Bollywood Songs: Re Ection of Wounded Nation in the Post-Independence
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SHANLAX International Journal of English Bollywood Songs: Re ection of Wounded Nation in the Post-Independence Avish Setia OPEN ACCESS Research Scholar, Department of English and Cultural Studies Panjab University, Chandigarh Volume : 6 Abstract Issue : 3 The present paper examines how the Bombay-based Hindi lm cinema culturally obliges to respond to the national crisis in the post-independence era. The paper will deal with Bollywood lyrics in general and how they highlight the crisis of the nation one after the other, for instance, Month : June brutal partition, Indo-China War, Indo-Pak War, White-Revolution, and Green-Revolution. Along with, the brief discussion will be on the lampooned religious identities and religious Year: 2018 tensions shown in Bollywood songs in the aftermath of partition of India/Pakistan. Songs were often based on communal harmony, and the paper will brie y examine how the Muslim characters were shown sane and sensible in the Bollywood lms. The project analyzes Hindi ISSN: 2320-2645 lm lyrics through the compilations of Harmandir Singh Hamraz’s Hindi Film Geet-Kosh and Mir, Ali Husain., and Raza Mir’s Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry (as primary texts). The project undertakes the study of various other articles and books Received: related to the area of research. The paper will conclude by discussing the emergence of White- 30.03.2018 Revolution and Green-Revolution during the 1960s. Keywords: Partition, Religion, Indo-China War, Indo-Pak War, White-Revolution, Green- Revolution. Accepted: 14.06.2018 Introduction Published: Bollywood songs were introduced in the movies ever since the advent 26.06.2018 of the Hindi lm cinema. Song-writing was always a signi cant part of cinema. “The deployment of songs to propel a narrative has a long and Citation: varied tradition in India” (Husain and Raza 114). Several of the country’s Setia, A. (2018). famous art forms had employed this technique for an extended period. For Bollywood Songs: instance, songs were used in dance, nautankis, fairs, and also used while Reection of Wounded explaining the narratives of Ramayana and Mahabharata, etc. It was an Nation in the Post- indispensable component of the Hindi cinema since the Hindi lms (talkies) Independence. Shanlax triggered off in the early decades of the twentieth century. It is not a matter International Journal of of surprise that the cinematic medium found easy to introduce songs in English International theatrical performances. By the time Alam Ara (the rst walkie-talkie Journal of English, 6(3), lm) hit the box-of ce, songs had already occupied a front seat to entertain 1–5. the masses. “The history of Hindi lm lyrics predates the talkies” (114). The manifestation of lyrics to romanticize the narrative had already been DOI: prominent in South India. https://doi.org/10.5281/ zenodo.1298582 http://www.shanlaxjournals.in 1 SHANLAX International Journal of English Fearless lm producers in Tamil Nadu and laments of the people who suffered during the Andhra Pradesh disregarded the British censorship bloody-riots as partition triggered riots. Sahir’s poem by utilizing the poetry of Subramanya Bharati, ‘Mufaahimat’ (Compromise) echoed partition woes the banned rebellious poet, in their feature lms. as well. Kai Azmi’s poem ‘Farz’ correlated the During post-partition, several patriotic lyricists such partition period with the narrative of Mahabharata as Pradeep, Pandit Narendra Sharma, and Qamar when Krishna urged Arjuna to ght with his kith Jalalabadi regularly penned songs on independence. and kin. All the above poems exempli ed those Gramophone records helped in promoting the songs people who got carried away during the partition beyond the lm theatres. British censors, being and were responsible for mass casualties. Overall, hypersensitive, banned almost all the songs which the aftermath of partitions dismantled the Indian were a threat to their reputation and it was a usual culture and brought more terrorism and less peace practice of the time. Independence liberated the with the neighboring countries such as Pakistan and producers and directors from the restrictions placed Bangladesh. by the censor boards on patriotic pieces. One of the Pakistan was formed by Muslim songs from the 1947 movie Ahimsa (Nonviolence) nationalism instantly after the partition. plays as: ‘Azaad hum hain aaj se, jailon ke taale tod The over-whelming religion precipitated to do’ (we are free from today, let us break the locks of propose the Hindu-Muslim unity in that phase. jails). There were occasions in the Hindi cinema Bollywood lyrics, in the next two decades, when the religion occupied most of the lms’ offered a critique on the discourses such as India/ narrative. The movies precisely carrying the Pakistan partition, religion, Indo-China War, Indo- theme of religion became the highest grossing Pak War, Green-Revolution, and White-Revolution. movies at the box-of ce at certain times. Songs