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 Tyagaraja, known for his extensive contributions toCarnatic music | ||||||
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Hindi film songs, more formally known asHindi Geet orFilmi songs and informally known asBollywood music, are songs featured inHindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common inIndian films, Bollywood songs, along with dance, are a characteristic motif ofHindi cinema which gives it enduring popular appeal, cultural value and context.[1] Hindi film songs form a predominant component ofIndian pop music, and derive their inspiration from both classical and modern sources.[1] Hindi film songs are now firmly embedded in North India's popular culture and routinely encountered in North India in marketplaces, shops, during bus and train journeys and numerous other situations.[2] Though Hindi films routinely contain many songs and some dance routines, they are not musicals in the Western theatrical sense; the music-song-dance aspect is an integral feature of the genre akin to plot, dialogue and other parameters.[1]: 2
The first song recorded in India by Gauhar Jaan in 1902 and the first Bollywood filmAlam Ara (1931) were underSaregama, India's oldest music label currently owned byRP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.[3] Linguistically, Bollywood songs tend to use vernacularHindustani, mutually intelligible to self-identified speakers of bothHindi andUrdu, while modern Bollywood songs also increasingly incorporate elements ofHinglish.[4]Urdu poetry has had a particularly strong impact on Bollywood songs, where the lyrics draw heavily from Urdu poetry and theghazal tradition.[5] In addition,Punjabi is also occasionally used for Bollywood songs.
TheIndian Music Industry is largely dominated by Bollywood soundtracks, which account for nearly 80% of the country's music revenue. The industry was dominated bycassette tapes in the 1980s and 1990s, before transitioning toonline streaming in the 2000s (bypassing CD anddigital downloads). As of 2014, the largest Indian music record label isT-Series with up to 35% share of the Indian market, followed bySony Music India (the largest foreign-owned label) with up to 25% share, and thenZee Music (which has a partnership with Sony).[6] As of 2017, 216 million Indians use music streaming services such as YouTube,Hungama,Gaana andJioSaavn.[7] As of 2021, T-Series is themost subscribed YouTube channel with over 170 million subscribers.[8]
Hindi film songs are present in Hindi cinema right from the first sound filmAlam Ara (1931) byArdeshir Irani which featured seven songs. This was closely followed byShirheen Farhad (1931) byJamshedji Framji Madan, also by Madan, which had as many as 42 song sequences strung together in the manner of an opera, and later byIndra Sabha which had as many as 69 song sequences. However, the practice subsided and subsequent films usually featured between six and ten songs in each production.[1]: 20
Right from the advent of Indian cinema in 1931, musicals with song numbers have been a regular feature in Indian cinema.[9] In 1934 Hindi film songs began to be recorded on gramophones and later, played on radio channels, giving rise to a new form of mass entertainment in India which was responsive to popular demand.[9] Within the first few years itself, Hindi cinema had produced a variety of films which easily categorised into genres such as "historicals", "mythologicals", "devotional, "fantasy" etc. but each having songs embedded in them such that it is incorrect to classify them as "musicals".[1]
The Hindi song was such an integral features of Hindi mainstream cinema, besides other characteristics, that post-independence alternative cinema, of which thefilms ofSatyajit Ray are an example, discarded the song and dance motif in its effort to stand apart from mainstream cinema[1]
The Hindi film song now began to make its presence felt as a predominating characteristic in the culture of the nation and began to assume roles beyond the limited purview of cinema. In multi-cultural India, as per film historian Partha Chatterjee, "the Hindi film song cut through all the language barriers in India, to engage in lively communication with the nation where more than twenty languages are spoken and ... scores of dialects exist".[10] Bollywood music has drawn its inspiration from numerous traditional sources such asRamleela,nautanki,tamasha andParsi theatre, as well as from the West, Pakistan, and other Indic musical subcultures.[11]
For over five decades, these songs formed the staple of popular music in South Asia and along with Hindi films, was an important cultural export to most countries around Asia and wherever the Indian diaspora had spread. The spread was galvanised by the advent of cheap plastic tape cassettes which were produced in the millions until the industry crashed in 2000.[9] Even today Hindi film songs are available on radio, on television, as live music by performers, and on media, both old and new such as cassette tapes, compact disks and DVDs and are easily available, both legally and illegally, on the internet.[1]
The various use of languages in Bollywood songs can be complex. Most use variations of Hindi and Urdu, with some songs also including other languages such asPersian, and it is not uncommon to hear the use of English words in songs from modern Hindi movies. Besides Hindi, several other Indian languages have also been used includingBraj,Avadhi,Bhojpuri,Punjabi,Bengali andRajasthani.
