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by Akshat Dhotre
Bollywood as an industry, has been one of the most dominating in the entire world. It churns out, on an average, 1900 movies every year, making it a greatly influential medium of entertainment since its inception. Allegedly, around 700-800 million people watch Bollywood movies every year, and music has been an integral part of these movies. The rich musical heritage of India naturally makes the audience gravitate to content accompanied by good music.
The evolution of Bollywood music has been remarkable. With its roots deeply connected with Indian Classical music, it slowly branched out to be an entity of its own. Grandeur and extravagance, of not only the music, but also of the presence of actors, has the audience so captivated, that they feel a greater pull towards Bollywood music than Indian Classical/Semi-Classical music. Depending on your perspective and conditioning, you might view this as a negative or positive turn of events in entertainment history, but there is no denying that Bollywood music has become a titan in its own rights.
The Indian landscape has witnessed eras of Bollywood music. From patriotism (Nanha Munna Rahi Hu) to escapism (Ik Din Bik Jayega Maati Ke Mol) to woman empowerment (Patakha Guddi, Dhaakad), Bollywood music has undergone some drastic shifts. With greats like Shankar-Jaikishan, R.D Burman, A.R Rahman and many more gracing the musical scape of Indian Cinema, there has clearly been a lot of development and variation in the composition styles. From the early two decades (1950s to 1960s) to the ‘Glorious’ and ‘Golden Age’ of Bollywood (1970s & 1980s), followed by the recent classics of the 90s and 2000s, it was all uphill for Bollywood and looking bright over the horizon.
The 90s and 2000s were dominated by voices like Shaan, K.K, Udit Narayan, Vishal Dadlani, Sonu Nigam, Kumar Sanu, and many others.
All their vocal textures and ranges, along with their styles of singing were kept in mind by the music directors, so that the right vocalist would be hired to express the song with the best possible calibre. For example, Shaan would sing all the positive romantic songs that were sonically bright. Sonu Nigam sang soft, romantic songs which were intimate. Looking back at that era, one can say that the music was colourful and diverse. It was rich and dense without feeling oversaturated and forced. But as the years progressed, star culture leaped ahead of the art of expression. Filmmakers started hiring, suggesting and insisting that music composers select certain people to sing for their projects because their ‘name’ and image sell.
Fast forward a few more years, this culture started becoming constricted and demanding. With the rise of Arijit Singh, India saw a huge shift in the voice of Bollywood. Arijit quickly shot to the highest ranks of Bollywood music, and has reigned supreme since the past decade, or more. Arijit, undoubtedly one of the most talented people Bollywood has right now, has been exploited. What do I mean by exploited? I mean that Arijit has become like Sonic the Hedgehog. When Sonic crashes against a wall, the gold rings that he collected in his run just fall out of him; and it’s the same with Arijit except the wall is another song he’s chosen for. While this may be a controversial opinion, there is no denying that we hear Arijit almost everywhere, to the point that our ears have started to become indifferent to his songs and voice.
As the saying by Aristotle goes, “Genius, like gold and precious stones, is prized because of its rarity”. But come to look at it, Arijit’s genius has been exploited, not utilised, by the industry. In simple business terms, demand is inversely proportional to supply. Sure, Arijit’s songs sell like hot cakes, but it makes us as the audience accustomed and immune to his prowess. He has a lot of hits under his belt, almost conditioning us to remember his name as the prèmiere thought when it comes to Bollywood.
However, neither Arijit nor the music composers/directors are solely responsible for this phenomenon. The industry giants and the people controlling the making of movies and its songs, like label owners,production houses, filmmakers all play an equivalent role in this. They mistake our positive response to an event as our sole want. Merely because the audience applauded Arijit Singh when he delivered his first breakthrough song, ‘Tum Hi Ho’, in 2013, filmmakers continued attaching his voice to every romantic song. This puts us in an extremely vicious cycle of toxicity and monotonousness, where once our positive response is recorded, the controlling organisations try to use the formula to play safe and generate as much sales as possible, which in turn forces the creatives to follow suit. This becomes cyclical until an exceptionally stubborn and talented musician, a visionary director, or the audience desire diversity in music and movies.
As a music student who seeks value and distinction in music, I believe Bollywood music has come to a standstill. Yes, we're getting hits, but on what merit? The songs become ‘hits’ either because they propel a dance challenge, or they feature popular actors or because they are voiced by Arijit. The substance leaked out of Bollywood music a long while ago.
Influenced by the Yash Raj Studios model, a Trial Room effect seems to be taking place where tried and tested formulae are being utilised as a means to earn money. The responsibility and love that the art of music requires has faded to an extent that it is invisible in the business of Hindi cinema.
Now what according to this mere music student would be the solution? Make music education compulsory in school in a rigorous and focused manner, and not just as an extra-curricular. They say knowledge is the key to liberation and that it acts as a guiding light. The best way to free listeners from the shackles of the monotony that seems to be rampant right now, is to educate them about the infinitely vast ocean of music present beyond the safety of what is common. A wise man once said that the best way to control a river is to surrender to it and become one with it (a bit philosophical but perhaps some confusion might provoke our thoughts?).
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