Are Melodious Songs Departing From Bollywood?
When I hear the word ‘Melody’, names like Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigaam and Shaan come to my mind. Since my childhood, I have grown up listening to their soulful compositions created by ace Bollywood music directors. They had a romantic appeal in them, which used to strike an instant chord in the listener’s mind. The prolonged impact left by those songs was something which cannot be described in words.
Today, Bollywood songs have undergone a metamorphosis as compared to the one’s in the early and mid 90s. The melodious compositions have now been replaced by raunchy item numbers and abysmal rapping which is quite fine because change is necessary, even in music; and the young generation connects to it very well, but the question that arises is ‘Does that mean a slow departure of the melodious songs from Bollywood?’
Well, the current scenario in the Bollywood film songs just depicts that. There is a dearth of melodious music in films. Though it will be completely unfair to mention about their instant departure because a film like Aashiqui 2 is reminiscent of the fact that melodious songs still rule the hearts of the romantics; it had captured the hearts of young audience with its immensely romantic songs. Indian Music all together has a different status in World Music and has even captured the mind of the global audience. (Not to forget the songs composed by AR Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire that went on to win Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and the Grammy awards)
Films have become a lot more commercial now and directors have become cautious as far as the return on investment. In fact, the constant climbing up of box office collections have put all the directors in the rat race of entering into the ‘X’ crores clubs either by hook or crook and to achieve those dream numbers of box office collections they are not leaving any stone unturned even if it means inclusion of peppy music with the latest rapping sensation. As a result of this, the value of melodious songs is diminishing day by day and they are getting lost in the glitz and glamor of songs with aggressive lyrics and western beats. But after every high tide, there comes a low one and those days are not far away when we will get to hear the melodious songs yet again.