Music and Entertainment

The Bollywood craze has swept around the world, as fans of “Hindi Cinema” have fallen in love with the kietschy (and yet unusually addictive) high-pitched songs, exaggerated hand and eye movements, and tendency of characters to break into large-scale musical numbers at the oddest moments, and often against anachronistic settings like the Swiss Alps.

But music is an integral part of Bollywood films, so that even a dark and edgy drama has to have at least one catchy song and corresponding dance number woven into the script. In fact, in India, the sound track is released before the movie, so that everyone is humming the song as they enter the theatres.

Most Bollywood songs are actually lip-synched by the actors, the voices “borrowed” from professional playback singers. (The exceptions are Kishore Kumar K. L. Saigal, Suraiyya and Noor Jehan, who are known for both their acting and their singing). were also known as both singers and actors. Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan also sang in their movies. However, playback singers have their own following-like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Yesudas.

Today’s Bollywood songs are known for how they remix filmi songs with modern beats and rhythms, adding an interesting edge to the ancient folk dances and steps that make up a typical Bollywood number (although it is not uncommon to see current hits incorporating MTV or Broadway twists).

While some Bollywood songs are directly related to the plot, there are also item numbers where someone performs a catchy number-like a courtesan dancing for a rich client in a cabaret scene, or disco scenes, or dancing at celebrations.

Last 5 posts by Deepak Shrivastava

• Importance of Music in Our Life - September 1st, 2010
• Find Health Insurance that is Right For You - August 31st, 2010
• Dentistry to Provide Teeth Whitening & Porcelain Veneers - August 26th, 2010
• Virtual Beat Machine - What Makes a Good One - August 25th, 2010
• Classical Guitar Music - August 25th, 2010

Comments are closed.