Bollywood Music: The Heartbeat Of Indian Cinema

The Evolution of Bollywood Music

Question:

Discuss about the Social Science for Sufi, Bhangra and Oriental.

Bollywood music seems to be an integral part of movies that are being made in Bollywood industry. Bollywood filmmakers are taking Bollywood to a whole next level in terms of their song sequences as these song sequences are the pre-dominant constituent of Indian pop music. These songs are derived from the rich culture of classical Indian music and brings fusion by adding modern sources. The content of Bollywood movies today has seen a shift, the way movies were used to made in past is focused on content only but the target audience has been changes as of now, the audience is desired of more about the songs and dance sequels rather than the plot or content of the movies (Chou and Singhal, 2017). So the filmmakers has become more professional and make movies a song centric which is more saleable not only in India but overseas as well. Filmmakers make bid to attract as much audience as they can through their happening song numbers (Barat, 2017).

Bollywood soundtracks feature a variety of genre in them, from romantic to hip hop, Sufi, bhangra, oriental and peppy numbers. The music directors blend these genre and compose them in one song and this arrangement of different genre in one song comes out as a happening song which become the center of attraction in the whole movie. The promotion and advertising also play main role in bringing attention towards the songs and movies (Bhattacharya, 2016). In this way they make out their profits even if the storyline of the movie is not that powerful. The soundtrack of the movies have a universal appeal, they ride on few factors mainly:

1. The arrangement of the song is made in a way that its beat goes along with the tune and once they listen to it they just cannot get out of their head.
2. The repetition of the main lyrics which keep appears in the main chorus of the song and in between too and that lead to addiction of the song in no time.
3. The peppy numbers grab most of the attention by its music and lyrics as it is a fusion of two or three genre with multiple rhythms that force one to shake a leg.

The catchy and interesting phrases are the real earworms that make people to stick around with the music. The contemporary Bollywood music, classical mixes and the traditional folk sounds are the real highlights in the song sequences made by composers as they create this beautiful and unique sound that people couldn’t ignore but appreciate all over the world. The compositions also varies from the upbeat pieces to slower compositions,  the upbeat pieces make people to get up and move around whereas the slower compositions grabs heart even if the lyrics are not understandable to other countries but the flow of music and beats attracts foreign countries too (Kishore,  Sarwal and Patra, 2016).  The filmmakers make sure the song should depict the feeling of the whole script and matches to the storyline they are giving which is unlike the Hollywood movies. The Hindi song contains such integral features of Hindi cinema mainstream, it seems they hold a predominant characteristic of multi Indian culture. Bollywood songs have cut through the barriers of language with an intention to engage in lively communication with the nation worldwide. It is one of the important cultural export to most of the countries and spread the Indian dispersion overseas (Kaur Dhillon and Gwynne, 2014). Also the Bollywood songs comprise large scale production and features choreography which is also a highlight to attract audience towards movies, the steps are in alignment with the lyrics and popularly known as signature steps or moves that goes with the songs. They are also famous in the name of ‘Latkaas and Jhatkaas’ not only in the Bollywood industry but worldwide. The song sequences act as a revenue tool for producer, it has become the most entertaining, fascinating and interesting earning portal in India. The reactions by foreigners on social media sites especially on YouTube of Bollywood songs can be seen currently, it shows how songs are grabbing attention in audience worldwide (Kothari and Shah, 2017).

The Role of Song Sequences in Indian Cinema

The famous song ‘Deewani Mastani’ from the film Bajirao Mastani directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and sung by Shreya Ghoshal based on epic historical romance. The song starring Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh where in the song actress is trying to depict her feelings for the king on the occasion of his birthday. This song comprises of highly detailed set which was massive and inspired by Lahore’s Sheesh Mahal and recorded maximum number of visitors (Manwani and Manwani, 2017). The masterpiece made by the filmmaker has not been dismantled after shooting the song and now seen as museum. The song was shot and numerous heavy ethnic costumes were designed for the back dancers and for the actress which was the main highlight of the song and copied by many. These costumes and high detailed sets creates a lavishness to produce high value. The lyrics and the steps required no visual effects and shows grandeur which represent rich Indian culture with its melodious track and being noted for its scale as well as high amount of attention it obtains of details (Mukherjee, 2015). The cinematography of this song has been done in a fine-looking way that showcase each and every corner of the set and how well it is utilized in the choreography. The emotions and the expressions in the song and lyrics are well attempted by the actress who has been praised for her performance worldwide (Pandey and Dutta, 2014). This way director has done his work in the song magnificently with the help of putting historic significance in it which is often doesn’t come along but came out to be a spectacular one with a blend of authenticity and a mix of contemporary and classic. This particular song has received in less than a week over 4 million views on you tube which is an enormous scale of viewers and popularity gained among audience in India and outside India (Oxfordindex.oup.com. 2017).