serve as an alternative history. They are The movie Dhool Ka Phool was released a decade parallel critique on the Indo-Pak partition offering after the partition, and the whole narrative was counter-history. The brutal partition painted a based on religious tensions. The writer intended miserable picture of the victims who were assaulted to install humanity over religion and tried to by the callous forces. Sahir Ludhianvi portrayed re-enact the lampooned religious practices: ‘Tu the cruelty of some heartless souls in the 1961 Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega, insaan ki movie Dharmaputra and emphasized the trauma of aulaad hai; insaan banega” (Hamraaz 922). Abdul poor Indians. The post-independence happened to Chacha (role played by Manmohan Krishan) sang the be intensi ed with multiple problems. Poverty and song when he happened to nd an abandoned child of deprivation were at the center as compared to the Mahesh (Rajendra Kumar) and Meena (Mala Sinha). other problems of a common man. The lyrics ‘Saathi Both Mahesh and Meena belong to Hindu religion haath badhaana’ in the movie Phir Subah Hogi in the lm. Sahir, through the voice of Mohammed featured the hardship of penniless peasants. The song Ra , produced an all-time anthem for Hindus and displayed the revolutionary hands reaching out in a Muslims who strove for Hindu-Muslim unity. union for a common goal. Moreover, it sketched the Therefore, communal harmony became a trademark future of deprived Indians. Partition was considered in most of the Hindi movies produced during that as a matter of great concern for everyone. period. The other aspect is to be understood that It displaced, dislocated and alienated millions Abdul Chacha was a Muslim by religion and Muslim as it was the colossal wave of migration in the characters were routinely shown as sane and sensible. human history. It inspired several writers across the Many Hindi songs, especially those written by the country to pen down large narratives on the bloody progressive writers, strove to create an image of a riots and massacres happened during the partition. secular Muslim. There was a considerable amount of Progressive writers’ poems were also in uenced tokenism too, with shorter appearances of Muslim by the bloody partition stories. Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s characters in the Hindi lms showing the diversity ‘Subh-e-Azadi’ (Husain and Raza 61) carried the in the country. There were movies depicting an 2 http://www.shanlaxjournals.in SHANLAX International Journal of English idealized Muslim world, for example, Chaudvin Ka government accepted the Chinese jurisdiction over Chand (1960), Mere Mehboob (1963), and Bahu Tibet. This was the period when the Prime minister Begum (1967), etc. Hindi popular cinema was of India, Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru was in good ascertained as socially united force and the National terms with China before this agitation from both awards instituted by the Indian government for sides. Nehru publicly proposed the slogan as well the particular movie comprised one that was given ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai’ (Indians and Chinese are for promoting national integration and communal brothers). Gradually, the circumstances changed harmony. altogether in the late 50s. China perceived India The sino-indian war also nds a as a threat since the latter occupied some parts of mention in the Hindi cinema of the early Tibet. Chinese troops attacked on Oct 20, 1962. 60s in the 1964 movie Haqeeqat (Truth). The war ended after a month on Nov 20, 1962, with This war was fought between China and India in the the interruption of the United Nations in between year 1962. One of the major reasons for war was a and China announced a cease re. Nehru was harshly disagreement in drawing the Tibetan Himalayan criticized by the Indians for having encouraged boundary, but there were other reasons as well. paci sm with China and not able to prepare for There had already been a chain of brutal incidents war beforehand. He never expected the Chinese at the Himalayan border following the 1959 Tibetan aggression. Indians were highly suspicious of China rebellion when India provided refuge to Dalai Lama. and its army after the war. The movie Haqeeqat China attempted to occupy some of the Indian regions (1964) unveiled the haunting memories of Indo- beyond ‘Dehra Compass’ and further, established a China war. Kai Azmi highlighted the miseries of military camp at Chip Chap River ( ows from Aksai the people settled alongside the Indo-China border. Chin of China to Jammu and Kashmir of India). He represented the intensely hostile mood of the Provoked by their movement, the Indian Army leading character in the movie: retaliated with the ‘Forward Policy.’ According to ‘Khench do apne khoon se zameen par lakeer the policy, India established small military stations Is taraf aane paaye na Raavan koi; at some distance behind the Chinese forces to stop Tod do haath gar haath uthne lagen, their supplies and compel them to go back to China.