In a film, music, both in itself and accompanied with dance, has been used for many purposes including "heightening a situation, accentuating a mood, commenting on theme and action, providing relief and serving as interior monologue."[11]
In a modern globalisation standpoint, Bollywood music has many non-Indian influences, especially from the West.[12] Many Hindi film music composers learned and mimicked Hollywood's style of matching music to scene atmospheres into their own film songs, the result being Bollywood music. These songs can be considered a combination of Western influences and Hindi music.[13]
Songs in Bollywood movies are deliberately crafted with lyrics often written by distinguished poets orliterati (often different from those who write the film script), and these lyrics are often then set to music, carefully choreographed to match the dance routine or script of the film. They are then sung by professional playback singers and lip-synched by the actors. Bollywood cinema is unique in that the majority of songs are seen to be sung by the characters themselves rather than being played in the background.[14] Although protagonists sing often, villains in films do not sing because music and the arts are a sign of humanity.[15] In Western cinema, often a composer who specialises in film music is responsible for the bulk of music on the film's soundtrack, and while in some films songs may play an important part (and have direct relationship to the subject of the film), in Bollywood films, the songs often drive large-scaleproduction numbers featuring elaborate choreography.
The key figure in Bollywood music production and composition is themusic director. While in Western films, a "music director" or "music coordinator" is usually responsible for selecting existing recorded music to add to the soundtrack, typically during opening and closing credits, in Bollywood films, the "music director" often has a much broader role encompassing both composing music/songs specifically for the film and (if needed) securing additional (licensed) music. In this sense, a Bollywood music director also plays the role of a composer and music producer.
Thelyricist of Bollywood songs is less likely to be the same composer or music director, as Bollywood films often go to great lengths to include lyrics of special significance and applicability to the film's plot and dialogue, and/or the words of highly regarded poets/lyricists set to music written specifically for such words in the film, as noted above.
Bollywood film songs have been described as eclectic both in instrumentation and style.[16] They often employ foreign instruments and rework existing songs, showing remarkable inventiveness in the reinvention of melodies and instrumental techniques.[17]
Bollywood film songs often tend to be accompanied by expensive music videos. Some are among themost expensive music videos of all time.[18] The most expensive Indian music video is "Party All Night" (for the 2013 filmBoss), which cost₹60 million ($1.02 million) to produce.[19] Adjusted for inflation, the most expensive Indian music video was "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" (for the 1960 filmMughal-e-Azam), which at the time cost more than₹1.5 million[20] ($320,000),[21] equivalent to$3 million (₹220 million) adjusted for inflation.
