Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or

filmi Filmi ("of films") music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Indian cinema. In cinema, music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playba ...

songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in

Indian films The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

, Bollywood songs, along with dance, are a characteristic motif of Hindi cinema which gives it enduring popular appeal, cultural value and context. Hindi film songs form a predominant component of Indian pop music, and derive their inspiration from both classical and modern sources. Hindi film songs are now firmly embedded in North India's popular culture and routinely encountered in North India in marketplaces, shops, during bus and train journeys and numerous other situations. Though Hindi films routinely contain many songs and some dance routines, they are not musicals in the Western theatrical sense; the music-song-dance aspect is an integral feature of the genre akin to plot, dialogue and other parameters. The first song recorded in India by Gauhar Jaan in 1902 and the first Bollywood film ''

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves on a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a '' fakir'' (Muhammad Wazir Khan) ...

'' (1931) were under Saregama, India's oldest music label owned by RPSanjiv Goenka Group. Linguistically, Bollywood songs tend to use vernacular Hindustani, mutually intelligible to self-identified speakers of both

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hinglish.

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghali ...

has had a particularly strong impact on Bollywood songs, where the lyrics draw heavily from Urdu poetry and the ghazal tradition. In addition, Punjabi is also occasionally used for Bollywood songs. The

Indian music industry The Indian Music Industry (IMI) is a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India. It was founded on February 28, 1936, as Indian Phonographic Industry (IPI). It is the 2nd oldest music industry organization in the world th ...

is largely dominated by Bollywood soundtracks, which account for nearly 80% of the country's music revenue. The industry was dominated by cassette tapes in the 1980s and 1990s, before transitioning to

online streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

in the 2000s (bypassing CD and digital downloads). As of 2014, the largest Indian music

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

is T-Series with up to 35% share of the Indian market, followed by

Sony Music India Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. is the record label operated by Sony in Chennai, India. The company began operation in 1997, and it was the first record company in India to be 100% foreign-owned, with Sony being a Japanese corporati ...

(the largest foreign-owned label) with up to 25% share, and then

Zee Music Zee is the phonetic pronunciation of the letter Z in American English ("zed" in Commonwealth English). Zee may also refer to: People *Zee (徐), a Wu Chinese surname, an equivalent of Xu * Anthony Zee (b. 1945), Chinese-American physicist *Chi ...

(which has a partnership with Sony). As of 2017, 216million Indians use music streaming services such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Hungama Hungama may refer to: * ''Hungama'' (1971 film), a Bollywood comedy film * ''Hungama'' (2003 film), a Bollywood comedy * ''Hungama'' (2005 film), a Telugu comedy film * Hungama TV, an Indian children's television channel * Hungama Digital Media ...

Gaana Gaana (or Gānā) is a genre of Tamil music, which is sung in the Madras Bashai dialect of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is rap-like "collection of rhythms, beats and sensibilities native to the Chennai people." It evolved over the past two ...

and

Saavn JioSaavn is an Indian online music streaming service and a digital distributor of Hindi, English, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri and other regional Indian music around the world. Since it was founded in 2007 as Saavn, ...

. As of 2021, T-Series is the most subscribed YouTube channel with over 170 million subscribers.

History

Hindi film songs are present in Hindi cinema right from the first sound film ''

'' (1931) by

Ardeshir Irani Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani (5 December 1886 – 14 October 1969) was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He was the one of the greatest l ...

which featured seven songs. This was closely followed by ''Shirheen Farhad'' (1931) by

Jamshedji Framji Madan Jamshedji Framji Madan (27 April 1857, Bombay – 28 June 1923), professionally known as J. F. Madan, was an Indian theatre and film magnate who was one of the pioneers of film production in India, an early exhibitor, distributor and producer of ...

