Books on Indian Film: Part 2 - Filmi Music (1)

Intro

The books in "Part 2" of this series focus more on the soundtracks of films than the films themselves. But film music, in my opinion, is just as important in analysing and studying cinema, especially Indian cinema moslty because that specific cinema gives much space to music.

That said, these books only focus on Hindi film music, and not all filmi music from across India. (Maybe I should write that book one day!)


A little history

The tradition of filmi music seems to have started before cinema even existed, as musicians and vocalists would serve the same purpose as in films today, but in theatre. Most of this "theatre music" is lost principally because it was not recorded (no recording technology) or was later recorded but no copy has survived. The term Indian Film Music or "Hindustani Cine Sangeet" was first used by Raju Bharathan. This new type of music, born with the art of "Talkies" or films with sound*, could only be heard on Radio Ceylon because All India Radio would only play classical music. With the gaining popularity of films and their music, slowly but surely filmi music got its place on the airwaves and became, what I think, the music of the people.


* I would like to add that a study on filmi music should start (both books I read start with the 30's) with recorded music for plays and continuing to music played for silent films. It would be interesting to hear what was done at the beginning of the merging of the two art forms, cinema and music.



Book 3: Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song (2008)


Do Lata, Asha, Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar or Mukesh ring a bell? Or, maybe, Laxmikant Pyarelal, R. D. Burman, Kalyandji Anandji, Shankar Jaikishan or C. Ramchandra? Well if none do, then I strongly suggest that you familiarise yourself with these wonderful talents. Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song is just what a curious filmi fan needs to familiarise his or herself with the different people who made film music legendary. It is written by self proclaimed filmi music buff Ganesh Anantharaman (yet, before writing the book he had never listened to any other Naushad soundtrack besides Mughal-E-Azam and Baiju Bawra?) who specifically wanted to write about music from the 50's and 60's but his editor convinced him to broaden his horizon. After doing some extensive research he discovered many other talented people like Saigal and Naushad Ali (Naushad is not overlooked on this blog anyway!). I wrote a list of all the personalities you can find in the book at the bottom of the page.


The book is called Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song, but in actuality the number of pages dedicated to history are only 18 in a book of about 250. So really what you are getting is a "brief" overview of the evolution of the Hindi film song added to short essays (about 90% of the book) each on specific singers, music directors or lyricists. In their turn, they comprise of some biography, low and high points in the specific persons career and some of their most memorable songs. There are also five interesting interviews, one of Dev Anand, Pyarelal, Gulzar, Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar (the last to which he lied to get the interview. Oh my!). But besides those first pages in the book most of the history of the Hindi film song is found in the people from all different eras.


But since musical taste differs from one person to the other, and in the book a singer’s best song is ultimately either one of the author’s favourites or a classic that many people appreciate. Anantharaman tries his best to stay objective and please everyone by not insulting anyone but always lets a few of his thoughts slide trough (e. g. his favourite music director is S. D. Burman or he finds “Choli Ke Piche” from Khal Nayak (1993) lyrics repulsive).


Also, like me, the author is a fan of older soundtracks (50’s and 60’s). Sadly, this affects the content somewhat when he pushes aside music from the 1970's, but mostly the 1980's and beyond, because it is seemingly invalid. The name of the section about film music of the 70's is called "When music becomes secondary" and do I agree? Yes and No. Personally, I think, that in those days it did not become secondary but rather detached from the film. Because, as we see in some cases, especially in films starring Amitabh Bachchan, there is no need of good music in films (from a financial perspective, anyway). But on the other hand some films succeeded on most part because of the songs. Other than the bollywood start system talking over, I think that the past “clans” (or teams) e.g. Naushad-M. Khan, R. K. Films -Shankar Jaikishan-Lata-Mukesh or Dev Anand-S. D. Burman were either no longer existent or changing. This made music more independent of the film it was being composed for.


Bizarrely, the cover of this book resembles very much a book on the same subject yet more expensive and rare called Hindi Film Songs and the Cinema written a year earlier by Anna Morcom (I really want to get my hands on that one! Also to compare, the cover picture is beside the book I am presently reviewing).




Pictures - the same picture of Meena Kumari in Pakeezah (1972) on Ganesh Anantharaman's book (2008) and Anna Morcom's (2007)


Upside


He is one of the few to write about hindi film music, and one of the very few to write about filmi lyricist. They deserve more recongrition. (I'm starting to understand, now that I'm learning Hindi).

The book is easy to read, as he writes in a laid back manner.

Interesting interviews and insight on many different personalities.


Downside

The book is aimed at an indian public and if you don't understand hindi (it is atleast written in roman script) then you will have trouble apreciating the book.

