Friday's release of the soundtrack to the upcoming film "Rockstar" marked a moment of excitement in the Bollywood world. Many critics have roundly praised the album, certainly heralding it as one of the best soundtracks of the 2011 season. While using it as my "get homework done" soundtrack this weekend, I thought I'd dedicate a little time to the music of Bollywood, part of India's most popular type of music (filmi music - music from films — accounts for 72 percent of music sales in India, according to BBC).
Before I get into the subject, I admit willingly that I'm neither as knowledgeable nor as fervent about complete film soundtracks as many Bollywood bloggers are — probably owing the fact that I'm not fluent in Hindi. But I do love music even when I can't fully understand the words, and not knowing all the words (which, let's face it, happens even with English pop and hip-hop songs) makes you focus on the feel and heart of the music.
Then, in going into the soundtrack of "Rockstar," I can only describe in loose terms how the music feels. Being about the life of a, well, rock star, the film obviously has a greater infusion of music than the typical film, making the soundtrack longer than most, but I love the mix of songs here. Heavy but soulful electric guitar pushes along many songs like "Sadda Haq." The instrumental "Tango for Taj" is a vibrant Spanish-Indian mix. The offbeat "Sheher Main" is interspersed with interrupting sounds and dialogue that give it a lively feel. "Kun Faaya Kun" is infused with deep spirituality that can be felt without understanding the words; it's done in the tradition of the qawwali, a type of Islamic devotional music, and appreciation deepens on understanding the lyrics, a translation of which can be found here.
Like most other reviewers, I attribute the beauty of this soundtrack to the brilliance and amazing gifts of A.R. Rahman, the soundtrack's composer. Rahman, a composer, musician, producer and singer, is known as a master of blending Indian classical music, Western music, world music and orchestral arrangements, and I consider A.R. Rahman's voice understandable without words because it's so powerful it's almost otherworldly. Even if you're unfamiliar with Bollywood, you may be familiar with Rahman as he worked on the "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack — that somewhat strange man walking around singing jai ho with the Pussycat Dolls is him - and the soundtrack for "127 Hours." He's also a part of the new supergroup SuperHeavy with Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart and Damian Marley.
It may seem odd to Hollywood watchers where soundtracks are sometimes just an afterthought, but in Bollywood, music comes out months in advance, and music launches can be huge events. The music can drive hype for a film perhaps better than anything else, but even if a film's music is great, the true test of it is often how it blends into a film. Coupled with how the music is presented visually through dance and setting, the songs are often the most popular parts of a film. Great musical numbers in films can become more famous than the film itself, and bad ones can really detract from the flow of a film. For example, I thought the film "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi" [Will You Marry Me?] was mediocre, but the songs were excellent. I loved the film "36 China Town" but its songs were bizarre. A truly good film has both elements.
Soundtracks are so integral to most films that they're almost down to a science in mainstream Bollywood. There's the falling in love song (of which there are two types: time spent falling in love and realizing you've fallen in love), the sad song, the reunited song, the fun song, the item song (a sizzling, sexy number that often features a cameo appearance) and sometimes a character introduction song for the film's top star. All that's not to mention the title track that can be one of the above or on its own and is sometimes repeated in the background throughout the film, and then there's the remixes on a soundtrack that often appear in a special dance on the end credits. To give you a breakdown, here's the soundtrack to this summer's release "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan" [My Brother's Bride]:
Title song: "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan"
Character introduction song: "Dhunki"
Falling in love songs: "Choomantar" and "Isq Risk" (which somewhat doubles as a sad song because the male protagonist realizes he's fallen in love with his brother's fiancée)
Fun song: "Madhubala"
Item song: "Do Dhaari Talwaar"
Typically, I go on a song-by-song basis with filmi music. If a song sticks with me from the film, I'll buy it. Thus, I've amassed a completely random collection of Hindi songs. But some of my personal favorite complete soundtracks are those to the films "Lagaan" [Land Tax], "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" [Straight From the Heart], "3 Idiots" and "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" [Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness]. The songs to these are all worth looking up on YouTube. If you're interested in soundtracks, PlanetBollywood has a nice list of the top 100 Bollywood soundtracks in history, complete with reasons why the soundtrack made such an impact.
If you're familiar with Bollywood soundtracks, I'd love to hear what your favorites are.
Posts in The Filmi Gator appear on Mondays.
Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman (left) poses with Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart at a release party for the debut album of their supergroup, SuperHeavy. Rahman produced the recently released and well-praised soundtrack for the film “Rockstar.”