, also by Madan, which had as many as 42 song sequences strung together in the manner of an opera, and later by ''Indra Sabha'' which had as many as 69 song sequences. However, the practice subsided and subsequent films usually featured between six and ten songs in each production. Right from the advent of Indian cinema in 1931, musicals with song numbers have been a regular feature in Indian cinema. In 1934 Hindi film songs began to be recorded on gramophones and later, played on radio channels, giving rise to a new form of mass entertainment in India which was responsive to popular demand. Within the first few years itself, Hindi cinema had produced a variety of films which easily categorised into genres such as "historicals", "mythologicals", "devotional, "fantasy" etc. but each having songs embedded in them such that it is incorrect to classify them as "musicals". The Hindi song was such an integral features of Hindi mainstream cinema, besides other characteristics, that post-independence alternative cinema, of which the films of Satyajit Ray are an example, discarded the song and dance motif in its effort to stand apart from mainstream cinema The Hindi film song now began to make its presence felt as a predominating characteristic in the culture of the nation and began to assume roles beyond the limited purview of cinema. In multi-cultural India, as per film historian Partha Chatterjee, "the Hindi film song cut through all the language barriers in India, to engage in lively communication with the nation where more than twenty languages are spoken and ... scores of dialects exist". Bollywood music has drawn its inspiration from numerous traditional sources such as ''

Ramleela Ramlila (Rāmlīlā) (literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' or secondary literature based on it such as the ''Ramcharitmanas''. It particularly ...

'', ''

nautanki Nautanki is one of the most popular folk performance forms of South Asia, particularly in northern India. Before the advent of Bollywood (the Hindi film industry), Nautanki was the biggest entertainment medium in the villages and towns of north ...

'', ''

tamasha Tamasha ( mr, तमाशा) is a traditional form of Marathi theatre, often with singing and dancing, widely performed by local or travelling theatre groups within the state of Maharashtra, India."Tamasha", in James R. Brandon and Martin Banham ...

'' and

Parsi theatre Parsi theatre is a generic term for an influential theatre tradition, staged by Parsis, and theatre companies largely-owned by the Parsi business community, which flourished between 1850 and 1930s. Plays were primarily in the Hindustani language ( ...

, as well as from the West, Pakistan, and other Indic musical subcultures. For over five decades, these songs formed the staple of popular music in South Asia and along with Hindi films, was an important cultural export to most countries around Asia and wherever the Indian diaspora had spread. The spread was galvanised by the advent of cheap plastic tape cassettes which were produced in the millions until the industry crashed in 2000. Even today Hindi film songs are available on radio, on television, as live music by performers, and on media, both old and new such as cassette tapes, compact disks and DVDs and are easily available, both legally and illegally, on the internet.

Style and format

The various use of languages in Bollywood songs can be complex. Most use variations of Hindi and Urdu, with some songs also including other languages such as

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and it is not uncommon to hear the use of English words in songs from modern Hindi movies. Besides Hindi, several other Indian languages have also been used including

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura- Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Harya ...

Avadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...

, Bhojpuri, Punjabi,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

. In a film, music, both in itself and accompanied with dance, has been used for many purposes including "heightening a situation, accentuating a mood, commenting on theme and action, providing relief and serving as interior monologue." In a modern globalisation standpoint, Bollywood music has many non-Indian influences, especially from the West. Many Hindi film music composers learned and mimicked Hollywood's style of matching music to scene atmospheres into their own film songs, the result being Bollywood music. These songs can be considered a combination of Western influences and Hindi music.

Production

Songs in Bollywood movies are deliberately crafted with lyrics often written by distinguished poets or ''literati'' (often different from those who write the film script), and these lyrics are often then set to music, carefully choreographed to match the dance routine or script of the film. They are then sung by professional playback singers and lip-synched by the actors. Bollywood cinema is unique in that the majority of songs are seen to be sung by the characters themselves rather than being played in the background. Although protagonists sing often, villains in films do not sing because music and the arts are a sign of humanity. In Western cinema, often a composer who specialises in film music is responsible for the bulk of music on the film's

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

, and while in some films songs may play an important part (and have direct relationship to the subject of the film), in Bollywood films, the songs often drive large-scale ''production numbers'' featuring elaborate choreography. The key figure in Bollywood music production and composition is the ''music director''. While in Western films, a " music director" or "music coordinator" is usually responsible for selecting existing recorded music to add to the soundtrack, typically during opening and closing credits, in Bollywood films, the "music director" often has a much broader role encompassing both composing music/songs specifically for the film and (if needed) securing additional (licensed) music. In this sense, a Bollywood music director also plays the role of a composer and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. The ''lyricist'' of Bollywood songs is less likely to be the same composer or music director, as Bollywood films often go to great lengths to include lyrics of special significance and applicability to the film's plot and dialogue, and/or the words of highly regarded poets/lyricists set to music written specifically for such words in the film, as noted above. Bollywood film songs have been described as eclectic both in instrumentation and style. They often employ foreign instruments and rework existing songs, showing remarkable inventiveness in the reinvention of melodies and instrumental techniques. Bollywood film songs often tend to be accompanied by expensive

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s. Some are among the most expensive music videos of all time. The most expensive Indian music video is "Party All Night" (for the 2013 film ''

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

''), which cost () to produce. Adjusted for inflation, the most expensive Indian music video was "

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" () is a song from the famous Indian movie ''Mughal-e-Azam'' (1960), which is directed by K. Asif. The song is composed by Naushad, written by Shakeel Badayuni, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar with a chorus. It is picturised ...

