Yahi Hota Hai Pyar from Namaste London and Afreen from Kajraare ought to be Himesh's best ever Semi Classical "sung n composed" songs in da post-ABA era till date.
Yahi Hota Hai Pyaar from Namastey London
This song catches up instantly with da listeners.
Its catchy mukhda has 'typical unique HR melody' and is much superior than its antaras / stanzas in terms of melody.
In essence, da mukhda is da USP of da song, whereby the 'typical unique HR melody' lies in lines MERE DILE BEKARAAR from 1.08 to 1.13 & 1.28 to 1.34
Himesh sings in his Sufi Rwak mode with his fulltu strained emphasis vocals.
Sunithi impresses and shows her versatility to be able to curb her fulltu instincts and compliment himesh, with emphasis on her line BE (HISTORY striking high pitched melody) KARAAR at 1.43, 3.40 & 6.06
Afreen from Kajraare
Its mukhda sounds deja-vu (also courtesy due to its lyrics), but this song has an underlying 'soul' to it.
The listeners may regard this song as ordinary in da beginning / at first, and it takes time to grow upon them.
But this song catches onto da listeners like wild fire after subscequent repeat hears once they come into its zone.
The 'typical unique HR melody' would be missing, but there is evident stamp of ustad himesh reshammiya - da post ABA Sufi Rwak composer in this song.
This song has a slower tempo and is well structured in terms of composition pattern.
Himesh as a singer operates in two modes i.e. Fulltu Sufi Rwak mode in lines 'Jab Se Tose Aakhiyaan Ladaaye Hain' whereby he goes fulltu, gives it his all and pours his heart out, and the second 'new found' post-Radio voice mode in core mukhda tag lines 'Afreen Afreen' whereby he sings in lower bazz octave vocals in restrained self-composed manner with thehrav (something that is quite da opposite of da natural default aggressive instincts of Himesh - da Sufi Rwak singer).
For this reason, Himesh excels as a singer because his singing in cricketing terms equates to da case if Virender Sehwag who knows how to play in only one way is asked to play a Dravid like innings...and even more so like MS Dhoni who was a flamboyant hitter until he changed his game to da match situations and demands of da Indian team and brought about a restraint to his stroke play and then changed / shifted gears when required.
Harshdeep Kaur 'hits a sixer' in her limited scope / part near da end with her HISTORY desperation plea vocals that give da tadap, ehsaas and kashish of a dying soul which leave da listeners gutted and bow down. Unki awaaz is gaane par 'char chand' laga deti hain.
Conclusion
Yahi Hota Hai Pyar would be instantly lapped by da listeners courtesy due to its faster tempo and catchy mukhda.
Afreen may be lukewarm at start but it would infectiously grow upon da listener with every passing repeat hear to da point of forming a strong 'emotional konnekt'.
But eventually, both songs have the same repeat hear value appeal in the long run.
Usually, the fear with Semi Classical songs is that in addition to catering to a specific niche segment i.e. classes / purists, they run da risk of being outdated and have a minimal shortened shelf life due to their slow nature.
But Afreen, despite being slower in tempo, has 'tremendous repeat hear value!' whereby da listener really respects this song big time.
Hence, while Yahi Hota Hai Pyar makes an ever-lasting first impression, Afreen is an evergreen klassik that is a lambi race ka ghoda.
And while both these songs are Himesh's best ever semi classical 'sung n composed' songs in post-ABA era, the paths / routes they both take to reach to da same destination are quite different.