It all happens in Indian movies : -) We Indians are crazy creatures who love songs and dance no matter whatever be the occasion. Right from Indra’s mythological Vedic days to today Kaliyug Emraan Hashmi’s days. Songs and dances are soul of Indian movies, any where in India and in any language…!
Earlier days, of course in Vedic times there were dancer-cum-singer s who used to entertain Maharajahs and their courtiers and I suppose this heralded current trend of dance and songs in movies. Heroes/Heroines not only need to be looking good but also should dance and fight well to survive in celluloid business. Just imagine Tom cruise doing a duet dance or Kate winslet doing one Item song..! Lols. Aint it funny?
Bollywood movies have started all the trends. Duets, sad songs (of course with dance), devotional songs, peppy songs and latest being “Item “songs. You can see all the drama masala loaded in each of them. Audience is crazy..!
It’s quite illogical. Sometimes these songs seem complete non sense .An infant grows old in a five minute song. Performers keep changing their dress, keep changing their locations too. And the weirdest one, a family which was shattered away long ago becomes united by one “Family song “ ( I wanted to have one family song for my family lolz) . But all are accepted and appreciated ..! Sab kuch maaf hai.
And most of the time it’s quite interesting. Hero and Heroine dance and sing together in park when none is around..! ( so silly of them ) A Romeo proposes his girl friend, a widow sings for her husband in agony, a devotee gets “darshan” of god with a song (quite dominant down south Indian movies) ; people celebrate with a song and dance in a function and usual “rona,rulana “ songs , a patriot sings and dances for his country’s victory. And one craziest thing I liked was a hero fighting with notorious goons with a song..! how can one ?
Old black– and-white movie songs emphasized much on lyrics and emotions. Remember Gurudutt’s songs ? They were heart soothing and quite melodious. There was no vulgarity and it targeted emotions of audience and were quite memorable. Mohd. Rafi dominated those days and I was once told the then PM Jawahar Lal Nehru even excused Rafi’s taxes. Those were the days..! The songs and dances then were based on Romance, Love, devotion and were peppy too. Remember Jeena isika naam hai song ? Dances included desi styles of Bharath Natyam ,Kathak and Koochipudi. I was just wondering what Rakhi Sawanth would do then ? : -) Madhubala performed well in Mughal-e-Azam , I just liked her..!
Then were the times of Eastman color… Amitabh with his Mere anagne mein tumhara kya kaam hai ..? Vinod Khanna with his chingari koyi bhadake were quite marvelous. And also not to forget Mithun da with his unique disco steps created a hype and carved a niche in bollywood. Romance, family ,Love were commonly targeted fields.Audience by then were fed up with “Emo” songs and needed some more of “In” thing. Then was the time of “Helen “ the “hot” throb of Bellbottomed youngsters..! Overnight she became a mascot .. College students bunked classes and were present in theatres for her dance and it was quite eye soothing ;-) Those times few performers created their own signatures in dance , Jeetendra’s jumps , Feroz kahn’s jungle ness was most “In” things which were liked by audience.. Remember Dharam paaji’s dance? lolz…..
Now its quite very much advanced.. Audience have become choosy…Songs are no more lyrics oriented ,and if they are then they are not meant for “MASS”.It all started with Dhak dhak Madhuri dixit..! I was almost carried away then even at her smile. She carried a charismatic aura around her. Then we had Govinda’s madly dance ..? This modern facet of bollywood is as old as me . It had so much of Masala.. So much of curve twists and all sorts of meaning you could find…! Remember controversial song like Choli ke peeche kya hai ? You would also find creative choreography like one in Chaiyya Chaiyya on top of the running train, Muqala Muqabala by Prabhudevan rocked entire nation. Songs and dance in disco clubs , pubs replaced the same which were earlier shot in parks or in marriage halls. Later then on, songs/dances in movies much are based on close intimations and skin show. The movie Murder was a mass hit for the same reason. Emran Hasmi and Mallika sherwat were the Icons for “such” gana naachna’s .( In fact you wont find them dance though …!) Now a days Chemistry, Physics and Biology all you can see in Bollywood. And not to forget , 42 years old SRK too shed his weight toned body and tapped for an “Item Song “ with his Six packs…! You know gals went crazy…!
I can’t predict the future of the bollywood songs and dances.
But I am damn sure…! One day it will overtake Hollywood…!
Basanti inn Kutton ke samne mat naachna………! ;-)