" (for the 1960 film ''

Mughal-e-Azam ''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (who went ...

''), which at the time cost more than (), equivalent to () adjusted for inflation.

Genres

M.P.

Dance

Hindi dance music encompasses a wide range of songs predominantly featured in the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film industry with a growing worldwide attraction. The music became popular among overseas Indians in countries such as South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States and eventually developed a global fan base.

Disco

In the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

, disco peaked in popularity in the early 1980s, when a South Asian disco scene arose, popularised by

Bollywood music, at a time when disco's popularity had declined in North America. The South Asian disco scene was sparked by the success of

Pakistani pop Pakistani popular music or shortly Pakistani pop music refers to popular music forms in Pakistan. Pakistani pop is a mixture of traditional Pakistani classical music and western influences of jazz, rock and roll, hip hop and disco sung in vario ...

singer

Nazia Hassan Nazia Hassan (3 April 1965 – 13 August 2000) was a Pakistani singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist. Referred to as the Queen of South Asian pop, she is considered one of the most influential singers in the subcontinent. Starting in ...

, working with Indian producer

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1944) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro d ...

, with the hit

song "

Aap Jaisa Koi "Aap Jaisa Koi" () is a song from the soundtrack of the 1980 Bollywood film '' Qurbani''. It was the debut song of Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan, and was composed by British Indian producer Biddu. The song was featured in the film as an item num ...

" in 1980. Biddu himself previously had success in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, where he was considered a pioneer, as one of the first successful disco producers in the early 1970s, with hits such as the hugely popular "

Kung Fu Fighting "Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Lo ...

" (1974), before the genre's Western decline at the end of the 1970s led to him shifting his focus to Asia. The success of "Aap Jaisa Koi" in 1980 was followed by Nazia Hassan's ''

Disco Deewane ''Disco Deewane'' ( ur, ) is a 1981 Pakistani pop album released by Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan. The music was composed by Indian-British music director Biddu who also produced it under the label oHMV India/Saregama It charted in fourteen cou ...

'', a 1981 album produced by Biddu, becoming Asia's best-selling pop album at the time.Kenneth Lobo
EDM Nation: How India Stopped Worrying About the Riff and Fell in Love With the Beat
''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' In parallel to the

Euro disco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

scene at the time, the continued relevance of disco in South Asia and the increasing reliance on synthesizers led to experiments in electronic disco, often combined with elements of

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

. Biddu had already used electronic equipment such as synthesizers in some of his earlier disco work, including "Bionic Boogie" from ''Rain Forest'' (1976), "Soul Coaxing" (1977), ''Eastern Man'' and ''Futuristic Journey'' (recorded from 1976 to 1977), and "Phantasm" (1979), before using synthesizers for his later work with Nazia Hassan, including "Aap Jaisa Koi" (1980), ''Disco Deewane'' (1981) and " Boom Boom" (1982). Bollywood disco producers who used electronic equipment such as synthesizers include R.D. Burman, on songs such as "Dhanno Ki Aankhon Mein" (''

Kitaab ''Kitaab'' (''English: The Book'') is a 1977 Indian drama film written and directed by Gulzar. The film stars Uttam Kumar, Vidya Sinha, Shreeram Lagoo, Keshto Mukherjee and Asit Sen. The film was based on Bengali story ''Pathik'' by Samaresh ...

'', 1977) and "Pyaar Karne Waale" ('' Shaan'', 1980);

Laxmikant–Pyarelal Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Patil Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). He is known by the nickname “Pyromaniac” due to his flaming style of music. Laxmikan ...

