One of the most popular Indian music forms is the
Filmi music. Hindi film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, along
with Indian regional film industries, produces thousands of films a
year, most of which are musicals and feature elaborate song and dance
numbers. It is interesting to note that some of the movies become
successful because of their music only. Movie soundtracks are released
as tapes and CDs much before the movie is released. Earlier, radio was
the main media of Film music but with the coming of satellite TV and FM
radio the scenario has completely changed.
It is because of the huge popularity of the Indian film music that a
large number of talented music directors, singers, composers and
lyricists are attracted to the Indian Film industry. India is a land of
great musical heritage. It is mainly because of the same reason that
almost all our means of entertainment are inspired by music. The Indian
film music has given a number of great music talents over the years.
Some of the notable are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, K L Sehgal, Mohd
Rafi, Kishore Kumar, R D Burman, S D Burman, A R Rehman, Khaiyyam and
many others.
Indian Film Music is said to have begun with the release of Alam Ara in
1931. In the early years of Indian cinema, the music was mainly
classical and folk in inspiration, with some Western elements. The most
fascinating part of Indian film music is its evolution with time. The
Indian film music experts have always experimented with new things to
cater to the changing tastes of music lovers. Another trend in Indian
film music is that of integration of some popular regional languages
such as Punjabi, Oudhi etc. Though in the process of evolution, music
experts have flirted with western influences too yet the Indian flavor
has always remained there.
