Once upon a time, there used to be this golden era in the world of Hindi film soundtracks, obviously with stern references to the perennial ones. Then came the rejuvenated 80s and the congenial 90s. The subsequent decades witnessed glory and slump in vivacious intervals. 2011 is here, and I see a clear vicinity of creative inadequacies.
Today we lack the aura of playback singing that could evoke legacy. We miss writers who could pen down words like waves in an ocean that refuse to die and the meanings that could send a shriver down your spine. Yet, we live in an environment of extreme ignorance where the entertainment industry had started borrowing our gems from the past to hide our sustained prejudices. Please do not get me wrong, classics can get revisited but not tarnished.
Mohd Rafi was a legend, Manna Dey was exquisite, Mahendra Kapoor infused life, the genius of Kishore da was eternal. Further down, Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu erected early nineties and refurbished their brand for almost one and half decades. Sonu Nigam further reestablished the soul of Rafi Saab and Abhijeet/Babul Supriyo/Shaan showed glimpses of the great Kishore Kumar. I miss their fervour and mince no words about it.
Sahir Ludhianwi isn’t there today, Gulzar chooses meticulously and Javed Akhtar only scripts for his children. Where are the writers whose pen was mightier than sword? I see no words these days, they cheat without glitz and publish sans elegance.
I am contemporary and enjoy versatility in music, especially films made in our inevitable Bollywood. I can relish the talents from the glorious fifties to my very own 2011. But I doubt if my children will remember the munnis and sheilas 20 years down under. I have a shalu now but that makes matters worse.
I get a feeling that we have sort of subsidised our talents by cashing in on our very own chartbusters of yesteryears. Remixes have become household cacophony and tracks are nurtured for the sake of animosity.
‘Dhanno’, ‘Mit jaaye gham’, ‘Laila o laila’ are few of those sizzlers which were distinguishably part of pedestrian projects. Have we run out of stock? Are we judiciously inadequate to produce winning tunes? Do we miss our prodigious talents who were instrumental in belting those número uno numbers for more than 30 peerless years?
I am afraid, but I might be bang on.
@Lifeoholic 