, on songs such as "Om Shanti Om" ('' Karz'', 1980);Disco Goes to Bollywood: A Rough Guide
''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' and

Bappi Lahari Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, on songs such as "Ramba Ho" ('' Armaan'', 1981). They also experimented with

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

, high-tempo, electronic disco, including Burman's " Dil Lena Khel Hai Dildar Ka" ('' Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai'', 1981), which had a "futuristic electro feel", and Lahiri's " Yaad Aa Raha Hai" (''

Disco Dancer ''Disco Dancer'' is a 1982 Indian dance film, written by Rahi Masoom Raza and directed by Babbar Subhash. It stars Mithun Chakraborty and Kim in leading roles, with Om Puri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supporting roles with Rajesh K ...

'', 1982). Such experiments eventually culminated in the work of Charanjit Singh, whose 1982 record '' Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat'' anticipated the sound of acid house music, years before the genre arose in the

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...

scene of the late 1980s. Using the Roland TR-808 drum machine,

TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

bass synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, and Jupiter-8 synthesizer, Singh increased the disco

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

up to a "

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

wavelength" and made the sounds more minimalistic, while pairing them with "mystical, repetitive, instrumental Indian ragas", to produce a new sound, which resembled acid house. According to Singh: "There was lots of disco music in films back in 1982. So I thought why not do something different using disco music only. I got an idea to play all the Indian ragas and give the beat a disco beat – and turn off the

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

. And I did it. And it turned out good." The first track " Raga Bhairavi" also had a synthesised voice that says "

Om Namah Shivaya Om Namah Shivaya (Devanagari: ; IAST: Om Namaḥ Śivāya) is one of the most popular Hindu mantras and the most important mantra in Shaivism. Namah Shivaya means "O salutations to the auspicious one!", or “adoration to Lord Shiva". It is cal ...

" through a

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

. Along with experiments in electronic disco, another experimental trend in Indian disco music of the early 1980s was the fusion of disco and psychedelic music. Due to 1960s psychedelic rock, popularised by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

raga rock Raga rock is rock or pop music with a pronounced Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of Indian musical instruments, such as the sitar and tabla. In addition, rock music from the 1960s and 1970s that incorporate ...

, borrowing heavily from Indian music, it began exerting a reverse influence and had blended with

Bollywood music Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with danc ...

by the early 1970s. This led to Bollywood producers exploring a middle-ground between disco and psychedelia in the early 1980s. Producers who experimented with disco-psychedelic fusion included

, on songs such as "Om Shanti Om" ('' Karz'', 1980), and

R. D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

, on songs such as "Pyaar Karne Waale" ('' Shaan'', 1980), along with the use of synthesizers.

Ghazal

The ghazal tradition of

was the basis for early

, ever since the first Indian

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

film, ''

'' (1931). In turn,

ghazals had roots in earlier Urdu

during the 19th to early 20th centuries. The ghazal was the dominant style of Indian film music since the 1930s up until the 1960s. By the 1980s, however, ghazals had become marginalised in film music. Reasons for the decline include Urdu ghazal poetry being gradually phased out from the

Indian education Education in India is primarily managed by state-run public education system, which fall under the command of the government at three levels: Government of India, central, States and Territories of India, state and Local government in India, ...

system, lyricists targeting urban middle-class audiences, and the influence of Western and Latin American music. Music directors like

Madan Mohan Madan Mohan is a form of the Hindu god, Krishna. Krishna is celebrated as ''Madan Mohan'', who mesmerizes everyone. His consort, Radha is glorified as Madan Mohan's ''Mohini'', who can even mesmerise Madan Mohan (her Kahn). Radha is known as th ...

composed notable film- ghazals extensively for

Muslim social The Muslim social is a film genre in Bollywood that portrays Islamic culture in India. It flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and lasted till the early 1980s. Muslim socials are divided into two categories: "classic Muslim socials" that explore na ...

s in the 1960s and the 1970s. The filmi-ghazal style experienced a revival in the early 1990s, sparked by the success of Nadeem-Shravan's ''

Aashiqui Aashiqui () is a 1990 Indian Hindi musical romantic drama film and first installment of Aashiqui series directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Rahul Roy, Anu Aggarwal and Deepak Tijori in pivotal roles. The film was known for its music, by com ...

'' (1990). It had a big impact on Bollywood music at the time, ushering in ghazal-type romantic music that dominated the early 1990s, with soundtracks such as '' Dil'', ''

Saajan ''Saajan'' () is a 1991 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Lawrence D'Souza and produced by Sudhakar Bokade. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan in lead roles, with Kader Khan, Reema Lagoo and Laxmikant Berde ...

