Bollywood Music: Which is Better, the 50s, 60s or the Ones Trending? Part One
Film songs are a part and parcel of everyday life in India; however, it has completely changed in recent years.
In the next few episodes, we will dive deep into the Bollywood music of the 50s, 60s, 70s and modern-day music. We will also try to compare them and see which one emerges victorious. While it is true that comparing music from different decades does not make much sense, we will do it anyway for fun! We will look at music from each decade in the four episodes and then compare them in the last one.
Bollywood or Hindi films have seen their share of ups and downs. While the 50s was the Golden Era of Indian films, it saw rapid developments in the next few decades.
During the 1930s and 40s, actors were responsible for singing onscreen; however, the practice began to change in the 50s because business began to move from independent producers to big studios. Actors who could sing became more involved with acting which gave birth to a concept called playback singing.
An article published on Slice mentions the following:
“A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose voice is pre-recorded for use in films, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for the camera. Many notable playback singers and major music directors came to prominence during this period, such as Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle, C. Ramchandra, and S. D. Burman.”
The 50s was a period when India witnessed some of the best music directors and singers taking center stage. Bollywood Film songs from movies like Madhumati, Pyaasa, and Shree 420 began creating history.
Salil Chowdhury created his immortal music in Madhumati with the songs “Suhana Safar,” “Aaja Re Pardesi” and “Chadh Gayo Paapi Bichooa.” Hemant Kumar was making “Jaane Who Kaise Di They” and “Hai Apna Dil” The nation was romancing with the songs created by the maestros of the time.
Singers like Mukesh, Rafi, and Lata were beginning to make a mark on the film industry which would last for decades.
An article published on Cineme Sangeet mentions the following:
“The 1950s coincided with the ‘Golden Age’ of Hindi film music. Sweet melodious tunes and poetic lyrics made almost all the songs memorable and a joy to listen to. Music directors like Shankar-Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, O.P. Nayyar, and Salil Chaudhury along with the earlier masters created magic through their music. They were creative and innovative in their compositions. Their tunes had a superb blend of the Indian regional folk music, Indian Classical music, and Western music.”
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