Ek Musical Film….
(Note: This article is a bit random; bits and bobs - no flow!)
Music (songs) is an integral part of our film industry. It is very-highly-likely that a hindi film would not be made without songs. Some say music - i mean, filmi music is part of our culture. And others say people would not watch a hindi film without songs - music is one of the key factor people look at when they decide to watch a hindi film. (I think, that is a myth which needs to be unraveled.) Thus, we see producers spending millions on songs, filming a 3 hours long music video and picking a story from kachrapeti.
Anyway, my aim is not to get rid of songs from the hindi cinema industry or trying to solve that myth. In fact, I want to see people make genuine hindi musical films. Let me say that again: I want to see a genuine hindi musical film. Because we have talented lyricists and musicians, and I sometimes feel that their creativeness could be used in a better way in films. Rather than using their songs as gimmicks to attract the audience. I hardly would classify any of hindi films with songs as a musical film. Because, in my view, a musical film means that songs are scenes and not a ‘break’ for audience to go out for a pee or a samosa. In most cases it is the latter case. Therefore there are not any genuine hindi musical films even when more than 99% of hindi films have songs! Oh, by the way, a film about a musician does not mean that the film is a musical film! In last decade or so.. only hindi films I would categorize as musical films are:
1) Lagaan. Because each songs - be it: Ghannan Ghannan, Mitwa, O Rey Chori, Radha, Chale Chalo, O Palanhare, all these songs were scenes. All songs moved the story forward; it did not break the story.
2) Mast. Yup, I see Mast as a musical film. Did you know Mast was Ram Gopal Varma’s attempt at making a musical film? It was not a good musical film - but the movie is good!
Well.. that’s about it. I know, some of you would be shouting V Shantaram… yes, I have heard about him and I know that he made some brilliant musical films. But unfortunately, I have not seen any of his films, so if you guys have seen his films: can you review it on PFC?
Then there are intelligent directors who prefer to have songs as background piece of music, for example, songs were used as background piece of music in: 1) Rakesh Om Prakash’s Rang De Basanti, 2) Sujoy Ghosh’s Home Delivery, 3) Imtiaz Ali’s Socha Na Tha. I do not mind it this way. At least it does not break the story and you don’t feel like itching your bum or nose. Where as in music-video films.. god’s know.. what…….
So my request to filmmakers is: please, if you want to have songs in your film then make a musical film or use it as background score, otherwise do not have songs in the film!
(I am only aware of A R Rahman who does music for a film only when he thinks the story requires songs and director will use it properly, otherwise he would not. He did not wanted to do soundtrack of Mangal Pandey because he thought the story did not require songs - it took Aamir Khan to convince him. There should be more people like him - if not talented, but at least honest. So musicians say no to people who wants songs for just sake of it!)
Ek din apun Ek Musical Film………
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Movies , Direction, Songwriting, Soundtrack
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31 Responses to “Ek Musical Film….”
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@ HG “Thus, we see producers spending millions on songs, filming a 3 hours long music video and picking a story from kachrapeti”
=))=))
Dude..how can you…forget Naach..i think Naach was one true to its sense Musical..
in Naach i found songs were more used as background piece..so i did not mention it. maybe i need to see it again…
I am the last person to discuss Bollywood as I am relatively new to it. But, my first thought on reading this is how would you compare Bollywood with the great American musicals of the mid-20th century.
And, maybe this belongs in the George Clooney post, but there are many of us Westerners who love Bollywood because of the dancing, because of the singing, because of the music, because of the spectacle. Funny that what drives so many people who read PFC nuts is exactly what draws many Westerners to Indian cinema in the first place….
Currently listening to: Zinda soundtrack….
HG: Have u seen ‘Heer Ranjha’ starring Raj Kumar n Priya Rajvansh. There are no dialogues in the film but ‘nazm’ or poetry by Kaifi Azmi and offcourse lovely songs. It was directed by Chetan Anand and is one of the classics!
What about Bombay, HDDCS, Khamoshi or even Devdas (the new one)? Just thinking aloud…
Honhaar, Khamoshi could count as a musical as the songs are used as part of the story and i’d definitely count Naach as a musical.
t!,
i am not the right person to compare great American… with Indian musical movies cos my knowledge is not that very good. I would not be able to do any justice to it, sorry. I have only seen bits and bobs of Grease, Moulin Rouge and Bugsy Malon. Although I would say that only seldom Hindi films have explored that particular style. Mast and Home Delivery explored that in bits. In Hindi movies we mostly have a song as an introduction scene for main characters or a dream sequence. Basically, in most cases we have songs when writers/directors cannot think creatively.
