Be it a thriller, biopic, love story or a slapstick dramedy, a Bollywood movie is incomplete without its share of songs. No matter how irrelevant a song may be to the story of a movie, swaying to the beats of the song, while lip-syncing to it is central to any Hindi drama. So much so that even foreign imports like Nargis Fakhri and Jacqueline Fernandes have managed to survive in Bollywood for this long by simply mastering the 'thumkas', to strike a chord with their desi audience. Sadly for these ladies, the UP, Bihar market has already been captured by Shilpa Shetty.
From Lata Mangeshkar's 'Ae mere watan ke logon' to Honey Singh's 'Char bottle vodka', the meaning of love has come full circle. From using metaphors to describe a woman's grace and charm to outrightly describing her as a vice, Bollywood songs have always gained traction, be it for their mediocrity or their plain lyrical genius. To those that have never been exposed to Hindi film music, it wouldn't take more than a few hit Bollywood tracks to convince one that it is the songs that make the movie, and not the other way around. As I stand here, today, I can proudly attribute all my extended imagination and feminine impracticalities to all the Hindi film songs I grew up listening to. 'Chhaiya Chhaiya' from Dil Se seriously got me contemplating taking a top-of-the-train ride for the longest time, as a kid. 'Nimbooda' from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was such a rage that, to this day, I bear the most expressive face every time the song plays. Kal Ho Na Ho's title track was everybody's favored nostalgia-inducing, sad song. The song was a saviour for every person who couldn't sing to save their lives. Ila Arun's voice in Choli Ke Piche Kya Hai always served as a good remedy to scare an ill-behaved child into discipline.
On the one hand where A.R. Rahman songs have been a treat to the ears, a chiffon saree and the alps have done little to break the Bollywood romance stereotype. Looking back, there doesn't seem to be one single auspicious occasion/festival that hasn't been acknowledged with a Bollywood song. If the upbeat and larger-than-life Bollywood songs are the life of every party, then Arijit Singh songs work like magic for the lovelorn hearts. The latest musical sensation that the Tum Hi Ho singer is, he has seen an entire generation let its emotions find a voice though his soulful tracks. Although I have never been a fan of old Hindi film songs, I never seem to get enough of how flowers remained a permanent fixture in songs that tried to potray physical intimacy between the hero and heroine of the movie. Well, it seems like the phrase 'the birds and the bees' found its origin in the old, magnificent Bollywood songs.
Many may thrash Bollywood songs, and brush them off as inferior; but, very few can deny the thrill of grooving to a Bollywood song. As much as Hindi movies are incomplete without their fair share of songs, every wedding, party, and festival lacks worth until the DJ plays at least a few Bollywood dance numbers that can hardly stop people from getting hungover. I have started compiling all the hit Bollywood songs of 2016, and realised that maybe we should get some international artists to sing for Bollywood movies. Or maybe, we can follow in the footsteps of Priyanka Chopra, and try and maybe get someone like Chris Martin to collaborate with Kailash Kher, to get some indie cred. If such a thing has to happen, then I can already see the international audience being left awestruck by Kailash Kher's vocal strength, while Chris Martin entertains the audience with the piano and contemplates being a judge on Indian Idol.
From Lata Mangeshkar's 'Ae mere watan ke logon' to Honey Singh's 'Char bottle vodka', the meaning of love has come full circle. From using metaphors to describe a woman's grace and charm to outrightly describing her as a vice, Bollywood songs have always gained traction, be it for their mediocrity or their plain lyrical genius. To those that have never been exposed to Hindi film music, it wouldn't take more than a few hit Bollywood tracks to convince one that it is the songs that make the movie, and not the other way around. As I stand here, today, I can proudly attribute all my extended imagination and feminine impracticalities to all the Hindi film songs I grew up listening to. 'Chhaiya Chhaiya' from Dil Se seriously got me contemplating taking a top-of-the-train ride for the longest time, as a kid. 'Nimbooda' from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was such a rage that, to this day, I bear the most expressive face every time the song plays. Kal Ho Na Ho's title track was everybody's favored nostalgia-inducing, sad song. The song was a saviour for every person who couldn't sing to save their lives. Ila Arun's voice in Choli Ke Piche Kya Hai always served as a good remedy to scare an ill-behaved child into discipline.
On the one hand where A.R. Rahman songs have been a treat to the ears, a chiffon saree and the alps have done little to break the Bollywood romance stereotype. Looking back, there doesn't seem to be one single auspicious occasion/festival that hasn't been acknowledged with a Bollywood song. If the upbeat and larger-than-life Bollywood songs are the life of every party, then Arijit Singh songs work like magic for the lovelorn hearts. The latest musical sensation that the Tum Hi Ho singer is, he has seen an entire generation let its emotions find a voice though his soulful tracks. Although I have never been a fan of old Hindi film songs, I never seem to get enough of how flowers remained a permanent fixture in songs that tried to potray physical intimacy between the hero and heroine of the movie. Well, it seems like the phrase 'the birds and the bees' found its origin in the old, magnificent Bollywood songs.
Many may thrash Bollywood songs, and brush them off as inferior; but, very few can deny the thrill of grooving to a Bollywood song. As much as Hindi movies are incomplete without their fair share of songs, every wedding, party, and festival lacks worth until the DJ plays at least a few Bollywood dance numbers that can hardly stop people from getting hungover. I have started compiling all the hit Bollywood songs of 2016, and realised that maybe we should get some international artists to sing for Bollywood movies. Or maybe, we can follow in the footsteps of Priyanka Chopra, and try and maybe get someone like Chris Martin to collaborate with Kailash Kher, to get some indie cred. If such a thing has to happen, then I can already see the international audience being left awestruck by Kailash Kher's vocal strength, while Chris Martin entertains the audience with the piano and contemplates being a judge on Indian Idol.
Very nice:-)
ReplyDeleteVery nice:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sumaali!
ReplyDeleteI'm in love with your writing Didi. Thanks to this blog, I discovered that we're more similar in our thoughts than I ever imagined, hehe.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you explore culture. You know what aspects of culture inspire and affect people, and to what extent. Plus you have a gift of expressing it beautifully. Your writing is not at all dull, it's filled with witty sentences and humor, I'm glued to this blog.
Nice nice. Keep writing, I'm all for it :)
- Raj
Thank you so much, Raj, for the kind words. I appreciate your efforts to review what I write beyond something like ''I liked it,'' or ''I enjoyed reading this post.'' I write to channel my thoughts and learn and explore as opposed to doing so just to try and appeal to the readers. And when I hear people say that they connect with what I write, it's a double whammy for me as someone who does not intentionally set out to write with sole purpose of connecting with the readers. Thanks, once again, for your feedback!
DeleteI completely agree. Writing is at its best when all three is done: structuring our thoughts, expressing our emotions and connecting with other people.
DeleteIt's more like ek teer se tin nishane, haha 😂😉