'', ''

Phool Aur Kaante ''Phool Aur Kaante'' () is a 1991 Indian Hindi-language action-romance film directed by Kuku Kohli. It stars Ajay Devgan, Madhoo, Aruna Irani, Jagdeep and Amrish Puri among others. The film marked the debut of Devgan, son of late stunt and ac ...

'' and '' Deewana''. A popular ghazal song from ''Aashiqui'' was "

Dheere Dheere "Dheere Dheere" is a song by the Indian recording artist Yo Yo Honey Singh. He recorded this song on his iPhone and composed it on his laptop during his Bipolar Disorder. The track was released on 31 August 2015 as a single on Hotstar. It is a ...

", a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of which was later recorded by

Yo Yo Honey Singh Hirdesh Singh (born 15 March 1983), known professionally as Yo Yo Honey Singh or simply Honey Singh, is an Indian music producer, rapper, singer, songwriter and an actor. He started out in 2003 as a session and recording artist, and became a b ...

and released by T-Series in 2015.

Qawwali

It represents a distinct subgenre of

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

, although it is distinct from traditional

qawwali Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...

, which is devotional

Sufi music Sufi music refers to the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. Qawwali is the best-known form of Sufi music and is most commonly found in the ...

. One example of filmi qawwali is the song " Pardah Hai Pardah" sung by Mohammed Rafi, and composed by

, for the Indian film ''

Amar Akbar Anthony ''Amar Akbar Anthony'' is a 1977 Indian Hindi-language masala film directed and produced by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan. The film stars an ensemble cast of Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, ...

'' (1977). Within the subgenre of filmi qawwali, there exists a form of qawwali that is infused with modern and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

instruments, usually with

beats, called ''techno-qawwali''. An example of techno-qawwali is "

Kajra Re Kajra Re () is a song composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, written by Gulzar and sung by the playback singers Alisha Chinoy, Shankar Mahadevan and Javed Ali. It is from the 2005 film ''Bunty Aur Babli'', starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Muker ...

", a filmi song composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. A newer variation of the techno-qawwali based on the more dance oriented tracks is known as the "club qawwali". More tracks of this nature are being recorded and released.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

and A.R. Rahman have composed filmi qawwalis in the style of traditional qawwali. Examples include "Tere Bin Nahin Jeena" ('' Kachche Dhaage''), "Arziyan" (''

Delhi 6 ''Delhi-6'' is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan as an NRI who arrives in India with his ailing grandmother (played by Waheeda Rehman) and begins discovering his roots ...

''), "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" (''

Jodhaa Akbar ''Jodhaa Akbar'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language epic historical romantic drama film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the titular roles. Set in the 16th century, the film shows the life and ...

''), "Bharde Do Jholi Meri" (''

Bajrangi Bhaijaan ''Bajrangi Bhaijaan'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Kabir Khan, based on an original story by screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad, and produced by Salman Khan, Rockline Venkatesh and Kabir Kha ...

'') and "Kun Faya Kun" (''

Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...

'').

Rock

Indian musicians began fusing rock with traditional Indian music from the mid-1960s onwards in ''filmi'' songs produced for popular Bollywood films. Some of the more well known early rock songs (including styles such as

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer stat ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

, psychedelic rock,

, and soft rock) from Bollywood films include Kishore Kumar's "O Saathi Re" in ''

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar ''Muqaddar Ka Sikandar'' () is a 1978 Indian drama film produced and directed by Prakash Mehra, and written by Kader Khan, Vijay Kaul and Laxmikant Sharma. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, in his fifth of nine films with Prakash Mehra to date, along w ...

'' (1978), Mohammed Rafi's "

Jaan Pehechan Ho "Jaan Pehechan Ho" ("Let's Know Each Other") is an Indian rock, Indian rock & roll Music of Bollywood, Bollywood song, sung by Mohammed Rafi, composed by duo Shankar Jaikishan, and with Hindi-Urdu lyrics by Shailendra (lyricist), Shailendra. It ...

" in ''

Gumnaam ''Gumnaam'' (translation: ''Unknown'' or ''Anonymous'') is a 1965 Indian Bollywood thriller film directed by Raja Nawathe, starring Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Pran, Helen and Mehmood. The film is a loosely-inspired adaptation of the 1939 mystery n ...