The book is for begginnier's but not for the total ingnorant, because you need to have enough filmi knowledge to know what songs he is refering too. So, I wish all books on the subject of filmi music would have a CD or tracks you can download that play in the order in which they are mentionned, so when the author name's a tune, you can hear it right away. (But in the meantime, thank god for Youtube).While reading the book I felt very "handicapped" because I cannot understand Hindi/Urdu, and it truly took away from me fully understanding what he was trying to demonstrate or prove in the text.

-----------------------------------------

To list all the people mentioned in the book:

Music Directors:Pankaj Mullik, Khemchand, Anil Biwas, Naushad Ali, C. Ramchandra, Shankar Jaikishan, S. D. Burman, Madan Mohan, O. P. Nayyar, Salil Choudhury, Roshan, Hemant Kumar, Ravi, Jaidev, Vasant Desai, Kalyanji Anandji, R. D. Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Khayyam, Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Annu Malik, Jatin-Lalit.

Lyricists: Kidar Sharma, D.N. Madhok, Pradeep, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Sahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra, Kaifi Azmi, Gulzar, Anand Bakshi, Javed Akhtar.


Playback Singers: K. L. Saigal, Noorjehan, Suraiya, Shanshad Begum, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik.


Previous Posts (Book Series):

History
- Indian Film (1963) by Erik Barnouw and S. Krishnaswamy
- Bollywood: A History (2006) by Mihir Bose

Stella_1's score: 3.5/5

Books on Indian Film: Part 1 - History

Book 2: Bollywood: A History (2006)

Written by Mihir Bose in 2006, with lots and lots of help (a whole chapter is dedicated to the people inside bollywood). Bollywood: A History focuses on different subjects such as the beginning of the Indian film industry, the film studios, he lightly touches films like Mughal-e Azam and Mother India and he also writes about the change after independence and so on.


Mihir Bose is a writer who specialises in sport. He is not a film scholar, but he is a good writer. His style is light and flowing, so no one should have a problem reading this book. It is much less school oriented then Indian Film (published by oxford university press, read post) this one is more open to the general public. For more information on Mihir Bose, just visit his web site.


Oh, god, don't get me started on the UK cover. Hmm...is that almost naked and wet Rekha?! Come on, I want a book that sells for it's content, not it's cover. But one thing I did realise is that Bollywood, through history, has objectified women, and in that sense the cover fits just "nicely" with what it's talking about. But, I still prefer the to dry and breast covered Rekha.



Pictures - Uk Edition (Tempus) and India edition (Roli Books)


One other thing that bugs me is the title and the content don't match 100%. Especially if the title is Bollywood: A History (the history part, is not just history). History is present in the book, but in, what I felt, was a tainted form. You couldn't help but doubt the accuracy of some things that were written because it felt more like information in the "He said, She said" category. An example of this is the speculation of the Lata Mangeshkar and C. Ramchandra romance. Lata does not mention it in her biography and C. Ramchandra is dead, while there is no actual proof, you can call this information a rumor or a hidden secret, but not history. Most of the facts are taken from other peoples work or written in quotes from people in the industry.


Anyway, gossip and rumors themselves have there place in the book. Like in the prologue, which is read more as a long magazine article (though at the end it gets more serious), is about Bose's interview of the then rising start Madhuri Dixit and how he made her cry in in front of Sunil Dutt because he asked her "So, how do you feel about being the new sex symbol of Bollywood?" He also writes about Pamela Bordes, a once Miss India turned high class escort that created much scandal and excitement at the time.



The most interesting chapter, for me, was "The Road to Bombay via Munich and London" is about the pre-studio and studio days of the educated Devika Rani and her husband Himanshu Rai. I love that Rani worked with German directors Fritz Lang and G. W. Pabst, (wow, sooo jealous!)



Anyway, what I think would have made the book better is if the titles would represent the content. Basically the problem is Bose claims to write about many events and personalities in each chapter but actually he focuses on one.




some examples are:


"The Road to Bombay via Munich and London" - Devika Rani and Bombay Talkies


"Blondes and Brunettes: Bollywood's White Woman" - Fearless Nadia


"The Explosion of the Bombay Film Song" - Lata Mangheshkar

You end up expecting a lot more then what you get.

Also the title Bollywood A History should be changed to "People who Shaped Hindi Cinema" or something like that. At least it wouldn't be false (and the book would have probably gotten a better rating from me).


Upside



Really fun and easy to read.

More explanation was written for beginners in this area if world cinema.




Downside

The author is not an expert of cinema.

The UK cover can't make me take his book seriously.

Gossip and personal experiences instead of history.

I felt that the chapters or at least there titles where not representative of what you where about to read. For example, one chapter on Bombay Film Music was mainly on Lata Mangeshkar, so if you were looking for information, let's say on R. D. Burman, you get like five lines.




Other reviews



Here is an another review of Bollywood: A History, written by Chandrahas Choudhury, on his blog The middle Stage, who I think has a similar opinion to mine.



