JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Mirroring The Industry: The relevance of music in longevity of a superstar, and adverse impact of recreations
Do you think, Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna films would have stood the test of times without hit music? Pinkvilla discusses
Music has always played an important role in the life of every Indian – be it joy or grief, music is strongly engraved in our culture. While one may or may not watch the old films of an actor, they are sure to listen to the music in their free time, during travel, weddings or even at a party. Lip syncing and pulling off the hook steps gives a sense of accomplishment, making them feel like they are the star, who did it originally in the feature film.
The Indian celebrations – ranging from Holi to Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Diwali as also weddings, birthday parties and anniversaries are incomplete without music. While the general norm in the industry might be to make a song that helps in pushing the buzz of a feature film, in reality, the impact of music is much more – In-fact, it plays a major role in longevity of a superstar. People may or may not remember the plot, dialogues or scenes, but will always remember the music which in turn leads to the connect with actor. The actors get a strong recall value due to the music – example, the first thing that comes to your mind when someone says Jhumma Chumma is Amitabh Bachchan, O O Jaane Jaana has a strong recall value for the brand Salman Khan, whereas Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam has played a pivotal role in making Shah Rukh Khan, the king of romance, despite so many other romantic songs up for the offing through the 90s.
Though statistically, Dharmendra is a far far bigger superstar than Rajesh Khanna, it is the latter who has a stronger recall value in the audience today primarily due to the superhit music in his films.
Though statistically, Dharmendra is a far far bigger superstar than Rajesh Khanna, it is the latter who has a stronger recall value in the audience today primarily due to the superhit music in his films. The romantic tracks of Rajesh Khanna have made him immortal. The brand, Amitabh Bachchan on the other hand is built on culmination of raw stardom and super hit music, giving him the tag of being a “megastar”. While one may argue that films have kept him relevant all through these 5 decades, one can’t pull down the role of music in creation of the BIG B. From the 60s till the 80s, both Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra were almost neck to neck, but what gave Bachchan films a stronger recall value is the music. This is not to say that Dharmendra films had bad music, but probably, it didn’t stand the test of times for today’s youth.
Even today, there are older films that are watched purely for the sole stirring music, something that’s a big miss from Hindi films today. Films with music having a strong recall value can be counted on fingers today. Over the last 35 years, two of the biggest movie stars of Hindi cinema are Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, and again, a glimpse at their filmography suggests the strong discography. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Salman and Shah Rukh have the best discography from all their contemporaries since the 80s, which has of course given their films a longer shelf-life. Their music albums have been consistent with at-least one good song. Like is the case with Govinda, whose songs dominate the playlist when it comes to the nostalgic 90s music, but again, it’s only in a particular genre. Sunny Deol on the other hand, though a bigger star than Govinda, falls short in the aspect of music, which probably has curtailed his longevity.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan have the best discography from all their contemporaries since the 80s, which has of course given their films a longer shelf-life.
Gone are the days, when even the comedians and others from the ensemble were given a song or two to flourish, example being the legend, Johnny Walker, who has iconic songs like Bambai Meri Jaan, Sar Jo Tera Chakraye and Jaane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Ji. In today’s time, it’s difficult for even a leading man to get a hit song, that lives for generations to follow. Gone are those days, when singers where as big as the star of the film, be it Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, or Lata Mangeshkar. Wouldn’t be wrong to say that today, it’s difficult to differentiate between the voices of two singers – call it the use of technology or sheer attempt to not modulate the voice as per the diction of the actors. Lyrically too, the music quality has gone down. We don’t get lines like “Yeh Kaisa Rishta Hai, Yeh Kaise Sapne Hai, Begaane Ho Kar Bhi, Kyun Lagte Apne Hai” from Blackmail (Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas), or “Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli, Haae, Kabhi Yeh Haasaye, Kabhi Yeh Rulaye” from Anand. The time when films working solely on the strength of music no more exists. The era of community repeat viewing too just for music is now redundant, though that's more so because songs are now available digitally for free.
While music has made the work of actor’s immortal, in today’s time there is an attempt to tamper the immortality with recreations after recreations. Originality has gone for a toss, and in an effort to grab eyeballs for the time being, irrevocable damage is being done to the culture of music in Bollywood. While music labels have been pushing to bring a revamped version of their own hits to make quick money, it’s time for the actors to take a stand against recreations. While recreations may work big time for the short term, yet, they will always be remembered for the actors who featured in it originally. In the recent times, it's Emraan Hashmi who can proudly flaunt his discography from the 2000s with Himesh Reshammiya at his peak and Ranbir Kapoor, who has ample of melodies with Pritam and AR Rahman under his kitty on a consistent basis, through his career.
While music has made the work of actor’s immortal, in today’s time there is an attempt to tamper the immortality with recreations after recreations. Originality has gone for a toss
For their own sake, the actors in today’s time should vouch for original music as that will play a major role in keeping their work relevant 30 years later. Recreations are more like short cuts, but good original songs always stand the test of time, and give the actor a holistic visibility in longer run. Make songs that can be recreated 30 years later, rather than dancing and lip syncing on recreated songs. What stands between a star and a superstar in longer run is that ability to consistently associate with “Good Music”. Create your hook step, create your identity, because it’s always the original that sustains and the duplicate is rubbed off as “China Ka Maal”. The choice is yours :)
ALSO READ: Mirroring The Industry: A Bollywood universe of cop, spy, comedy, superhero, and horror
Latest Articles
