I was having dinner and drinks with another couple the other day at this incredible upscale Vietnamese place called Monsoon in Bellevue. We are all people who are very passionate about about music. The husband of the other couple is a producer and also a DJ and I'm the kind of person who appreciates most forms of music and wishes I had learned how to play something a long time ago. I still have some aspirations to learn to produce and DJ, I think the technical part of it would come to me well, there's just a big gap of instrument knowledge, musical math, and what not.
We started to talk about Bollywood. This is a genre I've only begun listening to since around 2010, and something most Indians are familiar with all of their lives. Some love and live by it, others prefer other styles of music or music from different parts of the world. This gentleman hates it. He says its uninspired, lacks originality, and as a producer you can't really do much with it.
This really got me thinking about how Bollywood music can be so divisive for people, and even thinking deeper about how people could hate music that is so catchy. Of course, every individual will have his or her taste in music. Whether its a regional folk song from your hometown in a village in India, or in your college years you discovered Rock music from America, or the incredible electronic styles coming out of Europe, music is a rhythm life moves to.
I had to look at what Bollywood is now compared to before. Many of my friends from India talk about how exciting it was when their family got a TV and how they would look forward to watching the 1-2 channels that were first available when it came out. How only later could they get more channels, and how they would rush out to the theater to see their favorite hero, or take a glimpse of a sexy heroine they wouldn't see otherwise. The older generation of Bollywood was always paving the way for the next exciting movie, the more talented and muscle hero, the more edgy scene of movie making. Bollywood today has had its novelty and charm from yesteryear slowly eroded away to make room for the new multiplex movie blockbuster.
It's no longer about defining what India cinema is Mumbai, but who is going to invest more crores, earn more crores, do the newest stunts, which movie has the sexiest scenes, racing against other movies. Most of the people you see on the screen are all relatives of just a few families, so with this "progressive" attitude, Bollywood is a double edged sword. Yes, it is breaking through some social taboo, and some films are sending social messages, and some are actually artful (for example, Finding Fanny).
However, a lot of Bollywood is now recycled. There's very little new talent (and I'm not sure India would want to take a risk on new talent, versus following the personal drama of everyone's lives, and thriving on stupid newspaper articles on Deepika's assets) and very little innovation from a creative standpoint. Don't get me wrong, for pushing taboos of what is allowed in a movie and the messages some are sending, there absolutely is progress. Bollywood has the true power to influence the masses. However, if music is your passion, after thinking long and hard there is very little to excite.
Honey Signh is a household name and singing so many of the songs, they start to sound the same after a while. I remember driving on a trip to Oregon and the car-DJ puts on "Sharabi" which was featured to market Happy New Year. I felt so excited to hear a hindi rap that wasn't Honey Singh and also had a great sound.
My personal taste in music is a little different than the masses and I think it helps me understand. I love Tamil Rap so artists like Anirudh keep me interested, so when he suddenly teams up with Honey Singh, my ears perk up. When Bhaag Milka Bhaag came out, the throaty sound of Divya Kumar singing in a few songs that were fused with some very western elements were really curious. A.R. Rahman obviously keeps upping the ante with his music and experimental style.
When I think of the whole of Bollywood, the really popular songs, the dance songs, the ones that get requested in the club over and over again, however, there's a lot of stagnation. Many of these songs are sampling a western song and I feel torn. Part of me is like oh this is familiar! and the other part is like "I have already heard this 5 million times, now I'm hearing it in Hindi which I only understand a percentage of."
Some of the dance moves are copying each other, or older dances as well. For me, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are practically interchangeable in any movie, as they are treated more like set decoration and sex objects than actual heroines. You can't even compare them to Deepika Padukone or Priyanka Chopra (Mary Kom anyone?).
What I realized at the end of a very long process is that it boils down to one thing. In America, we have a genre we call "Pop." This encompasses several styles of music, but mainly what is "Popular." These are usually upbeat songs that sometimes are earworms that get stuck in your head for days and you are singing the lyrics in the shower, or quietly at the office when you think no one can hear you. These songs have a recognizable beat and have sort of defined their own genre (You won't hear a pure rock song as a pop song now) but its hard to describe pop. It's kind of a pleasing music because its predictable. You know the beat, you can feel the song.
Bollywood has become India's Pop genre. Some people want to innovate and hear the newest latest greatest most amazing thing, and others are happy with the pure bliss that comes from hearing predictable music. I think I fall somewhere in the middle. Maybe I don't have to compare today's Bollywood that I hear to a legend like Shammi Kapoor. I find today's Bollywood easily digestable, but it leaves me hungry wanting more.
