Music and Films

Unlike Hollywood, where a musical is just a special genre of movie-making, of course with some excellent movies like the Fred Astaire - Gene Kelly films of the 40s or of course the all time classic "The Sound of Music"; in India music has always been the staple of life .... the beginning, the growth, the maturity and the end of all of our movies .... and why not, we are a nation stepped in Music .... we are a civilization stepped in music ....

Music here starts from the antiquities of time .... Natya Shastra .... the earliest exponent of our theatrics being an ardent exposition of theatrics, music and dance .... the supreme lord of the cosmos in his Nataraja avatar being considered the embodiment of our way of thinking theatre .... we have two systems of classical music, many in the world cannot boast of one .... we have our own collection of so many varied and different folk music and other strands of music that one can hear all over the country whether in the snow-capped peaks of Kashmir, the resonating foothills of Madhya Pradesh, the towering Himalayan regions of Arunachal Pradesh, the sonorous deserts of Rajasthan, the wily plains of Maharashtra, the narrow hill-capped and sun-backed plateau of Karnataka, the beautiful wind-kissed lagoons of Kerala and the golden fields of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh .... the music is always there .... there is music in the sound of young girls moving from the waterholes to their homes carrying pots of water on their waist, there is music in the winds that sweep down from Uttaranchal, there is music in the shores of the Ganga and the Yamuna, there is music in the words of the Muezzin as he announces the Azaan from a pulpit, there is music in the Aarti that's so lovingly performed with so much of faith and love .... there is music in the chanting of the bells that so merrily pronounce the existence of God every Sunday Mass.... there is music in the Gurbani .... there is music in the Dhammapada .... there is music everywhere .... our languages are lyrical .... there is an abundance of music in all our daily activities .... come to think of it even our girls are more curvy, like the notes of music itself !

So in India .... the world of films, like all it's other counterparts in art has a special affinity towards music and why not.... with composers like Naushad, S D Burman, R D Burman, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Shankar-Jaikishen and O P Nayyar among others.... with lyricists such as Sahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Gulzar and Neeraj among others .... with singers like Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mehmood and Manna De among others .... it's bound to be a feast of music all the way ....

Whatever maybe the mood, there is a song for it ....... whatever be the occasion, there is a rhythm to it .... whatever be the circumstance .... there is a tune to it

Of late, some of our intelligent filmmakers like Ramgopal Verma and others of his ilk have decided that song and dance are not much to sing and dance about, still the music of the maestros still continues unabated ....

They say and sometimes with convincing arguments that the placement of a song would spoil a thriller .... I would say that it need not be so .... didn't S D Burman's pulsating score add a lot of panache to the thrills of Jewel Thief (1968).... who can forget Lata Mangeshkar in her sublime tones, suggesting the un-suggestible to the mesmerising gyrating dances of Vyjayanthimala

Hoton Me Aisi Baat Main Dabaake Chali Aayee....
Khul Jaaye Woh Hi Baat To Duhaaee Ho Duhaaee ....

Or who can forget Shamshad Begum in that great thriller CID (1956) where a young Waheeda Rehman is trying to help Dev Anand escape from the clutches of the villian .... again a great S D Burman composition

Kahin Pe Nigaahen; Kahin Pe Nishaanaa
Jeene Do Zaalim Banaao Naa Deewaanaa

If we talk horror, Indian films have always benefitted from a haunting score .... remember Lata Mangeshkar in the haunted Mahal (1949) crooning away to an inquisitive Ashok Kumar

Aayegaa, Aayegaa
Aayegaa, Aanewaala Aayegaa

or the song that put fear in the minds of a million, when Lata Mangeshkar added a touch of philosophy in the 1965 hit, Gumnaam ( A Laxmikant - Pyarelal composition) while Manoj Kumar, Mehmood and Pran kept looking for the next corpse in the bushes

Gumnaam hai Koi; Badnaam Hai Koi
Kis Ko Khabar Kaun Hai Woh; Anjaan Hai Koi

or the one that made life so terrifying in Bees Saal Baad (1962) .... I still remember the scene where the hero Bishwajit and all the other characters in this one of the best whodunit movie of all times savage the high grasses of a studio mangrove in search of the killer .... Lata Mangeshkar was just too much ....

Kahin Deep Jale, Kahin Dil
Zara Dekh Le Aakar Deewaane
Teri Kaun Si Hai Manzil

There are so many more such instances .... Indian film industry is the only one that has managed to skillfully add the rhythm of music to the excitement of a thriller .... what else can explain the success of out-and-out thrillers like Teesri Manzil (1966) and Khel Khel Mein (1975) and of course the recent out and out adrenaline movie .... Dhoom (2004) and Dhoom II (2006) .... all these movie boosted of some brilliant and exceptional music

Maybe they would do well to look at the masters at work .... maybe then .... there would be something additional to the camera angles and pilfered scripts and maybe then they would understand why Music is an integral part of our lore ....

Music and Films in India are made for each other