The song and dance extravaganza part of all Bollywood movies might have been considered a hurdle in story telling in the past, but today with background scores and shorter and crisper avatars, it has taken on a new meaning and actually helps take the story forward.
Bollywood music in its current phase is rewriting its story. It is no more a feature of a movie which can be just put together in a cassette or CD without any visible connection with the movie whatsoever. Today, it is an inseparable part of any movie and if you miss a song, you actually miss out on the vital scenes of the movie you are watching. Does that mean no cigarette or coffee breaks every time the lead pair breaks into a jig during the movie?.. Yes, that is exactly what it means.
Bollywood music has seen several stages of growth, with some smooth and some rough patches. With the first recorded trend being nasal singing and the latest the inclusion of hiphop and RnB, Bollywood music has come a far way and it has been so far so good a journey. However, the one factor that has remained the same in every era is that the music has been composed to depict all the nine rasas namely, shringar- love, sensuality and eroticism, virah- separation, milan- being together, raudra- anger, rage, and violence, hasya- laughter and happiness, vibhatsaya- disgust, veera- heroism, karuna- pathos and compassion, bhaya -fear and anxiety, adabhuta- wonder and curiosity and shanta- contemplative and peaceful.
Bollywood music is an amalgamation not only of various rasas but also various genres. After the era of the nasal singing, came a time when lyrics and fine vocal quality took precedence over overpowering music beats and the songs of this era were very melodious. Music directors like Bappi Lahiri, Kalyanji- Anandji and RD Burman added another feather in its cap by introducing disco music to Bollywood after a few years. After the demise of RD Burman and Kishore Kumar, Bollywood music went through a rough phase with the 1980s and early 90s hardly making any memorable contribution to music.
However, almost like a lull before the storm, the phase got over soon and suddenly the influx of talented musicians like AR Rehman, Jatin- Lalit, Aadesh Shrivastav, Anu Malik into the Bollywood mucic scene literally brewed up a melodious musical storm. Add to the list the names of Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Vishal Shekhar, Salim Sleiman, Mohit Chauhan and many international artists who are eager to work here, Bollywood music is not only back in action, but is also going places now.
Today all one needs to do is name the genre like folk, sufi, hiphop, RnB, romantic, remixes – and there is a song for every occasion, every beat and every emotion. The listeners have evolved to appreciate from sufi numbers like Khwaja mere khwaja and Kun faya kun to hiphop and RnB like Chammak challo and Muskaane jhooti hain to raunchy item numbers like Beedi jailaile and Munni and Sheila. The genres are varied and so are the listeners.
Latest bollywood songs is also giving equal opportunities to newer artists who are bringing in a new kind of freshness and their local flavour to the music. With these newer artists being both from the hinterlands of India to international ones like Akon and Snoop Dog, Bollywood music is truly going ‘glocal’.
The Guiding Force of a Bollywood Movie- Its Music
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