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VJ Mantra shares his playlist with Nikhil Taneja.

Song during school years: Dhoom pichuk dhoom from Dhoom (Euphoria).. we used to hear it a lot in our final years

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Song during college years: Aap par arz hai from Sunoh (Lucky Ali).. in fact all Lucky Ali songs

Song during first love: Hello from Can’t slow down (Lionel Ritchie).. a song about love that you can’t express

Song during first heartbreak: Ae mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aaya.. it’s a ghazal/thumri (Farida Khanum)

Song for all seasons: Kisi nazar ko from Aitbaar (Bhupinder Singh, Asha Bhosle)

Song to headbang to: Songs of RDB, Punjabi MC and other Asian Underground artists.. but currently, I love Pardesi from Dev D (Tochi)

Song to dance to: Michael Jackson songs! I can dance and move like him too. I also love dancing to electronica and trance

Song for long walks: Tere dar par sanam from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi (Kumar Sanu)

Song for drives: Tum jo mil gaye ho from Hanste Zakhm (Mohd Rafi).. it was shot in a taxi too

Song for the rain: Katra katra milti hai from Ijaazat (Asha Bhosle)

Song when stressed: Aa chal ke tujhe from Door Gagan ki Chhaon Mein (Kishore Kumar)

Song when cheerful: I don’t listen to happy songs much but I love Clint Eastwood/Sunshine in a bag from the self-titled album by Gorillaz

Song when romantic: Come Undone from The Wedding Album (Duran Duran)

Song when inspired: All songs from the Let’s Talk OST

Song when mad as hell: Nasik dhol.. it’s a tandav

Song to serenade a girl with: Sabse peeche hum khade from Let’s Enjoy OST (Silk Route)

Song to be serenaded with: Yeh mera deewana pan hai from The Namesake (Sushila Raman)

Song of a colleague: Saali Khushi from Dev D (Amit Trivedi).. what a song!

Song of a legend: Dil aaj shayar hai from Khamoshi (Kishore Kumar).. I am a big Kishore Kumar fan

Song that you sang: I have sung, composed and rapped on a lot of songs for radio.. they are all up on my website mantramugdh.com

Song that others connect you with: Title track of Johnny Gaddar (Akriti Kakar, Suraj Jagan).. because it was my ringtone for the longest time

Song that best describes you: Apni dhun mein rehta hoon .. it’s a ghazal by Ghulam Ali

(as told to Nikhil Taneja)