And, here (you will need to scroll down), a review by journalist Jai Arjun Singh on his blog Jabberwock.


Stella's score: 2.5/5 (for people who actually know about the history of Bollywood)


3.5/5 (for beginners)

Books on Indian film: Part 1 (or the lack of good books on indian cinema)

Introduction (and complaint)

A while back I had an assignment to write on Raj Kapoor and his films for a cinema class. And I very soon came to the conclusion that there isn't much out there for people that need serious info on Indian cinema or subjects strongly related to Indian film, such as studies on it's music, gender relations, religion, sociology, philosophy etc. These subject are important because a whole state of mind is unconsciously portrayed in mass and popular Indian cinema. For a film to be seen and accepted by the people of India of all castes, religions, ages and sexes means that the commercial cinema of India brings together universal indian and human values shared by all. It would not take long to figure out what these values are because they are expressed in cinema on the 1st degree. But what is more interesting is the cinema that speaks out, that is unclear and experimental. Cinema that is independent from the major studios and also challenges the mind. That is what usually attracts film scholars*, therefore writing books on cinema.

* I just want to mention that I think every film, even if they are big blockbusters, like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Dilwale Le Jayenge or Devdas could easily have many layers and underlined meanings and opinions, but I personally believe that there is not enough dept (compared to independent cinema) to attract film scholars to study the films in further detail.

But alas, it seems that not much serious work has been printed up to date (in English or French anyway). Many books claim to talk about Indian Cinema, but too many are voiceless and empty books pretending to be about Indian film. This makes it hard for me to learn correctly and traditionally about Indian cinema.

So this series of posts is dedicated to various books, good one's (the one's worth reading) and bad one's (the one's to avoid). I think that many authors took the opportunity to write about Bollywood or popular Indian cinema just to capitalise on the growing international phenomenon. So let's try and focus on the real books.

Book 1: Indian Film (1963)

One of the first and oldest books (in English) on this subject, is called Indian Film written in 1963 by Erik Barnouw and S. Krishnaswamy (son of film director, K. Subrahmanyam). My verdict? Basically, I loved this book. There is so much info cram packed about the Indian film industry in every page that you just can't stop reading it. It is so great!

The topics in the book include, History, Studios, Societies, Feuds, Specific Industries (Hindi, Tamil, Bengali), Actors, Industry Insiders and Workers, Producers, Music, Financial Structures (including black-money) and Censorship.

One chapter that I find interesting is called "Ordinary, Decent, Superdecent" (p.168) . It's a brief overview about women and there place in Indian cinema thought history. It starts with naming a few of the first screen stars of the of the silent era. Some examples are, Sita Devi (Renee Smith), Sulochana (Ruby Meyers) and Lalita Devi (Bonnie Bird). Most of which were Anglo Indians (no caste and outcasts by both Indian and English society) because not even Indian prostitutes would go into film. Later, in the 1930's, Durga Dhote and Devika Rani, changed the perception of women working in Indian cinema by being both of the Brahmin caste (high caste) and were accepted as film stars. But after the war, women were categorised and payed differently depending on five categories. The classes and there daily wages where, "Ordinary Girl" 5R, "Decent, class C"10R, "Decent, class B"15R, "Decent, class A" 20R and "Superdecent" 25R to 40R. Also, if you could dance that was a plus. Now (late 40's- early 50's and beyond), the film industry had women from all background appearing and working in Indian cinema.

Oh yeah, the next two chapters, "Pagents for our Peasants" (p.172) and "O Divine Tamil"(p.177) are great too, they are about the rise of Tamil cinema, and it's invasion on the Hindi film Industry during the late 50's, but you will have to read those on your own.

Pictures - First Edition, 1963 and Second edition, 1980

Upside

The book talks about a variety of symbols in Indian cinema and there historical, political, religious or social meanings. So foreigners, like me, can understand the films better.

The books is so rich because of the number and quality of interviews it used, like Bimal Roy, Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Shivaji Ganeshan, C. Ramchandra, Salil Choudhry, James Ivory, Ismail Merchant, Shashi Kapoor, K. A. Abbas, Mehboob Khan, Durga Dhote, Devika Rani... and more.

Downside (0r perks)

Even if it is not necessary to have a background in film studies, you could encounter problems or confusions while reading the book. It is very useful, when reading Indian Film, to have some good knowledge of the history of cinema and it's main figures in Hollywood and the world film industries a like.

One thing that it does not do, is analyse specific films in detail. It's not a book about certain people or specific films. So if that is what you are looking for, this is not the book for you. (It didn't help me for my essay on Raj Kapoor and his films.)

Since it is an older book, some facts might be outdated. Although it was republished in 2001-2002, I do not know if it was reedited and updated for the present times.

Stella_1's score: 4.5/5

Next is Bollywood: A History by Mihir Bose