Any Bollywood fans out there?

**jwight** · 08-20-2009, 07:06 AM

Don't claim to know much about the subject but enjoy the films I've seen. Just watched Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (from Netflix, of course) and it's a nice little film with a great title song (and the opening sequence in Waterloo Station is worth it on its own):

YouTube - "Jhoom" - Song - JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM

MP3SMART · 08-20-2009, 08:53 AM

The production seems much improved but its the same video they have been producing for the last ten years. Why do all the songs sound the same. Every video appears to be some cheesy guy chase dancing towards a girl. Guess I'm not a fan.

sandalscout · 08-20-2009, 09:31 AM

I think that a lot of really good stuff has come out of Bollywood, but we are exposed to so little of it that mp3smart's impression is pretty common. I mean, there are a lot of "typical Bollywood" films out there, but there are also some genuine gems from there as well.

I have seen a few REALLY good movies (can't recall names currently) and I've started a few bad ones too. I have a few one my "must see list" including Black and Satya. I also heard an interview on NPR with someone several years ago regarding a movie that was about a young American Indian who returned to India and essentially confronted his father's religion head on, a new thing to him, and in the process discovered a lot about himself and his father. I THINK it might be M. Night's "Praying with Anger" but it seems odd that NPR would be profiling this early movie after The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable came out. The plot sort of matches up to my memory, but not quite, so I'm not 100% sure that it's the movie I actually heard about, and I cannot find any references on NPRs website. Whatever it was, it sounded like a GREAT movie (and "Praying with Anger" is only so-so according to many websites).

Thanks for the suggestion John, I've added this movie to my Netflix's queue.

Terry Stibal · 08-20-2009, 09:45 AM

The sameness of all of the songs is partially due to stylistic decisions on the part of the artist (you play to your audience if you are smart, and don't expect your audience to come to you), but a major reason from what I've seen of South Asian music is that it is in the same two or three keys. Sing-songy sounds are the result of this, as everything is sung in the same fifteen or fewer pitches.

Country and western and rock both suffer from this as well. There are a lot of rock and Cee 'n' Dub tunes in the concert key of E, since this is a notoriously easy key to play the guitar in. Since guitarists tend to be the least talented talent in such situations, many groups (particularly those who use "head" arrangements) tend to cater to them and hover in the same key all of the time.

**jwight** · 08-20-2009, 10:05 AM

Yeah, too bad these guys are stuck in the same old rut - unlike western, detective, romance, horror, action-adventure, etc. genres.

Orphan-Beggar · 08-20-2009, 11:33 AM

I find the women dancing in Bollywood music videos strangely erotic

Bollywood Hero - Original Series - On Air - IFC.com
11pm Sundays EST

MP3SMART · 08-20-2009, 11:37 AM

If you can cut out the guy thats chasing them

grasshopper · 08-20-2009, 08:34 PM

Awesome! Thanks Jwight, for sharing that. I haven't had the opportunity to see too many Bollywood flix but I absolutely love the music. Waterloo Station is looking right dapper these days, I must say!