Tum Toh Mohammed Rafi Nikle: The song sequence in contemporary Hindi cinema

ABSTRACT

This article explores the role of the song sequence as a narrative device in contemporary Hindi cinema. It does this through an analysis of select song sequences from six films – Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Tumhari Sulu, Dangal, Highway, Tamasha and Udta Punjab. These songs play an essential role in the film narratives, and the article discusses them through a focus on song picturization, song lyrics and the absence of lip-synchronization. The broader context of my inquiry are the changes in the role of the film song in recent years marking both continuities as well as discontinuities with the established song tradition of Hindi cinema. I argue that even as a realist aesthetic is changing the form of the song sequence, the song scene continues to be a complex mechanism of storytelling in contemporary Hindi films.

KEYWORDS:

• Bollywood song and dance
• song lyrics
• lip synchronization

Acknowledgments

This article was first presented at the South Asian Popular Culture conference held in Birmingham City University in June 2017. I would like to thank the organizers, Rajinder Dudrah and Gita Rajan, as well as the participants at the conference for the rich and engaging two days of discussions and presentations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Sangita Gopal terms the Hindi cinema of the period starting from the 1990s as ‘New Bollywood’ (14). She distinguishes ‘New Bollywood’ from what she calls the ‘Classic period’ (1947–70) on the one hand, and the period of the ‘Masala film’ of the 1970s, on the other.

2. In that context, it is interesting that at the beginning of the song, there is a line which reworks the lyric of the song, ‘Gairon Pe Karam Apno Pe Sitam’ written by Sahir Ludhianvi from the 1968 film Ankhen (Ramanand Sagar).

3. See https://www.dailyo.in/arts/dangal-aamir-khan-haryana-women-wrestlers-india-sexism-patriarchy/story/1/14824.html, https://thewire.in/film/dangal-feminist-patriarchal.

4. ‘Cutie Pie’ also had a similar ironic, tongue in cheek tone. This creates a distance from the grief of the characters.

5. The song ‘Emotional Atyachar’ from Dev D (Anurag Kashyap, 2009) used a similar tactic of a two member brass band lip-syncing the song which was otherwise picturized on the two main protagonists of the film.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aakshi Magazine

Aakshi Magazine is a PhD candidate in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews. Her thesis focuses on the Hindi film song of the 1950s.