Ghazals in modern Bollywood movies
PremC...@gmail.com
November 4, 2006 Ruchika Kher, Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, December 18, 2008
First Published: 16:17 IST(18/12/2008)
Last Updated: 18:15 IST(18/12/2008)
Why have ghazals faded out in Bollywood?The lilting melodies of Jhuki
jhuki si nazar and Chupke chupke raat din never fail to impress music
buffs even today, but the popular ghazal genre seems to have taken a
backseat in Bollywood.
While the older generation blames the young brigade of composers, the
latter says it is the script that determines a movie's music.
"The new filmmakers are more inspired by Western culture. They copy
Western music and feel that they have made a song. Such people don't
know what ghazals are all about," ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh told
IANS over phone from Mumbai.
Music director Shekhar Ravjiani of the duo Vishal and Shekhar -they
have composed music for films like Om Shanti Om, Tashan and Dostana
among others - has a different take on the issue. He says the script
is the main determinant of the genre of music to be used in a
particular film.
"As a music director, we have to keep in mind the sound that is
required by the script and the film. If a ghazal is required, then we
would love to use it. It actually depends on what kind of film the
director is making," Shekhar said.
Bollywood has been providing soulful renditions in the form of ghazals
since the time of legendary K.L. Saigal. Later it was popularised by
singers like Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Jagjit
Singh, Talat Aziz and Pankaj Udhas among others.
With hits like "Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho" ("Arth"), "Tumko dekha
toh yeh khayal aaya" ("Saath Saath"), "Dil cheez kya hai" ("Umrao
Jaan") and "Chupke chupke raat din" ("Nikaah"), the genre that entails
the combination of soothing lyrics and dulcet voices received a huge
impetus and left an indelible mark on listeners everywhere.
However, there has been a marked decline in the number of ghazals in
Hindi movies and the trend has moved towards creating fast, rhythmic
songs in place of the traditional melodic, sentimental styles.
"Ghazal is soft music; it is not making noises like most of the songs
today. Of 100 songs that are churned out, only two-three are worth
listening. The rest are mere shouting, which is not music," Singh
said.
Added Shekhar: "It's true that we have not heard ghazals in films for
quite some time now and I hope that it comes back."
Although the ghazal's versatile formal structure could conceivably
have been modified to suit the taste of the Gen-Y, the genre has
remained too closely associated with its traditional subject matter of
broken hearts, weepy lovers and the stylised refinement of Urdu
culture in general.
"People feel that a ghazal cannot be a commercial hit in today's time.
But this is actually a myth. If it is composed well, it can rule the
charts. But people in the industry today don't have that kind of
taste," Singh said.
The theme of most films churned out today is more fast-paced and
inclined towards action, and ghazals don't fit in their scheme of
things, say music directors.
One of the last memorable ghazals used in a Bollywood film was
"Hoshwaalon ko khabar" in John Mathew Mathan's 1999 hit "Sarfarosh".
He too could fit in a ghazal mainly because he had Naseeruddin Shah
play a ghazal singer in the movie. J.P. Dutta used ghazals in the
remake of "Umrao Jaan", but they failed to click with audiences.
"Songs are made to suit the need of a particular scene. Ghazals have
taken a backseat because the kind of films and the kind of scenes
today don't demand a ghazal," said composer Sachin Gupta of "Dil
Kabaddi" fame.
However, the industry maintains that people's preferences have not
changed.
"It's not that people's preference of music has changed. If we give
them a soulful ghazal that suits the film, they will certainly
appreciate it," said Kaushik Ghatak, who debuted as a director with Ek
Vivaah... Aisa Bhi.
Ravjiani shared his view and said: "People still love ghazals, they
still go for concerts and appreciate them; so it's not true that
people don't prefer ghazals any more."
partha_c...@yahoo.com
wrote:
I'd tend to go with jagjit Sing... not too many of current MDs have
the depth to compose ghazals...
Next, slightly OT, but relates to Ghazals...