'' (1965), and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

songs such as " Dum Maro Dum" in '' Hare Rama Hare Krishna'' (1971), "Ae Naujawan Hai Sab" in ''

Apradh ''Apradh'' () is a 1972 action thriller romance Hindi film produced and directed by Feroz Khan. It was Feroz Khan's debut as a producer and a director. The film stars Feroz Khan, Mumtaz, Prem Chopra, Iftekhar, Helen, Faryal and Madan Puri. ...

'' (1972), and "Yeh Mera Dil Pyar Ka Diwana" in ''

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'' (1978).

Unauthorised contrafacta

The Pakistani

Qawwali Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...

musician

had a big impact on Bollywood music, inspiring numerous Indian musicians working in

, especially during the 1990s. However, there were many instances of Indian music directors plagiarising Khan's music to produce hit filmi songs. Several popular examples include Viju Shah's hit song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast" in ''

Mohra ''Mohra'' () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written, edited and directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by his father Gulshan Rai. It stars Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon in the lead roles, along with Naseeruddin ...

'' (1994) being plagiarised from Khan's popular Qawwali song " Dam Mast Qalandar", "Mera Piya Ghar Aya" used in '' Yaarana'' (1995), and "Sanoo Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye" in '' Judaai'' (1997). Despite the significant number of hit Bollywood songs plagiarised from his music, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was reportedly tolerant towards the plagiarism. One of the Bollywood music directors who frequently plagiarised him,

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...

, claimed that he loved Khan's music and was actually showing admiration by using his tunes. However, Khan was reportedly aggrieved when Malik turned his spiritual "Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo" into "I Love You, I Love You" in ''

Auzaar Auzaar () is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Sohail Khan and written by Anwar Khan. The film stars Salman Khan, Sanjay Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty.

'' (1997). Khan said "he has taken my devotional song ''Allahu'' and converted it into ''I love you''. He should at least respect my religious songs." A number of Bollywood soundtracks also plagiarised Guinean singer

Mory Kanté Mory Kanté (29 March 195022 May 2020) was a Guinean vocalist and player of the kora harp. He was best known internationally for his 1987 hit song " Yé ké yé ké", which reached number-one in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, and Spain. Th ...

, particularly his 1987 album ''Akwaba Beach''. For example, his song "Tama" inspired two Bollywood songs,

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

's "Tamma Tamma" in ''

Thanedaar Thanedaar () is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language action film, produced by Sanjay Ray, Sudhir Roy under the Shiva Arts International banner and directed by Raj N. Sippy. It stars Jeetendra, Jaya Prada, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit and music composed ...

'' (1990) and "Jumma Chumma" in Laxmikant-Pyarelal's soundtrack for ''

Hum Hum may refer to: Science * Hum (sound), a sound produced with closed lips, or by insects, or other periodic motion * Mains hum, an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon * The Hum, an acoustic phenomenon * Venous hum, a physiological sensation ...

'' (1991), the latter also featuring another song "Ek Doosre Se" which copied his song "Inch Allah". His song "

Yé ké yé ké "Yé ké yé ké" is a song by Guinean recording artist Mory Kanté. It was released in 1987 as a single from his third studio album, ''Akwaba Beach''. The song became an international hit; it was one of Africa's best-ever selling hits as well as ...

" was also used as background music in the 1990 Bollywood film '' Agneepath'', inspired the Bollywood song "Tamma Tamma" in ''Thanedaar'', and was also copied by

Mani Sharma Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

's song "Pellikala Vachesindhe" in the 1997

Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

, ''

Preminchukundam Raa ''Preminchukundam Raa'' ( Come, let's love) is a 1997 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee and produced by D. Suresh Babu under Suresh Productions. The film stars Venkatesh and Anjala Zaveri with music c ...

''.

Cultural impact

Indian cinema, with its characteristic film music, has not only spread all over Indian society, but also been on the forefront of the spread of India's culture around the world. In Britain, Hindi film songs are heard in restaurants and on radio channels dedicated to Asian music. The British dramatist Sudha Bhuchar converted a Hindi film hit '' Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'' into a hit musical "Fourteen Songs" which was well received by the British audience. Film-maker

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

acknowledged the influence of Hindi cinema on his production ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' by the inclusion of a number "Hindi Sad Diamonds" based on the filmi song "

Chamma Chamma "Chamma Chamma" is a Hindi song from the 1998 Indian film '' China Gate'' sung by Alka Yagnik and picturised on Urmila Matondkar which became extremely popular. Song It is a classical celebration song or Folk dance song with Filmi Lyrics. Re ...

