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Home , Dhoom Dhoom, Don 2, Farah Khan, Khan (surname), Peepli Live, Smita Patil

08 Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Wednesday, January 26, 2011 09

In tune with changing times STORY GOES FOR A TOSS IN

AMIT NEWTON scantily dressed, and to gyrate even more suggestive- ly or so thought music direc- HERE ARE three tors and choreographers. GLOSS major trends that One would distinctly remem- T have helped shape ber the rage of the age, Choli Bollywood music in the last ke peeche kya hai from the two decades: Technology film Khalnayak. (the media boom, the After that almost every Internet and mobile film carried an item number phones), Hollywood and and it was not just the other western influences wannabies that these (Tata Young crooning and were filmed on. There is a grooving to Dhoom bevy of Bollywood beauties in Dhoom), and a revival of who have performed item sorts of indigenous music numbers. The rage contin- From left: Salman , and . (sufi, ghazals). Khan in the film . ues and today it is the turn of As an offshoot of all-per- the two lasses from the vasive influence of technolo- revolution. The trend gained Both composers have put heartland: Munni and gy, Hindi film music has prominence with the music soulful ballads and head- Sheila. Malaika Arora Khan spawned phenomena such group Bombay Vikings, banging rhythms to tune in Dabangg as Munni and as item numbers and which was started by Neeraj with equal ease. as Sheila in Hindi cinema, Hinglish: a mish-mash of Shridhar in Sweden. Tuned into the times as Tees Maar Khan, collective- Hindi-English lyrics. Bombay Vikings caused a they are, music directors are ly hold the imagination of an Interestingly, even the sensation both in as not afraid to experiment entire people and its trend of Hindi-English lyrics well as overseas among the with genres popular the Diaspora to ransom. dictating the agenda finds its Indian music community world over. Thus, it is not With the Hinglish trend the Khan way roots in the technological due to its unusual combina- uncommon to find generous setting in, lyricists under- tion of classical Bollywood vibes of house, club, rap and stood, or were made to FALAK KABIR characters, ‘Prem’, ‘Raj’, ‘Munna’, ‘Rahul’, style with a dash of English hip-hop in Bollywood songs understand the new trend ‘Bhuvan’ and the recent ‘Chulbul Pandey’, has lyrics. of the 2000s. and so, came up songs like boosted their image beyond the Indian sub- Meanwhile, good old Sufi mysticism too caught Emotional Atyachaar’ F all goes well, Bollywood’s super Khans continent. The industry, without doubt, is cur- Rock music has also had the imagination of the (Emotional torture) from could leave a lasting imprint on the US rently flooded with pools of talents and super- its day to telling effect Indian audiences and held the film Dev D and Humka I and the European markets this winter. stars, but the three Khans have indeed added on Bollywood music. them enthralled. The credit peeni hai (I want to drink) And guess who is leading the charge? None the same kind of colour to the Indian big Proponents that come to for popularising Sufi songs from Dabangg. If popularity other than the himself! screen which probably the troika of Tom mind are the music- in India goes to Kailash is a measure of success, the Amitabh The Indian film industry is heavily bank- Cruise, Brad Pitt or George Clooney has done composer trio of Kher. Singing Allah ke songs were right up there Bachchan ing on Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra One and Don 2 to Hollywood. Shankar-Ehsan- bande (You man of God) with the audiences. Then to infiltrate into Hollywood territory. The The three superstars, through sheer hard Loy (of Rock On from the film, Waisa Bhi there was no less than other super Khan, Aamir, has already work, talent and energy, not only boast of being fame) and Hota Hai (It happens like Australian superstar Kylie unleashed his Diaries or the power centres of Bollywood today but have that too) in his Minogue crooning I wanna Aishwarya Rai Dhobi Ghat this also given enough reason Chakraborty Springsteenish timbre, he jiggy-wiggy with you, boy month. As reports for fans and their friends in (Life in a entered many a heart and in the film Blue. RAJESH MISHRA Bollywood is suggest, Shah The Khans have the industry to love them. Metro). has stayed there. Regularly Drawing inspiration and Rukh’s Don 2 is