Cheers to over 100 years in cinema, and best wishes for getting out of your rut and redfining the future. The current heroes and heroines we have are going to continue to get older, and have kids (who won't yet be old enough to act for some time) and it will leave a gap for talent. Maybe some fresh faces on and off the scene will shake things up, who knows. Anything can happen, right?
We started to talk about Bollywood. This is a genre I've only begun listening to since around 2010, and something most Indians are familiar with all of their lives. Some love and live by it, others prefer other styles of music or music from different parts of the world. This gentleman hates it. He says its uninspired, lacks originality, and as a producer you can't really do much with it.
This really got me thinking about how Bollywood music can be so divisive for people, and even thinking deeper about how people could hate music that is so catchy. Of course, every individual will have his or her taste in music. Whether its a regional folk song from your hometown in a village in India, or in your college years you discovered Rock music from America, or the incredible electronic styles coming out of Europe, music is a rhythm life moves to.
I had to look at what Bollywood is now compared to before. Many of my friends from India talk about how exciting it was when their family got a TV and how they would look forward to watching the 1-2 channels that were first available when it came out. How only later could they get more channels, and how they would rush out to the theater to see their favorite hero, or take a glimpse of a sexy heroine they wouldn't see otherwise. The older generation of Bollywood was always paving the way for the next exciting movie, the more talented and muscle hero, the more edgy scene of movie making. Bollywood today has had its novelty and charm from yesteryear slowly eroded away to make room for the new multiplex movie blockbuster.
It's no longer about defining what India cinema is Mumbai, but who is going to invest more crores, earn more crores, do the newest stunts, which movie has the sexiest scenes, racing against other movies. Most of the people you see on the screen are all relatives of just a few families, so with this "progressive" attitude, Bollywood is a double edged sword. Yes, it is breaking through some social taboo, and some films are sending social messages, and some are actually artful (for example, Finding Fanny).
However, a lot of Bollywood is now recycled. There's very little new talent (and I'm not sure India would want to take a risk on new talent, versus following the personal drama of everyone's lives, and thriving on stupid newspaper articles on Deepika's assets) and very little innovation from a creative standpoint. Don't get me wrong, for pushing taboos of what is allowed in a movie and the messages some are sending, there absolutely is progress. Bollywood has the true power to influence the masses. However, if music is your passion, after thinking long and hard there is very little to excite.
Honey Signh is a household name and singing so many of the songs, they start to sound the same after a while. I remember driving on a trip to Oregon and the car-DJ puts on "Sharabi" which was featured to market Happy New Year. I felt so excited to hear a hindi rap that wasn't Honey Singh and also had a great sound.
My personal taste in music is a little different than the masses and I think it helps me understand. I love Tamil Rap so artists like Anirudh keep me interested, so when he suddenly teams up with Honey Singh, my ears perk up. When Bhaag Milka Bhaag came out, the throaty sound of Divya Kumar singing in a few songs that were fused with some very western elements were really curious. A.R. Rahman obviously keeps upping the ante with his music and experimental style.
When I think of the whole of Bollywood, the really popular songs, the dance songs, the ones that get requested in the club over and over again, however, there's a lot of stagnation. Many of these songs are sampling a western song and I feel torn. Part of me is like oh this is familiar! and the other part is like "I have already heard this 5 million times, now I'm hearing it in Hindi which I only understand a percentage of."
Some of the dance moves are copying each other, or older dances as well. For me, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are practically interchangeable in any movie, as they are treated more like set decoration and sex objects than actual heroines. You can't even compare them to Deepika Padukone or Priyanka Chopra (Mary Kom anyone?).
What I realized at the end of a very long process is that it boils down to one thing. In America, we have a genre we call "Pop." This encompasses several styles of music, but mainly what is "Popular." These are usually upbeat songs that sometimes are earworms that get stuck in your head for days and you are singing the lyrics in the shower, or quietly at the office when you think no one can hear you. These songs have a recognizable beat and have sort of defined their own genre (You won't hear a pure rock song as a pop song now) but its hard to describe pop. It's kind of a pleasing music because its predictable. You know the beat, you can feel the song.
Bollywood has become India's Pop genre. Some people want to innovate and hear the newest latest greatest most amazing thing, and others are happy with the pure bliss that comes from hearing predictable music. I think I fall somewhere in the middle. Maybe I don't have to compare today's Bollywood that I hear to a legend like Shammi Kapoor. I find today's Bollywood easily digestable, but it leaves me hungry wanting more.
Cheers to over 100 years in cinema, and best wishes for getting out of your rut and redfining the future. The current heroes and heroines we have are going to continue to get older, and have kids (who won't yet be old enough to act for some time) and it will leave a gap for talent. Maybe some fresh faces on and off the scene will shake things up, who knows. Anything can happen, right?