Hindi dance music encompasses a wide range of songs predominantly featured in theBollywood film industry with a growing worldwide attraction. The music became popular amongoverseas Indians in countries such as South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States and eventually developed a global fan base.[22]
In theIndian subcontinent of South Asia,disco peaked in popularity in the early 1980s, when a South Asian disco scene arose, popularised byfilmi Bollywood music, at a time when disco's popularity had declined in North America. The South Asian disco scene was sparked by the success ofPakistani pop singerNazia Hassan, working with Indian producerBiddu, with the hitBollywood song "Aap Jaisa Koi" in 1980.[23][24][25] Biddu himself previously had success in the Western world, where he was considered a pioneer, as one of the first successful disco producers in the early 1970s, with hits such as the hugely popular "Kung Fu Fighting" (1974),[26][27][28] before the genre's Western decline at the end of the 1970s led to him shifting his focus to Asia. The success of "Aap Jaisa Koi" in 1980 was followed by Nazia Hassan'sDisco Deewane, a 1981 album produced by Biddu, becoming Asia's best-selling pop album at the time.[29]
In parallel to theEuro disco scene at the time, the continued relevance of disco in South Asia and the increasing reliance on synthesizers led to experiments inelectronic disco, often combined with elements ofIndian music.[23] Biddu had already used electronic equipment such as synthesizers in some of his earlier disco work, including "Bionic Boogie" fromRain Forest (1976),[30] "Soul Coaxing" (1977),[31]Eastern Man andFuturistic Journey[32][33] (recorded from 1976 to 1977),[34] and "Phantasm" (1979),[35] before using synthesizers for his later work with Nazia Hassan, including "Aap Jaisa Koi" (1980),Disco Deewane (1981) and "Boom Boom" (1982).[29] Bollywood disco producers who used electronic equipment such as synthesizers includeR.D. Burman, on songs such as "Dhanno Ki Aankhon Mein" (Kitaab, 1977) and "Pyaar Karne Waale" (Shaan, 1980);[29]Laxmikant–Pyarelal, on songs such as "Om Shanti Om" (Karz, 1980);[36] andBappi Lahari, on songs such as "Ramba Ho" (Armaan, 1981).[29] They also experimented withminimalist,high-tempo, electronic disco, including Burman's "Dil Lena Khel Hai Dildar Ka" (Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, 1981), which had a "futuristicelectro feel", and Lahiri's "Yaad Aa Raha Hai" (Disco Dancer, 1982).[23]
Such experiments eventually culminated in the work ofCharanjit Singh, whose 1982 recordSynthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat anticipated the sound ofacidhouse music, years before the genre arose in theChicago house scene of the late 1980s. Using theRoland TR-808drum machine,TB-303bass synthesizer, andJupiter-8 synthesizer, Singh increased the discotempo up to a "techno wavelength" and made the sounds more minimalistic, while pairing them with "mystical, repetitive, instrumental Indianragas", to produce a new sound, which resembled acid house.[37][23] According to Singh: "There was lots of disco music in films back in 1982. So I thought why not do something different using disco music only. I got an idea to play all the Indian ragas and give the beat a disco beat – and turn off thetabla. And I did it. And it turned out good."[38] The first track "Raga Bhairavi" also had a synthesised voice that says "Om Namah Shivaya" through avocoder.[39]
Along with experiments in electronic disco, another experimental trend in Indian disco music of the early 1980s was the fusion of disco andpsychedelic music. Due to 1960spsychedelic rock, popularised bythe Beatles'raga rock, borrowing heavily from Indian music, it began exerting a reverse influence and had blended withBollywood music by the early 1970s. This led to Bollywood producers exploring a middle-ground between disco and psychedelia in the early 1980s. Producers who experimented with disco-psychedelic fusion includedLaxmikant–Pyarelal, on songs such as "Om Shanti Om" (Karz, 1980), andR. D. Burman, on songs such as "Pyaar Karne Waale" (Shaan, 1980),[36] along with the use of synthesizers.[29]
Theghazal tradition ofUrdu poetry was the basis for earlyBollywood music, ever since the first Indiantalkie film,Alam Ara (1931). In turn,filmi ghazals had roots in earlier UrduParsi theatre during the 19th to early 20th centuries. The ghazal was the dominant style ofIndian film music since the 1930s up until the 1960s. By the 1980s, however, ghazals had become marginalised in film music. Reasons for the decline include Urdu ghazal poetry being gradually phased out from theIndian education system, lyricists targeting urban middle-class audiences, and the influence of Western andLatin American music.[40]
Music directors likeMadan Mohan composed notable film-ghazals extensively forMuslim socials in the 1960s and the 1970s.[41]
The filmi-ghazal style experienced a revival in the early 1990s, sparked by the success ofNadeem–Shravan'sAashiqui (1990). It had a big impact on Bollywood music at the time, ushering in ghazal-type romantic music that dominated the early 1990s, with soundtracks such asDil,Saajan,Phool Aur Kaante andDeewana.[42] A popular ghazal song fromAashiqui was "Dheere Dheere", acover version of which was later recorded byYo Yo Honey Singh and released byT-Series in 2015.