slat- Talks of American and he throws up a number that borrowing ideas from out- the largest film On ed for a simultaneous been the British filmmakers doing one must listen, appreciate side cannot be scoffed at in ENOWNED Bollywood thespian Dilip producer in India and one the con- release with Tom Cruise’s undisputed sultans movies with Shah Rukh and absorb. One such num- music and arts. In Kumar had once said that a good story trary, the mem- Mission Impossible 4 and and Aamir are all over the ber is Teri Diwaani (Mad Bollywood, however, the was a must for a good film and had of the largest centres of ory of Dabangg, now it remains to be seen of Bollywood. Will industry every now and about you) from his West is wildly aped, while regretted its absence in an average film production in the The paral- despite being so recent, has already whether King Khan’s they enact a then. Kailasa. the richness of our own cul- Bollywood movie. world. However, quality has lel cinemas are known for its serious content, realism started to fade. daredevilry will turnout as After years of dominance Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, tural heritage is pushed RHowever, his comment failed to move filmmakers of and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical Same is the case with , who gave ‘mission success or suici- at the box office, the Khan similar script in Pakistani great late Ustad back. Isn’t it why the few that time as a majority of them believed that a film’s gone a backstage here with climate of the times. However, it goes without saying one of his best acting performances as a jaggery seller dal’. supremacy remains ’s experiments with fusion success depended more on the star cast than on the filmmakers compromising that such films were only appreciated by the classes in Saudagar or ’s Namak It’s true that Bollywood Hollywood? unabated. If 2009 nephew, is another singer music have largely gone story. The less imaginative filmmakers ignored films and not the masses. Haram than in many of his mega hits such as Suhag has made efforts to get belonged to Aamir for 3 who has capitalised unnoticed or have failed? like , Ganga Jamuna, Pakeezah and on storyline Filmmakers of late have realised the importance of or Mahan. noticed in Hollywood ear- Idiots, 2010 belonged to immensely on the foothold The need of the hour is a Guide, which were commercially successful and yet left stories in films, though the hard way. Today mere And Aamir Khan is simply fascinating in Taare lier, in fits and starts. But, SRK and Salman for My he got into Bollywood. proper marriage of the two an indelible mark on viewers’ minds. struggle of lovers from two warring families. presence of a superstar cannot ensure the success of a Zameen Par in which he portrays an innovative never before in its exis- Name Is Khan and With a style similar to his and better marketing strate- This popular belief led to churning out of scores of However, even when the drought of good story- film unless there is a strong story to back it. The failure teacher. tence has the Indian film Dabangg respectively. more celebrated uncle but gies, to further the interests substandard movies year after year. Many of them based films was at its peak in the ’70s and ’80s, there of much-hyped ’s big budget Tees Maar Aamir Khan’s contribution to the making of healthy industry been so close to And 2011 would probably the quality of voice richer, of Indian music. despite being successful at the box office are hardly was one band of filmmakers led by Hrishikesh Khan bears testimony to this. The film crashed despite movies in recent times is remarkable. His recent films throw a challenge to be no different. With he has all it takes to make The horizon ahead is lit by remembered today because of their triviality. Most of Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee, who made mean- the presence of stars like , Akshay and Dhobi Ghat reassert that a film does Hollywood. A lot rests on major releases like Ra One, an impression. One only creative talent but the onus the big names in Bollywood including superstars ingful movies with beautiful storyline. These film- Khanna and Katrina Kaif. not need to have magnificent sets, handsome and one of the prominent suc- Don 2, Ready and My needs to listen to Tu na for a better day lies on two Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan and even the makers made light of the situation surrounding a There are