Bollywood Sounds: The Cosmopolitan Mediations of Hindi Film Song

265 Pages·2014·3.75 MB·English

Bollywood Sounds

Bollywood Sounds
The Cosmopolitan Mediations of Hindi
Film Song
Jayson Beaster-Jones
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beaster-Jones, Jayson.
Bollywood sounds : the cosmopolitan mediations of Hindi film song / Jayson Beaster-Jones.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–986254–2 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–999346–8 (hardcover : alk.
paper) 1. Motion picture music—India—History and criticism. I. Title.
ML2075.B39 2014
781.5′420954—dc23
2014006919
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
List of Figures vii
List of Videos ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xix
About the Companion Website xxi
1. Bollywood Sounds 1
2. Film Songs at the End of the Colonial Era and the Emergence of
Filmi Style 25
3. “But My Heart Is Still Indian”: Film Songs of the Early
Post-Colonial Era 49
4. The Language and Lyrics of Hindi Films 74
5. Songs in the Key of the Angry Young Man and the
Cabaret Woman 96
6. Liberalization, Family Films, and the Rise of Bollywood 121
7. Film Songs in the Era of the Multiplex and YouTube 144
8. Concluding Thoughts on the Art and Commerce of Hindi
Film Songs 167
Appendix A: Timelines of Key Figures 173
Appendix B: Recommended Listening and Viewing 175
Notes 191
Glossary 197
Bibliography 201
Index 217

LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 Aishwarya Rai beckons to Amitabh Bachchan in “Kajra re” (Bunty
Aur Babli [2005]) 3
2.1 Shekhar (Ashok Kumar) sings in the window after placing the sto-
len necklace on the sleeping Rani (Mumtaz) in the song “Dheere
dheere” (Kismet [1943]) 26
2.2 The mukhṛā-antarā song form of “Awaz de kahan hai” 35
2.3 Noorjehan singing “Awaz de kahan” (Anmol Ghadi [1946]) as she
looks at the night sky 45
3.1 The iconic moment of Radha (Nargis) pulling the plow in “Duniya
mein hum aayen hain” (Mother India [1957]) 63
3.2 Raj Kapoor’s dream sequence (Awara [1951]) 66
3.3 Raj Kapoor in “Mera joota hai Japani” (Shree 420 [1955]) 72
4.1 Vijay (Guru Dutt) stands at the heavenly gates in “Hum aapki
aankon mein” (Pyaasa [1957]) 75
4.2 Miss Nalini (Waheeda Rehman) performs India’s high classical
arts in “Piya tose naina lage re” (Guide [1965]) 91
4.3 Fires burn bright between Vandana (Sharmila Tagore) and Arun
(Rajesh Khanna) in “Roop tera mastana” (Aradhana [1969]) 94
5.1 Monika (Helen) performs her cabaret number in “Piya tu ab to
aaja” (Caravan [1971]) 97
5.2 Kishore Kumar as the singing mechanic in “Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi
si” (Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi [1958]) 103
5.3 Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) consider a coin
toss in “Yeh dosti” (Sholay [1975]) 112
5.4 Akbar (Rishi Kapoor) prepares to toss a rose to a beautiful woman
in “Pardah hai pardah” (Amar Akbar Anthony [1977]) 117
6.1 Shaila Bano (Manisha Koirala) wonders what to say to a stranger
in “Kehna hi kya” (Bombay [1995]) 122
6.2 Nisha (Madhuri Dixit) next to her pregnant sister Pooja (Renuka
Shahane) in the song “Didi tera devar deewana” (Hum Aapke Hain
Koun . . . ! [1994]) 133
6.3 Simrin (Kajol) and Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) reunited in the mustard
fields of Punjab in “Tujhe dekha to yeh pyar hai sanam” (Dilwale
Dulhaniya Le Jayenge [1995]) 135
6.4 Amar (Shah Rukh Khan) rises from the shadows in “Chal chaiyya
chaiyya” (Dil Se [1998]) 142
7.1 Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) and Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni) dance in a Raj
Kapoor-esque dreamscape in “Woh ladki hai kahan” (Dil Chahta
Hai [2001]) 145
7.2 Colorful bhangra dancers in “Rang de basanti” (Rang De Basanti
[2006]) 157
[ viii ] List of Figures
LIST OF VIDEOS
1.1 “Kajra re” 3
2.1 “Dheere dheere aa re badal” 26
2.2 “Door hatao duniyawalo ko” 28
2.3 “Awaz de kahan hai” 45
2.4 “Jab dil hi toot gaya” 47
3.1 “Aana meri jaan . . . Sunday ke Sunday” 50
3.2 “Duniya mein hum aayen hain” 63
3.3 “Ghar aaya mera pardesi” 66
3.4 “Awaara hoon” 70
3.5 “Mera joota hai Japani” 72
4.1 “Hum aapki aankhon mein” 75
4.2 “Koi sagar dil na bahlata hai” 85
4.3 “Piya tose naina lage re” 91
4.4 “Roop tera mastana” 94
5.1 “Piya tu ab to aaja” 97
5.2 “Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge” 112
5.3 “Pardah hai pardah” 117
5.4 “Ek do teen” 119
6.1 “Kehna hi kya” 122
6.2 “Didi tera devar deewana” 133