SubscribeOut with the Old, in with the New (Music)
As Bollywood is making innovative strides in music, the people who are most affected by the changes are the ones who benefited from mass producing repetitive songs without a hint of creativity in the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Nadeem-Shravan, a popular music duo who were popular in the 90’s to mid 2000’s did produce some music in the past few years, but each soundtrack failed miserably. Their cliche tunes and inability to create music that may sway from songs that were once guaranteed hits have made them incapable of competing with Bollywood’s new string of musicians who have abandoned the old rules and have morphed India’s music scene.
Earlier this week, Shravan (of Nadeem-Shravan) complained that Bollywood music has left behind local sounds, and that Hollywood has been the Hindi movie industry’s biggest influence. Shravan may not have been listening to any Bollywood music these days. In fact, classical sounds, both Muslim and Hindu, have reemerged in Bollywood like never before.
But that may be a part of Shravan’s problem. Along with more classical influences, Pakistan has begun to make a powerful presence in India. He said:
“If a Pakistani artist releases an album or a song with a video, it gets heavy rotation, at the expense of talented Indian artists. We respect artists from every country, but we need to promote our own Hindustani musicians as well.”
First of all, Indian artists are hugely popular in Pakistan, so why not vice-versa? Also, it is sad that Shravan is speaking of competition, rather than unison, especially when speaking from a platform of music, where artists should promote cultural exchange. In a previous post, I wrote that Pakistani artists have stated that they believe their popularity grows when they make it big in Bollywood. Sadly, Shravan frowns on this ground breaking change in Indo-Pak relations.
Shravan, like Nadeem-Shravan’s music, clearly represents sentiments of the past that have evaporated in Bollywood. Not only has Bollywood’s music progressed, but so has the industry’s ideals.
Here’s a song with local flavor that Shravan probably didn’t catch (even though it was one of the most popular songs last year):
A Call Center Joke? How Original.
Anil Kapoor has become one of the most famous Bollywood stars in America. After the success of Slumdog Millionaire. The actor bagged a gig in the hit Fox series 24.
Recently, he was interviewed by Good Day LA’s Steve Edwards. While Kapoor enthusiastically explained the dwindling gap between the poor and the middle class in India, Edwards responded by saying, “How come every time I call tech support I seem to get you on the phone?”
Here is the video of the interview:
The interview was difficult to watch. Sadly, ignorant comments like Edwards have become quite common. In a blog post for The Boston Globe, I wrote about then Senator Joe Biden’s racist remark to an Indian American.
South Asian Americans are now regulars in prime time programing (all four shows in NBC’s two hour comedy line-up has an Indian American in a significant role), in Hollywood films, and even as heads of corporations like Pepsi and Citigroup.
Even Bollywood has built its presence in the US over the last few years. When My Name is Khan was released earlier this year, the stars and director of the film had interviews with CNN, NPR, and other leading media outlets. The stars, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, even rang the opening bell for NASDAQ.
It’s not surprising that Edwards was the one who rudely interrupted Kapoor and made the absurd comment. On his show The Soup, Joel McHale often mocks Edwards for his less than appropriate comments. He had an amusing response to Edwards’ remarks to Kapoor.
In an interview, Shahrukh Khan had stated that Bollywood actors will be known in the US “in the next five or six years, very easily.” Here’s hoping that incidents like this don’t repeat themselves.
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