reviewers from

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praised the composition of the song and stated that the vocalists "together create the perfect track that makes you fall in love with the flow of emotions in it".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{authority control Songs in Hindi Songs written for Hindi-language films Arijit Singh songs 2012 songs Songs with lyrics by Kumaar Songs with music by Vishal–Shekhar