Bollywood music: the rise and fall of the item number
I do belong to this generation so to speak, but some things just bewilder me. Here's a little observation I made recently. I thought it to be a bizarre but interesting topic to opine about.
So, the movies and music scene in our country is ever-evolving, like some would like to believe. And I speak strictly of what we call 'Bollywood music'. Be it at the gym, high-profile parties or birthday bashes, children and adults alike, the music is staple -- Bollywood! It's quite the phenomenon worldwide, really. British and American dance reality shows believe it is deserving enough to be named a kind of dance form that contestants can perform.
Bollywood and how integral item numbers are to it, is common knowledge. As was aptly portrayed in The Dirty Picture, masses sometimes only go to watch a film for a song-and-dance sequence. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy watching the mesmerizing Helen groove to Piya tu, Yeh mera dil, and Mehbooba mehbooba, even today. That was cabaret at it's best. The ultimate sensual treat. This golden phase was followed by the pots&pans era (Naino mein sapna) and the sarees and dress materials phase (Tohfa tohfa) with women dressing in apsara costumes *sigh*. Why? Some questions are best left unanswered I suppose.
Cut to the more recent trend - realism. Movies got 'real' with excellent scripts and modern world renditions of classics like Othello (Omkara), but still wouldn't let go of an item number. Beedi jalaile I must acknowledge was done full justice, given its context and setting. And of course full marks to Munni for being badnaam in Dabanng. She rocked the masses till they dropped. Again a class act.
But something went amiss with a string of item numbers that followed Shiela ki jawani, Chikni Chameli, Dil mera muft ka and the very recent Fevicol. They were all act and no class. Wonder what makes songs like these click? Is it because the audiences have no other choice? Or is it because bizarre-ness is peaking as a trend today?
One thing's for sure, that there will be a vast difference in what we call classics and what our children will call classics. 'Cause we've come a long way from a generation that coyly sang Mohe panghat pe nandlal to a generation that has brought Radha on the dance floor.
What the music scene might be about a decade from now we can't say, but let's hope they do think ahead of pyaar being a hookah bar. Sigh!
So, the movies and music scene in our country is ever-evolving, like some would like to believe. And I speak strictly of what we call 'Bollywood music'. Be it at the gym, high-profile parties or birthday bashes, children and adults alike, the music is staple -- Bollywood! It's quite the phenomenon worldwide, really. British and American dance reality shows believe it is deserving enough to be named a kind of dance form that contestants can perform.
Bollywood and how integral item numbers are to it, is common knowledge. As was aptly portrayed in The Dirty Picture, masses sometimes only go to watch a film for a song-and-dance sequence. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy watching the mesmerizing Helen groove to Piya tu, Yeh mera dil, and Mehbooba mehbooba, even today. That was cabaret at it's best. The ultimate sensual treat. This golden phase was followed by the pots&pans era (Naino mein sapna) and the sarees and dress materials phase (Tohfa tohfa) with women dressing in apsara costumes *sigh*. Why? Some questions are best left unanswered I suppose.
Cut to the more recent trend - realism. Movies got 'real' with excellent scripts and modern world renditions of classics like Othello (Omkara), but still wouldn't let go of an item number. Beedi jalaile I must acknowledge was done full justice, given its context and setting. And of course full marks to Munni for being badnaam in Dabanng. She rocked the masses till they dropped. Again a class act.
But something went amiss with a string of item numbers that followed Shiela ki jawani, Chikni Chameli, Dil mera muft ka and the very recent Fevicol. They were all act and no class. Wonder what makes songs like these click? Is it because the audiences have no other choice? Or is it because bizarre-ness is peaking as a trend today?
One thing's for sure, that there will be a vast difference in what we call classics and what our children will call classics. 'Cause we've come a long way from a generation that coyly sang Mohe panghat pe nandlal to a generation that has brought Radha on the dance floor.
What the music scene might be about a decade from now we can't say, but let's hope they do think ahead of pyaar being a hookah bar. Sigh!
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