9 Worst Hindi Film Songs Of 2023

Any year that sees a reduction in mindless remakes and remixes is a plus in my books. 2023 wasn’t the greatest year for Hindi film soundtracks, but there were many individual tracks from movies that made a dent.

Sadly, much like the number of films that are released without much thought to an audience, it seems many filmmakers, music composers, and music labels are okay with releasing some awful music, all in the name of making bank.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that some of the worst songs also happened to come from the biggest box office flops of the year, while some of the worst songs were also sprinkled in some of the bigger hits of the year too.

Without further ado, here are the nine worst songs of 2023.

ALL THE ENGLISH SONGS – The Archies

Kudos to Zoya Akhtar for capturing the right sound of the era she chose for her Netflix film “The Archies”. That’s about the only flowers I can offer to the filmmaker, who really should know better. It’s not really the songs that are at fault here, though yes, while I get the film is about the Anglo-Indian community in the 1960s, a soundtrack filled with so many English songs, who exactly but her similar-age community is going to understand or appreciate this? And more than that, why create a soundtrack for a film that is supposed to be a nod to Western musicals and have it filled with playback singers? I am truly miffed that despite the massive level of talent in India, filmmakers think it is so difficult to find a handful of young new leads who can act, dance, and sing themselves. We are a country of 1.4 billion people; why can’t we produce some triple threats? Suhana Khan is featured on one of the songs, “Jab Tum Na Theen” and guess what, she’s not half bad. Why couldn’t she sing all her songs? If you want these star kids to shine on a global scale – then use them like Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and Anne Hathaway and let them do the whole damn job!

FARAATTA – Jaawan

Fireworks? Hardly. This “surprise” number that didn’t get released before the film opened should have just been left on the editing floor. “Faraatta” was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone hit song streak, but the song was basically dead on arrival. Arijit Singh and Jonita Gandhi do their best to infuse some life into this truly lifeless song composed by Anirudh Ravichander with lyrics by Kumaar. The less said about Badshah in the track, the better. This might have been meant for the front benchers but even they’d agree, this was the go-to-the-washroom track in the nearly three hour film.

KUDI CHAMKEELI – Selfiee

Ugh. I don’t know what’s worse, the tacky music video featuring an embarrassingly unhip age-inappropriate Akshay Kumar or the lyrics, composition, and “singing” by Yo Yo Honey Singh. “Selfiee” was full of awful songs and even worse music videos, but this truly takes the cake, as the track feels like it was released 10 years ago, but all the parties involved think we want to hear this junk in 2023. Thank you, next.

CHARACTER DHEELA 2.0 – Shehzada

I hope Pritam got paid an incredulous amount to allow this absolutely unnecessary remake of “Character Dheela” from “Ready” to release. I don’t know why filmmakers insist on having these moronic “2.0” versions of songs where the originals are still played incessantly on every music video channel. If there was even a small degree of charm in the original, this version is completely devoid of anything special. Truly bakwas song from an equally bakwas movie.

PAAN DUKANIYA – Bholaa

I have to say I’m proud of my Indian brothers and sisters for outright rejecting this total faltu song. “Paan Dukaniya” from “Bholaa” harkens us back to just a few years ago, when any “item” song by Kanika Kapoor would become a blockbuster. While music director Ravi Basrur does his best to infuse the track with the rustic, raunchy touch I’m sure he was instructed to create for this film, the track is just so heard-it-all-before, that you simply yawn rather than move along to the beat. Irshad Kamil’s wonderfully-penned lyrics are so prevalent in my Top 30 Songs of 2023, I’m sorry his talents are wasted on such a song but then again, everybody’s got to pay the bills. Kapoor has never phoned in her vocals more than here. Trash.

HUM AAYE HAIN – Ganapath

For a song with a title like “Hum Aaye Hain”, you’d think the song would have gotten more attention. I was shocked that I had never heard this song or knew the film ever existed. Sadly, I came to find out about it, and boy, I wish I hadn’t. With the music credited to White Noise Studios, singers Siddharth Basrur and Prakriti Kakar seem as uninterested in the song as the actors are. I often wonder how challenging it must be for actors to inject any energy into a song that’s just so boring. Meh to the max.

SHAADI DOPE HAI – Aankh Micholi

Sachin-Jigar usually are able to give us some pep, even their lamest projects, but “Shaadi Dope Hai” is just awful in every way possible. With lyrics by VAYU, the song is performed by Dev Negi, Rakesh Maini, and Nikhita Gandhi with about as much excitement as getting a root canal at the dentist. I would like to know—just how many Desis actually even know what the word “dope” means. Dumb song, with dumber lyrics.

LET’S DANCE CHOTU MOTU – Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan

Confession. When I first heard this “situational” song from “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Kaan”, I thought it was a joke. I guess the film’s budget was going over the fact that “Let’s Dance Chotu Motu” couldn’t afford a real lyricist as the majority of the song is nursery rhymes. Upon investigation, of course, I found out that the music composer Devi Sri Prasad was responsible for the tune and the insipidly added lyrics that turned this into a “song.” With Salman Khan himself singing this wet diaper of a track, the cherry on top has to be Yo Yo Honey Singh joining into rap about this shit. I swear if I ever hear this song at any bacha party ever…insert poop emoji!

GUJJU PATAKA – Satyaprem Ki Katha

There’s probably nothing sonically worse than the idiotic “Chotu Motu” song this year, but add in visuals, and suddenly “Gujju Pataka” goes from being just a forgettable song to an absolutely offensive spectacle for our eyes and ears. This Meet Bros composition with lyrics by Kumaar featuring a rap written and performed by Star Boy LOC is trying its best to be that hero “entry” song we all are allegedly waiting for in a Bollywood film. But the track itself from the otherwise decent film (and soundtrack!) “Satyaprem Ki Katha” is so overfilled with every damn stereotype of every corner of India (which they want you to believe is a sweet tribute to the many parts of the country), you forget that this song is only supposed to be offensive to Gujaratis. Seriously, why…just why?