I know what you mean - cos I am in UK and British/British Indian love ‘Bollywood’ films for that exact reason… And there are some other people who watch these kind of films for a laugh.. you know what I am saying. Even I sometimes enjoy it but only when songs are good and I like it. I did not mind songs in ‘Satya’ even though it could have done without a couple of songs. I would not mind songs in Gulzar’s or Muhkerji’s music cos they know how to use songs in movies without…….
Zinda Soundtrack - a decent soundtrack. My favorite songs from the album are: Har Saas, Maula and of course ‘Yeh Hain Mere Kahani’
Manjeet Singh,
Really? I have heard about ‘Heer Ranjha’ and I thought it is a love story, so did not bother with watching it as I find this kind of movies too heavy for me. But since you said…I will catch the movie some day. Zee Tv(UK) used to show Heer Ranja once a month when they started telecasting in UK.
Randramble,
Bombay could have done without a couple of songs. I only thought Humma Humma, Tuhi Re and Kehna Hi Kiya fitted well with the story. I think, music was part of Khamoshi and HDDCS story.. so did not mention it. Devdas could be..
The three American films you mention barely count as musicals, Grease was a Broadway adaptation, Moulin Rouge was a tribute to Bollywood, and Bugsy Malone was a piece of crap targeted to people like me, meaning, kids.
I always thought the purpose of the songs was to drive the plot, to show the motivations of the characters in ways that would drag a script down if you had a charcater talking about love or feeling or comradarie. It may be a bit pandering, but it is a device I really appreciate.
BTW, one of the greatest American musicals , An American in Paris, uses a dream sequence to tie up the movie, it is a ballet about 10 minutes long and is amazing….
I didnt’ mention Devdas in my original comment as I figure everyone is tired of hearing me talk about both Devdas and SRK, but the songs in that movie are almost all perfect, with only one that stands out as unnecessary to drive the story.
And, I do know what you mean. When I first started watching Bollywood, many of my friends gave me a hard time. To many, Bollywood is nothing more than three hours of silly dances sung with too nasally voices. I have changed a couple of minds by showing Rang de Basanti, but then again (which is why I thought of this in the first place), I am a fan of musicals, and maybe that is part of the appeal of Bollywood to me….
(huh-le-lo)(doh) seee, i told you.. i’m not the right person. Isn’t there an old version of Moulin Rouge? I thought 2001 was a remake of older version.
The same people who select Chicago for so many academy awards ridicule Hindi film for the songs n dances. Most of them are just aware of Satyajit Ray and for them everything else is stupid music vidoes with dance. Thats the perception of a normal media person in the west, which I have observed:)
HG: I am also not a big fan of love stories. Heer Ranjha is very different film. Imagine a story told in poetry! If you like old film songs then its one more reason to watch this film. Rafi is so good in ‘Yeh duniya yeh mehfil mere kaam ki nahin’.
HOLY COW!!!!
I had no idea it was a remake, but a quick IMBD search shows that John Houston (?!?) mad a non-musical version of this in 1952 with Jose Ferrer! This is going on the NetFlix queue pronto….
There are five other versions of the film, including one French one with Josephine Baker! Another one to track down….
Not all the versions deal with Toulouse-Lautrec, but almost all of them deal with the showgirl theme.
You just gave me an idea for a post….
For the record, I own the 2001 version of the film. I listen to it as backround music when doing chores. I love this film, and it is another reason why so many of my friends question my choices in movies. What a great idea, to take the greatest Jazz song and some of the greatest pop/rock songs of the 20th century and create this mash up of a musical. If I am in the right mood, the tango scene done to the Police’s Roxanne will make me cry, and it always gives me tingles….
Manjeet,
I think you are spot on. And, it is not only the normal media person, but the average film watcher. And, only cine fans even know of Satyajit Ray, the average American knows Bend it Like Beckham, and that’s the primary frame of reference for “Indian” film.
When Baz Luhrmann does a Moulin Rouge, it is widely ridiculed, but Broadway adaptations are always treated as Major Movie Events (you should see the Oscar buzz here right now for Dreamgirls). This country pioneered the movie musical in the 1920s, and exported it to France when we exiled our best talent through our racism. I would love to see more movie musicals, not Broadway revivals, in American cinema, and if George Clooney is serious about his Bollywood ambitions, it would be a great thing for the great Bollywood films to be exposed here, and for American studios to pay attention and see that the musical is a viable art form, not just a way to showcase Beyonce….