exceptions as well. Swadesh of Shah Rukh imposing heroes and beautiful heroines for its success. cess pillars of Bollywood— Love Story on offer and jaane aas-paas hai factors: the lyricist and the selective Aamir Khan have acted in many such movies, common man. Films like Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Khan, which despite having all the ingredients of a The success of his low-budget films like Peepli Live the Khans - Shah Rukh, over US$800 million rid- khuda (You don’t know music director. which failed to leave an imprint on viewers’ minds. Bawarchi or Basu Chatterjee’s Rajni Gandha are good movie did not fare well at the box office and and Dhobi Ghat reiterate the importance of story in a Aamir and Salman. The ing on their shoulders, the but God is here) to con- In Gulzaar (Jai ho) and Amitabh Bachchan’s Coolie or Mard; Shah Rukh classic examples of such movies. ’s Dabangg, which despite having noth- film. Similarly, Raj Kumar Hirani’s contribution to the scripts and directors they Khan trilogy is only getting cur. (Baawre) we Khan’s Anjaam and Aamir Khan’s Mela fall pre- as an alternative to mainstream ing but plenty of farcical humour, was a bumper hit. making of issue-based healthy movies is really com- decide to associate with in bigger and the expansion When 24-hour music have the two best lyricists in cisely into this category of films. The films are full commercial cinema emerged in the late ’70s and was However, critics would not disagree that Shah Rukh mendable. His films Munna Bhai MBBS or Three the future will be the key. of their ‘kingdom’ more channels beamed down Bollywood. While they of melodramatic details and project larger than life spearheaded by filmmakers like , Khan gave one of his best performances in the film. Idiots convey a strong message. global. explicit videos into family might not be ready to pass images of the protagonists. Such movies had sto- Govind Nihlani and Gautam Ghosh. Parallel cinema The film presented him realistically, sans his King The genuine attempts made by some mainstream KHAN-O-METER How and when Bollywood will threaten to drawing rooms, also on the torch yet, fresh blood ries, but were too simplistic. The stories were on can be credited with not creating stars but great actors Khan glamour, in a rural atmosphere reminding us of cinema makers to work on good stories show us light The credit must go to the Khans for their 20 rise to Hollywood heights, and how much came in a certain permis- like Neelesh Mishra (Once predictable lines like separated twins, who are like , , Pankaj Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s healthy household movies at end of tunnel and signal the arrival of more serious years of longevity in the filmdom. Over the impact the three Khans can make in this expan- siveness in perceptions, Upon a time in Mumbai) is united after a final showdown with villains or the Smita Patil and Shabana Azami. such as Golmal or Bawarchi. filmmakers on the scene in future. years the larger than life troika of Khans has sive endeavour are the open-ended questions. one that only continues to infusing vigour into lyrics. accumulated enough firepower, picking up As the Khans are trying to grab Hollywood grow. That open-minded- With music makers like flamboyant on their way. Shah Rukh territory, musician AR Rahman, also known as ness generated the trend AR Rahman (Jai ho), (SRK) is called the King Khan for his media ‘the Mozart of Madras’, has already put his of item numbers, featur- Pritam Chakraborty (Pee savvy and indomitable image. imprint on Hollywood with his music for ing a new avatar of the loon from Once upon a Aamir is known as the perfectionist for his Academy Award-winning film Slumdog vamp in revealing clothes time in Mumbai), Vishal meticulous take on films and immaculate Millionaire. (remember ?) pout- Dadlani and Shekhar record at the box office. Salman or ‘Sallu Bhai’ But one thing is patently clear, this will only ing to titilating rhythms, if Ravjiani (Jab mila tu from is called the big ‘bad boy’ and ‘sexy Khan’ for his be the beginning, as SRK himself puts it aptly in you will. What the media the film I hate luv storys), rebellious and glamorous looks. one of his films, “The real picture is still a long boom did then, was to give a good music is sure to keep Also, the real-like contribution of reel-like way off my friends!” Katrina Kaif in the film Tees Maar Khan. licence to be even more coming our way.