Another catchy song has recorded high views all over the world and this peppy number is a specialty of Bollywood songs which is more interesting than the movie itself. Namely “Kaala Chashma” from the movie “Baar Baar Dekho” accompanied by Siddharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif who themselves are the eye candy of the song. This song depicts the celebration of Punjabi wedding and a recreation of the old Punjabi song. The highlights of the song is the tempo and phrasing of the lyrics and music in it, they are catchy enough and carry a balance of contemporary and traditional instrumentation of music (Virdi, 2017). Additionally the choreography and costumes they wore in the song are still being copied and mimicked by the signature step they did in the song. This shows how attractive the song was even if the movie didn’t do well at the box office. The song itself have diverted the attention of audience and make a worldwide hit as it has recorded by crossing 4.3 million views in 24 hours after the releasing of song, it has made history by groundbreaking the records as no song in past have make such a record and bagged itself as number 1 position worldwide.

The Diversity of Bollywood Soundtracks

Conclusion

It is being concluded that Bollywood songs are eclectic in style and instrumentation and reinvent remarkable melodies. The beats, music, costumes, choreography and sets altogether makes a song quite intoxicating. These both movies taken here to show that how they have created their own space in the heart of audiences in India and overseas. The language barriers are also not creating any hindrance in between and enjoying what filmmakers are providing to them. These both movies are of different genre, one is of historic love story which is showcasing rich culture by showing realms of the past in one song and the way it is being pictured (Sarrazin, 2008). Hundreds of dancers and the main lead are covered in a spontaneous way, the set a highlight of the song has marked its beauty. There are numerous factors which lead to success of this melodious love song, earned revenue more than the movie itself and grab audience to watch again and again. Another song that is being popularized for its uniqueness is one peppy number accompanied by actors who are already called as an eye candy to the song. This song is much of happy, occasional, fun and party kind song which makes people to move their body anytime they listen to it. The signature steps, fun lyrics and styled costumes are the climax present in the song which is mimicked or copied by audience in every part of the world. Indian cinema, with its distinguishing music has not only gained popularity in Indian society but all over the world. Many producers, filmmakers, critics have been interviewed in relation to Bollywood songs that how they have been producing such attention seeker songs and creating ground breaking records.

References

Barat, S., 2017. The Marketization of Bollywood. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, pp.1-14.

Bhattacharya, A., 2016. Pradipta Mukherjee and Sajalkumar Bhattacharya, Eds. The Diasporic Dilemma: Exile, Alienation and Belonging. An International Journal of Asian Literatures, Cultures and Englishes, 10(2).

Chou, H.Y. and Singhal, D., 2017. Nostalgia advertising and young Indian consumers: The power of old songs. Asia Pacific Management Review.

Kaur Dhillon, N. and Gwynne, J., 2014. Saffronizing Bollywood Cinema. Film International, 12(2), pp.47-57.

Kishore, V., Sarwal, A. and Patra, P. eds., 2016. Salaam Bollywood: Representations and Interpretations. Routledge.

Kothari, R. and Shah, A., 2017. Dil Se: Love, Fantasy and Negotiation in Hindi Film Songs. Interventions, 19(4), pp.532-549.

Manwani, A. and Manwani, A. (2017). Varun Grover interview: ‘The lack of respect for writers stays with you, but also fuels you’. [online] Scroll.in. Available at: https://thereel.scroll.in/812351/varun-grover-interview-the-lack-of-respect-for-writers-stays-with-you-but-also-fuels-you [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].

Mukherjee, M., 2015. More Than Bollywood: Studies in Indian Popular Music. Edited by Gregory D. Booth and BradleyShope. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. 358 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-992885-9. Popular Music, 34(3), pp.499-501.

Oxfordindex.oup.com. (2017). The Music of Intolerable Love: Indian Film Music, Globalization, and the Sound of Partitioned Selves : Bollywood in the Age of New Media - oi. [online] Available at: https://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641024.003.0004 [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].

Pandey, A. and Dutta, I., 2014, December. Bundeli Folk-Song Genre Classification with kNN and SVM. In 11th International Conference on Natural Language Processing (p. 133).

Sarrazin, N., 2008. Celluloid love songs: musical modus operandi and the dramatic aesthetics of romantic Hindi film. Popular Music, 27(3), pp.393-411.

Virdi, J., 2017. A national cinema’s transnational aspirations? Considerations on “Bollywood”. South Asian Popular Culture, 15(1), pp.1-22.