But, but but.. ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ is not an Indian Film. It is a British Film! Since we are on the same note.. ‘Bollywood’ media think Ashwariya has been doing Hollywood films but the fact is she has been doing British films.
Manjeet, my hindi is barely good, so all those nazms… is an alien for me - that’s another reason why i haven’t seen it. But after what you have said about the movie I will watch it now. Yup, I like old filmi songs. I like more kind of Mannay Dey type of songs.
Honhaar - try to watch heer ranja, I’ll translate for you .. although guarantee we will get bored and slightly sickly after but it’s an experience.
>>‘Bollywood’ media think Ashwariya has been doing Hollywood films but the fact is she has been doing British films.
but hasn’t she signed up some hollywood movie with meryl streep? (i’m not all up to date with ash and her careeer now)
Honhaar - That was my whole point! It had South Asians. It had Banghra. It had arranged marriages. The perception is that it must be Indian.
And, I can’t wait to see what Hollywood can do with Ash. She is considered a hot property here, but she was wasted in Bride… and Mistress of Spices. I would love to see what a good director can do with her in a Hollywood film. Can she really act, or is she just the Mistress of Closeup Shots?
>>Can she really act, or is she just the Mistress of Closeup Shots?
I think she has the potential to act, but only with the right director. In most of her movies all we see is a glamour pussy and nothing more. When she works with Sanjay Leela Bansali you can see that he drains her for her true worth
trailers of a couple of upcoming ash films.. can’t believe i’m saying this, but she’s actually looking like she’s got her act together in ‘provoked’..
provoked: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DMrzYzIMMRA
some other movie with her prancing about as a warrior (forgot the name): http://youtube.com/watch?v=DMrzYzIMMRA
sorry, that second link is supposed to be:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BK8GrwwNE1E
@Striker…. Both the links are for the same trailer …arghhhhhhhhhhh
heheh…we both were thinking at the same time…lol!!!
[...] December Tushar 01:26 am Add comment 1 Views A recent post by HG on musicals reminded me of a project that I did few months back. It was based on Exploration of the Song in the Hindi film. The project was called Are You Song For It/Whose Song Is It Anyway? [...]
I am watching ‘Naach’ - It’s on B4U movies. And RGV takes the piss at song-routines… he even has a Farah look alike.. the soundtrack of Naach is most underrated….
HG, very true man, i absolutely love the film and its score, but it has a strange emotion to it, the kinds that cant be felt everyday…
rakt ka hai gubbara….
love the Markand Deshpane’s version of that song.
For me, Ash was good only in one movie: Raincoat…
Ash can’t act..IMO she was good in Iruvar, tolerable in Bhansali’s movies & Raincoat, borderline ok in Taal, deliquent in the rest.
Musicals..from the top of my head - Khamoshi, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahin, Devdas, the recent Jaaneman, Dil to Pagal Hai (mabbe), Thiruda Thiruda (dubbed as Chor Chor)..
wonder if you’d categorize Sankarabharanam, Sindhu Bhairavi, Silangai Oli etc - all scattered with Carnatic and semi-classical pieces - as musicals, though!
i did not categorize any films in which music was part of story (for example, Sur, Dil To Pagal Hain…) as a musical film..
- Ranjit, Did Chor Chor ever get a film release? I know the music in Hindi got a decent release but have not heard anything about the movie itself… watched the original Thiruda Thiruda… awesome movie… Khalid Mohamed commented on it as “This is what ‘Roop Ki Raani Choron ka Raja’ should have been but wasn’t”…
@oz: not sure abt Chor Chor, I too have heard just the songs - and that too after the Mani Ratnam-ARR wave hit the nation after Roja. Yeah, it was a pretty good movie - Mani letting his hair down, I think!
Rather than RKRCKR, I always associated RGV’s Daud with this one - road-trip, crazy PJs and all those (mera baap bahut bada shikhari tha)…the former was just horrible - remember Sridevi giggling away in all those zany outfits..grr!!
Striker - I am catching up on some reading tonight and just checked out the links. Yes, she looks good in Provoked, but I think I have seen this before.
“The Burning Bed” with Farrah Faucet. Yes, I just dated myself, that movie came out more than 20 years ago…
I actually loved the trailer…