It represents a distinct subgenre offilm music, although it is distinct from traditionalqawwali, which is devotionalSufi music. One example of filmi qawwali is the song "Pardah Hai Pardah" sung byMohammed Rafi, and composed byLaxmikant–Pyarelal, for the Indian filmAmar Akbar Anthony (1977).[43]
Within the subgenre of filmi qawwali, there exists a form of qawwali that is infused with modern andWestern instruments, usually withtechno beats, calledtechno-qawwali. An example of techno-qawwali is "Kajra Re", a filmi song composed byShankar–Ehsaan–Loy. A newer variation of the techno-qawwali based on the more dance oriented tracks is known as the "club qawwali". More tracks of this nature are being recorded and released.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan andA. R. Rahman have composed filmi qawwalis in the style of traditional qawwali. Examples include "Tere Bin Nahin Jeena" (Kachche Dhaage), "Arziyan" (Delhi 6), "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" (Jodhaa Akbar), "Bharde Do Jholi Meri" (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)[44] and "Kun Faya Kun" (Rockstar).
Indian musicians began fusing rock with traditional Indian music from the mid-1960s onwards infilmi songs produced for popular Bollywood films. Some of the more well known early rock songs (including styles such asfunk rock,pop rock,psychedelic rock,raga rock, andsoft rock) from Bollywood films includeKishore Kumar's "O Saathi Re" inMuqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978),Mohammed Rafi's "Jaan Pehechan Ho" inGumnaam (1965), andAsha Bhosle songs such as "Dum Maro Dum" inHare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), "Ae Naujawan Hai Sab" inApradh (1972), and "Yeh Mera Dil Pyar Ka Diwana" inDon (1978).
The PakistaniQawwali musicianNusrat Fateh Ali Khan had a big impact on Bollywood music, inspiring numerous Indian musicians working inBollywood, especially during the 1990s. However, there were many instances of Indian music directorsplagiarising Khan's musicto produce hit filmi songs.[45][46] Several popular examples includeViju Shah's hit song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast" inMohra (1994) being plagiarised from Khan's popular Qawwali song "Dam Mast Qalandar", "Mera Piya Ghar Aya" used inYaarana (1995), and "Sanoo Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye" inJudaai (1997).[45] Despite the significant number of hit Bollywood songs plagiarised from his music, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was reportedly tolerant towards the plagiarism.[46][47] One of the Bollywood music directors who frequently plagiarised him,Anu Malik, claimed that he loved Khan's music and was actually showing admiration by using his tunes.[47] However, Khan was reportedly aggrieved when Malik turned his spiritual "Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo" into "I Love You, I Love You" inAuzaar (1997).[46] Khan said "he has taken my devotional songAllahu and converted it intoI love you. He should at least respect my religious songs."[47]
A number of Bollywood soundtracks also plagiarised Guinean singerMory Kanté, particularly his 1987 albumAkwaba Beach. For example, his song "Tama" inspired two Bollywood songs,Bappi Lahiri's "Tamma Tamma" inThanedaar (1990) and "Jumma Chumma" in Laxmikant-Pyarelal's soundtrack forHum (1991), the latter also featuring another song "Ek Doosre Se" which copied his song "Inch Allah".[48] His song "Yé ké yé ké" was also used as background music in the 1990 Bollywood filmAgneepath, inspired the Bollywood song "Tamma Tamma" inThanedaar, and was also copied byMani Sharma's song "Pellikala Vachesindhe" in the 1997Telugu film,Preminchukundam Raa.[48]