" which was composed by

. In Greece the genre of indoprepi sprang from Hindi film music while in Indonesia

dangdut Dangdut () is a genre of Indonesian folk music that is partly derived and fused from Hindustani, Arabic and to lesser extent, Malay and local folk music. Dangdut is a most popular musical genre in Indonesia and a very popular in other Malay w ...

singers like Ellya Khadam,

Rhoma Irama Raden Haji Oma Irama, better known as Rhoma Irama (born December 11, 1946), is an Indonesian dangdut singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sundanese descent. Starting from the late 1960s, he began his musical career as Rhoma Irama as a part of ...

and

Mansyur S. Mansyur S. (born Mansyur Subhawannur; November 30, 1948) is an Indonesian singer, songwriter and actor. He is a star of the ''dangdut'' style of Music of Indonesia, Indonesian music.Colin BassIndonesia:Pop and Folk ''The Rough Guide to World Musi ...

, have reworked Hindi songs for Indonesian audiences. In France, the band

Les Rita Mitsouko Les Rita Mitsouko (, translation: ''The Rita Mitsukos'') were a French pop rock group formed by Fred Chichin and Catherine Ringer. The duo first performed as Rita Mitsouko at Gibus Club in Paris in 1980. They went on to become one of the most a ...

used Bollywood influences in their music video for " Le petit train" and French singer

Pascal of Bollywood Pascal of Bollywood (born Pascal Heni; 1963) is a French actor and singer who gained fame in India as the first Westerner to reinterpret the songs of Indian cinema in Hindi, Tamil and Bengali. He is best known for his Hindi and French cover of ...

popularised filmi music by covering songs such as "

Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai" (translation: ''Life is a journey'') is a song from the Hindi film Andaz, composed by the duo of Shankar Jaikishan, written by Hasrat Jaipuri and sung by Kishore Kumar. The song topped the annual list of Binaca Geetmala f ...

". In Nigeria bandiri music—a combination of Sufi lyrics and Bollywood-style music—has become popular among

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

youth. Hindi film music has also been combined with local styles in the Caribbean to form "

chutney music Chutney music is a fusion genre of Indian folk music, specifically Bhojpuri folk music, with local Caribbean calypso and soca music, and later on Bollywood music. This genre of music that developed in Trinidad and Tobago is popular in Trinida ...

Best-selling music directors

*No proper source(s) available, data may be incorrect.

Best-selling soundtrack albums

Top ten

By decade

By year

Album streams

The following were the most-streamed Bollywood music albums, .

Notes

References

Evergreen Old Hindi songs List

Sources

* ''The Indian Diaspora: Dynamics of Migration'' edited by Narayana Jayaram, p. 164 (Trinidad) * ''Echoes from Dharamsala: Music in the Life of a Tibetan Refugee Community'' by Keila Diehl (Tibetan refugees) * ''Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Diaspora'' by Helen Myers * ''Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North India'' by Peter Manuel * ''World Music Volume 2 Latin and North America Caribbean India Asia and: Latin and North America'',...by Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham (History) * ''Pandits in the Movies: Contesting the Identity of Hindustani Classical Music and Musicians in the Hindi Popular Cinema'' by Greg Booth * ''Religion, gossip, narrative conventions and the construction of meaning in Hindi film songs'' by Greg Booth * ''Behind the curtain: making music in Mumbai's film studios'' by Greg Booth * ''Early Indian Talkies: Voice, Performance and Aura:'' by Madhuja Mukherjee * ''The Cultural Economy of Sound: Reinventing Technology in Indian Popular Cinema'' by Carlo Nardi * ''Hindi film songs and the cinema'' by Anna Morcom * ''Film songs and the cultural synergies of Bollywood in and beyond South Asia'' by Anna Morcom *
Dhunon ki Yatra-Hindi Filmon ke Sangeetkar 1931–2005
' by

Pankaj Rag Pankaj Rag is an Indian poet and IAS officer of 1990 batch. He has served as the Commissioner of Directorate of archeology, archives and museums, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Director-General of National Archives of India, and Director of Film ...

{{Bollywood, horiz

Songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...