Bollywood music: then and now

In an interview many years back, Sonu Nigam had said that we’ll always love yesterday’s music more than today’s. He of course was referring to the gradual decline of soulful music in Bollywood films. He was so true! Last month, I was in my friend’s car who had a great collection of Kishore-Lata songs. As some of the songs were being played, he said, “My kids will never know about that generation of evergreen music. They’re growing up amidst a different genre of music.”

It’s interesting how emotional we still are with thousands of Bollywood songs from the golden era of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Yes, lot of us have childhood memories with many of these songs. We in a sense grew up listening to those great tracks. But is it only because of this that we keep saying ‘old is gold’ in the context of music? Or is it a natural human trait to romanticize yesteryears and downplay the current times?

I’ve never seen Rafi recording a song in a studio. But I’ve heard and read many people narrating those magical times when songs used to be recorded in one go. The ills of technology were not available to legendary composers like S D Burman or O P Nayyar. You had to have a great voice texture, mastery over vocal skills, and knowledge of classical music to excel. There was no device to cover up a singer’s weaknesses. Things have now changed. I had read an article in The Statesman, most probably around late 90s. It was about how technology was manipulating vocals and how different instruments recorded in various studios around the world could be ‘mixed’ to create a live illusion. The person listening to such a song would think it was recorded ‘live’. I had been bowled over by that article. While I felt excited about the technological advances, I mourned the potential degradation of the institution of music.

In the last ten years alone, hundreds of ‘reality shows’ have given a platform to thousands of budding talents to showcase their musical charisma. New voices have been recording a lot of the popular sound tracks. While the singers who’ve enjoyed longevity in the industry are becoming monetarily unaffordable, new youngsters are being approached by music companies. They may not have the classical background and the institutionalized training behind them, but they can sing what the audience wants to hear. Sadly, like a reality show, some of these singers are also seasonal flavors. You don’t hear many of the voices after a while, for whom singing at stage shows and live concerts becomes all the more important to earn a living.

The business of music on one hand has offered a platform to many youngsters to excel, and on the other, it has been instrumental in the slow poisoning of music composed for the heart. Today’s music is so much about bodily gyration, it seldom tickles the strings of our soul. But then, that is where all the moolah is. 

Will we listen to today’s music after 20 years? Maybe we will. And, maybe we’ll lament just as much, crying that the music of yesteryears was soulful!