Indian cinema, with its characteristic film music, has not only spread all over Indian society, but also been on the forefront of the spread of India's culture around the world.[1]: 14 In Britain, Hindi film songs are heard in restaurants and on radio channels dedicated to Asian music. The British dramatistSudha Bhuchar converted a Hindi film hitHum Aapke Hain Koun..! into a hit musical "Fourteen Songs" which was well received by the British audience. Film-makerBaz Luhrmann acknowledged the influence of Hindi cinema on his productionMoulin Rouge! by the inclusion of a number "Hindi Sad Diamonds" based on the filmi song "Chamma Chamma" which was composed byAnu Malik.[49] In Greece the genre of indoprepi sprang from Hindi film music while in Indonesiadangdut singers like Ellya Khadam,Rhoma Irama andMansyur S., have reworked Hindi songs for Indonesian audiences.[50] In France, the bandLes Rita Mitsouko used Bollywood influences in their music video for "Le petit train" and French singerPascal of Bollywood popularised filmi music by covering songs such as "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana".[51] In Nigeria bandiri music—a combination ofSufi lyrics and Bollywood-style music—has become popular amongHausa youth.[52] Hindi film music has also been combined with local styles in theCaribbean to form "chutney music".[53]
| Rank | Year | Soundtrack | Music director(s) | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1990 | Aashiqui | Nadeem–Shravan | 20,000,000+ (didn't count after) | [54][55] |
| 2 | 1995 | Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge | Jatin–Lalit | 20,000,000 | [56][57] |
| 1995 | Bombay | A.R.Rahman | 15,000,000 | [58] | |
| 3 | 1997 | Dil Toh Pagal Hai | Uttam Singh | 12,500,000 | [59] |
| 4 | 1994 | Hum Aapke Hain Kaun | Raamlaxman | 12,000,000 | [60] |
| 5 | 1996 | Raja Hindustani | Nadeem–Shravan | 11,000,000 | [59] |
| 6 | 1989 | Chandni | Shiv–Hari | 10,000,000 | [61] |
| Maine Pyar Kiya | Raamlaxman | 10,000,000 | [61] | ||
| 1993 | Baazigar | Anu Malik | 10,000,000 | [55] | |
| Khalnayak | Laxmikant–Pyarelal | 10,000,000 | |||
| 1995 | Bewafa Sanam | Nikhil-Vinay | 10,000,000 | [62] | |
| 1999 | Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai | Rajesh Roshan | 10,000,000 | [63] |
| Decade | Soundtrack | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | Awaara (1951) | — | [64] |
| 1960s | Sangam (1964) | — | [65] |
| 1970s | Bobby (1973) | 1,000,000 | [66][67][68] |
| Sholay (1975) | 1,000,000 | [67][68] | |
| 1980s | Chandni (1989) | 10,000,000 | [61][69] |
| Maine Pyar Kiya | 10,000,000 | [61] | |
| 1990s | Aashiqui (1990) | 20,000,000+ (Didn't count after) | [54] |
| 2000s | Mohabbatein (2000) | 5,000,000 | [70] |
| 2010s | Aashiqui 2 (2013) | 760,000 | [71] |
The following were the most-streamed Bollywood music albums, as of 2020[update].
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Tony Palmer knocked off a film account of someone called Biddu (LWT), who appears to have been mad enough to invent disco music.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)In 1990, the super-success of Nadeem-Shravan'sAashiqui ushered in the era of ghazal-type romantic music as inSaajan,Dil,Phool aur Kaante,Deewana.
{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help){{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Six years after the movie was released, 'Sholay' is still going strong. Polydor records has won a platinum disc for the sale of the 'Sholay' record
