Which songs suit each sangeet performance?
Start from who is on stage. A sangeet is a run of short performances, and each group wants a song that fits who they are to the couple: the bride's sisters and cousins, the groom's brothers, the couple themselves, the parents, the college friends, and a finale that brings the whole room up. The 30 titles below are sorted that way. Most are Hindi film songs, several with Punjabi words, and they reach from 1955 to 2018 so that the parents get music from their own years.
The notes under "Where it fits" are our suggestions for where a song can sit in a set. They are not facts about the song, and the list is not a ranking or a measure of popularity. Titles, artists and years were checked against MusicBrainz or Wikipedia when this page was written. We list no keys or tempos, because bands change both.
Bride's side
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna (film: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) | Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan | 1995 | Sisters and cousins open |
| Bole Chudiyan (film: Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham) | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Alka Yagnik and others | 2001 | Big group, both families join |
| Mehndi Hai Rachnewali (film: Zubeidaa) | Alka Yagnik | 2001 | Slow piece for a solo dancer |
| Navrai Majhi (film: English Vinglish) | Sunidhi Chauhan, Swanand Kirkire and others | 2012 | Marathi, for the bride's aunts |
| Radha (film: Student of the Year) | Shreya Ghoshal, Udit Narayan and others | 2012 | Bridesmaids, fast |
| Nachde Ne Saare (film: Baar Baar Dekho) | Jasleen Royal, Harshdeep Kaur, Siddharth Mahadevan | 2016 | Cousins, easy steps |
Groom's side
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tune Maari Entriyaan (film: Gunday) | Bappi Lahiri, KK and others | 2014 | Groom's brothers walk on |
| Malhari (film: Bajirao Mastani) | Vishal Dadlani | 2015 | All-male group, full power |
| Badri Ki Dulhania (film: Badrinath Ki Dulhania) | Dev Negi, Neha Kakkar and others | 2017 | Mixed group, playful |
| Dil Chori (film: Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety) | Yo Yo Honey Singh, Simar Kaur, Ishers | 2018 | Groom joins for the last chorus |
The couple
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sajdaa (film: My Name Is Khan) | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Richa Sharma | 2010 | Slow opening to a couple medley |
| Dil Diyan Gallan (film: Tiger Zinda Hai) | Atif Aslam | 2017 | Couple alone on the floor |
| Nazm Nazm (film: Bareilly Ki Barfi) | Arko | 2017 | Quiet, with one guitar |
| Zaalima (film: Raees) | Arijit Singh, Harshdeep Kaur | 2017 | Duet, both singers needed |
Parents and elders
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua (film: Shree 420) | Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey | 1955 | Grandparents, slow waltz feel |
| Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen (film: Waqt) | Manna Dey | 1965 | Father's solo spot |
| Jhumka Gira Re (film: Mera Saaya) | Asha Bhosle | 1966 | Mothers and aunts |
| Kajra Mohabbat Wala (film: Kismat) | Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum | 1968 | Two aunts as a comic pair |
| Bachna Ae Haseeno (film: Hum Kisise Kum Naheen) | Kishore Kumar | 1977 | Uncles, or a band link |
| Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye (film: Jurm) | Kumar Sanu, Sadhana Sargam | 1990 | Parents as a couple, gentle |
Friends
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yeh Dosti (film: Sholay) | Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey | 1975 | Two old friends, or a link |
| Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai (film: Khoobsurat) | Badshah, Aastha Gill | 2014 | Link into the open floor |
| Kala Chashma (film: Baar Baar Dekho) | Amar Arshi, Badshah, Neha Kakkar | 2016 | College friends, loud |
| Kar Gayi Chull (film: Kapoor & Sons) | Badshah, Fazilpuria and others | 2016 | Friends pull the couple in |
| Tera Yaar Hoon Main (film: Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety) | Arijit Singh | 2018 | Slow tribute from the friends |
Finale with everyone
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Say Shava Shava (film: Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham) | Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and others | 2001 | Parents lead the last dance |
| Ainvayi Ainvayi (film: Band Baaja Baaraat) | Salim Merchant, Sunidhi Chauhan | 2010 | Starts the finale |
| Nagada Sang Dhol (film: Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela) | Shreya Ghoshal, Osman Mir | 2013 | Garba circle for the whole room |
| London Thumakda (film: Queen) | Labh Janjua, Sonu Kakkar, Neha Kakkar | 2014 | Both families on the floor |
| Gallan Goodiyaan (film: Dil Dhadakne Do) | Shankar Mahadevan, Yashita Sharma and others | 2015 | Everyone, straight into dancing |
Start a setlist with these 30 songs
Opens StageFloww with the titles typed in. Free plan, no card. Search can miss a song, and you can add it by hand.
How does the programme run with a band on stage?
A sangeet programme is a sequence of acts with gaps, and the gaps belong to the band. A link song is one the band can start on a nod and stop after a single chorus when the next group is in place. In the programme below, numbers 3, 7 and 10 are links played by the band alone. Numbers 1 and 2 are the bride's side, 4 and 5 the groom's side, 6 the parents, 8 the couple, 9 the friends, and 11 to 13 the finale.
This running order is one suggestion built from the list above. Change it to suit your band and the room.
- Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna
- Nachde Ne Saare
- Yeh Dosti
- Tune Maari Entriyaan
- Malhari
- Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen
- Bachna Ae Haseeno
- Dil Diyan Gallan
- Kala Chashma
- Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai
- Gallan Goodiyaan
- London Thumakda
- Say Shava Shava
How do you cut a song down for a performance?
Nobody dances a whole film song at a sangeet. The band plays the group's edit.
- Get the edit as audio. Not a description of it. Family choreographers splice songs in ways no chart predicts.
- Mark the start and the end. Count the bars of the intro they kept, and note which chorus is the last.
- End on a stop. Dancers finish on a pose, so the band needs a clean final hit and not a fade.
- Rehearse the joins of a medley more than the songs. The change between two songs is where a live version drifts from the recording.
How do you rehearse with a family group?
Once, with the people who will dance, and in person if you can. A phone video of their practice is the next choice. Use the same count-in every time and keep the pace they learned. Ask the family to name one person who speaks for all the groups, so that changes reach you from one voice. If a group loses its place on the night, keep playing: dancers find a steady band again, and a band that stops ends the performance. Keep the recording cued with the DJ as a fallback.
What can StageFloww hold for a sangeet, and where does it stop?
Enter each performance as a song in the setlist builder and use its notes for the group's name and the cut. Thirty entries sit inside the Free plan's limit of 40 songs per setlist, and the set length calculator tells you whether the programme fits the evening. Search for the titles before the event: the search needs a connection and can miss a song.
Most of these songs are sung in Hindi or Punjabi, and the lyrics are normally written in Devanagari or Gurmukhi. StageFloww can show these lyrics in English letters. This is transliteration: the sound of the words respelled, not a translation of their meaning. Paste the lyrics yourself, or let StageFloww fetch them where available. Not every song has lyrics available.
The page on transliteration explains how that respelling works. StageFloww does not play the recordings the groups dance to; that remains the DJ's job. See also StageFloww for Bollywood bands.