'Dasht-E-Tanhai', the beautiful poetry by Faiz Ahmed Faiz... I have
two versions by Iqbal bano and one by Tina Sani. I'll really
appreciate if someone could provide information if anybody else sung
it.
- Partha
Afzal A. Khan
It is possible to include ghazals in films, only where the
subject, theme and situations permit this. Sohrab Modi's
"Mirza Ghalib" contained many ghazals of Ghalib himself that
were woven into the fabric of the film in a most fitting
manner. Not one seemed out of place. It was the same with
"Umrao Jaan" (Rekha starrer). I personally regard both of
them as classics.
RMIMers will no doubt recall that Ghalib's ghazal "Yeh na thi
hamaari qismat...." was also used in Raj Kapoor's "Main
Nashe Men HooN". But it didn't quite click and seemed a
a little out of place.
In recent times, there was a film called "Tehzeeb") stg.
Shabana Azmi, where A. R. Rehman composed a beautiful
ghazal by DaaGH, the noted Urdu poet who died in 1905.
"Sabaq aisa paRha diya tu ne". The ghazal itself can be
considered a "Ham'd" i.e. in praise of God Almighty.
The tune and singing (by Madhushri ?) was absolutely
melodious. The situation might not have been very appro-
priate, someone trying to present Namrata Shirodkar as a
promising singer before Shabana (who herself was
portrayed in the film as a singing diva). And some odd
type of dancing by Namrata detracted from the appeal of the
song itself. But one can listen to the song itself, without
watching the video part, and one will be utterly charmed by
it.
Afzal
PremC...@gmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
Afzal Bhai,
I was quite excited to learn from you about the ghazals in the movie
Tehzeeb. Besides the ghazal by Daag it also had one by Momin. I
commend the efforts of the two singers. Excellent ghazals, however I
found the music below average. I know Rehman is very popular music
director. But someone must call a spade a spade and speak out that the
emperor has no clothes. Composing a ghazal with western computer
generated instruments and Bongo drums was rediculous. Its ok to
experiment with Fusion of eastern and western music. But composing
Ghazals without Tabla, Sarangi, Violin or Harmonium, "humari tehseeb
ki tauheen hai"
PJ
Abhay Jain
"Afzal A. Khan" <me_a...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:giga3c$dhd$1...@news.motzarella.org...
I remember a recent ghazal "Tu Jo Nahin Hai" from Wo Lhme (2006)
sung by Glen John. Apparently he is son of Pakistani ghazal singer S. B.
John
and this ghazal is similar to what was sung by his father S. B. John.
Wo Lmhe ghazal is penned by Neelesh Mishra with music by Preetam.
AJ
irfan
> I remember a recent ghazal "Tu Jo Nahin Hai" from Wo Lhme (2006)
> sung by Glen John. Apparently he is son of Pakistani ghazal singer S. B.
> John
> and this ghazal is similar to what was sung by his father S. B. John.
> Wo Lmhe ghazal is penned by Neelesh Mishra with music by Preetam.
>
> AJ
'Tu jo nahin hai ' is not a ghazal. Originally it was sung by
S.B.John in
early 60s. MD was Manzoor who was a pretty good Tabla player as
well.
and a great fan of Naushad, In 80s he used to compose for PTV -
Lahore as well. One day the programme producer asked Manzoor
about his popular songs. Before he could reply another
instrumentalist
said in Punjabi, "O ji - Tu jo nahin hai to phir kuchh bhi nahin
hai".
It means only this song.
S.B.John and Mehdi Hassan once went to London for a stage show
in early 70s. One night they were drinking as usual. S.B.John
secretly
placed a cassette recorder under the table and started asking Mehdi
Hassan about other singers. When he asked about Lata, Mehdi Hassan
uttered some derogatory remarks. When they came back S.B.John
called some journalists and played that recording. He probably sent
a copy to Lata also who privately sent her annoyance. Mehdi Hassan
however apologized saying that he was at that time under the
influence.
Regards,
Irfan
rupeshn...@gmail.com
Prem Joshi
Partha Bhai,
Here is one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYB-6i_q4sU
PJ
