The Music of Bollywood Films - Assignment Example

The Music of Bollywood Films The movie is based on the story of a girl (Roopa). Roopa lives in a village with her father who is the priest (pandit) in the village. Roopa, a typical village girl, born on the holy day of Janamashtami, on which her mother died, is a very strong girl. In her childhood, when she was very young, she burned one side of her face from the oil of a frying pan. This terrible accident led to complete disfigurement of one side of her face. However, the young girl did not lose hope and continues to live a normal life. She covers the disfigured side of her face with her sari and goes to temple everyday to pray and sing religious songs. Then one day an engineer comes to the village to build a dam. The engineer Rajeev has been having a very strange problem since his childhood and that is his inferiority complex regarding his looks. He thinks that he is very ugly and no one will like him. Then one day he hears Roopa singing religious songs in the temple and meets her. As they continue to meet, both fall in love with each other while Rajeev has no idea about the facial disfigurement of Roopa. Roopa does not tell him anything either, as she is scared of losing the only love of her life and she keeps Rajeev in the dark. Rajeev falling deeper and deeper in love with Roopa goes to her father one day and seeks his permission to marry Roopa. Roopa’s father happily agrees as he knows they both love each other and all he can ask for is the happiness of his daughter. After getting married, Rajeev gets to know about the reality of Roopa and he thinks that she is not the girl he fell in love with and this is all a plan to cheat him. Disappointed and frustrated, he kicks Roopa out of his house while Roopa pleads and begs him to believe that she is the same girl he fell in love with and she did not cheat. Desperate for her love, Roopa decides to meet her husband daily in the night with her face covered. Rajeev with this supposedly different girl falls in love and they start to meet every night. One day Roopa realizes that she is pregnant. Having got to know about this, Rajeev suspects her again of cheating as he does not know that Roopa and that girl are the same person. Then one day, due to heavy rain, the dam breaks out and everything gets washed away in the rain. Then Rajeev realizes how wrong he has been and saves her wife Roopa from the flood and gets her back to his home. Archetypes/Stereotypes/Symbols: There are many archetypes and stereotypes displayed in the movie. For example, how could two people fall in love with each other without even seeing the faces of each other. Roopa keeps Rajeev in the dark about her facial disfigurement and he does not get to know about it until marriage. Also, woman here is again shown as a weak link of the society and men are portrayed to be the stronger half. Men can treat women the way they want to and women have no right to complain whereas in today’s society, women are given equal rights as compared to men. Men cannot misbehave with women as there are laws for it now. If a man kicks his wife out of his house, she can go court and the husband will be forced by law to pay her full expenses. Background Music &Sound Effects: The background music and sound effects were very much dramatic and gave the movie a look of a complete love-tragedy movie. The background sounds of Rain and then the breaking of Dam although not too realistic, still added to the glamour of the movie. Music: The music of this movie directed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal was, no doubt, the best music of that year. They won a Filmfare Award for the best music directors for this movie. The theme song of the movie – “Satyam Shivam Sundaram,” a song that has brought Truth, Destruction and Beauty together, a song that explains the whole story of the film and the main idea of the film – is sung by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar. It topped the charts the moment it was released. The high pitched voice of Late Mangeshkar plus the background music given by the best music directors of that time and the dholak of Pandit Narayan are a great combination. What could be better than Nightingale herself singing the bhajan and the theme song of the movie. Everyone who listens to this bhajan song indulges in the beauty of the voice of Lata Mangeshkar. Another very famous song of the movie and my favorite one is “Bhor Bhaye Pankhat,” which has been remixed and released again by music directors of the new generation. An awesome romantic song performed in the rain and in the middle of the forest with the beautiful Zeenat Aman and the Nightingale herself again. The amazing table and sitar in the background music have just added to the beauty and brilliance of the song. Another bhajan in the movie with the beautiful dholak of Pandit Narayan and the voice of Lata Mangeshkar is “Yashomati Maiyya.” It also is a very beautiful bhajan. The rhythm, the background music and the appearance of songs in the movie are done with perfection. For example, another song of the movie is “Chanchal Sheetal nirmal Komal,” a song that describes the fantasies of Roopa as to what she wanted to be. Beautifully picturized on a lovely set made up mushrooms, high sky with the moon shining and an awesome abstract set looking like an outland with the combination of rather naughty music flaunting the sexuality of Roopa, it is an addition to the glamour. All in all the music of this movie is a complete package. It provides both the listeners and the watchers with a chance to forget the real world and get themselves indulged in the heavenly music directed by the uncrowned kings of the Bollywood music industry. All the songs perfectly written and placed in the movie, the songs describing the situations with extreme perfection, give this movie a perfect look. No doubt, the music of this movie is one of the finest piece of work done by the directors, and the theme song “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” is one of the best pieces of work done by Lata Mangeshkar. The movie, its music and every other thing are a masterpiece indeed. Read More