16 Raga-based classical gems of Asha Bhosle

My Views On Bollywood

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Sharada Iyer

When it comes to versatility and range, there is no doubt that Asha Bhosle’s name would easily be above every other singer who has ever sung in Hindi cinema. Qawwalis, ghazals, devotional songs, classical songs, peppy romantic numbers, cabaret songs, dance numbers, folk music, mujra songs, sensuous numbers, sad songs, songs of yearning and separation, disco songs-she has excelled in them all with equal adroitness and alacrity. Asha’s uniquely melodious, exuberant, alluring and resonating vocals added that extra ‘X-factor’ to even the seemingly simple songs which ensured that no one else would be able to emulate her style or recreate her magic ever again.

Though Asha Bhosle was always versatile, she had to face a long struggle before she could get to sing for the lead heroine of the film. Right from the beginning, in order to carve a distinct niche for herself she moulded her vocals…

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Hindi film songs based on Raga ‘KALAVATI’

My Views On Bollywood

By

Sharada Iyer 

The rich repertoire of our century-old Hindi film music boasts of a wide range of songs based on a variety of classical Hindustani ragas. There is no denying that the reach of Hindi films and Hindi film music in our country is far beyond any other form of music. Therefore instead of composing these songs in a typical classical style which may appeal only to a select audience with in-depth knowledge of the technicalities of classical music, our music directors draw inspiration from our vast legacy to compose either semi-classical songs or just touch upon the raga lightly. 

These subtle modifications in the raga allows them to compose apt songs to suit the mood and setting of  the story and the character keeping in mind the visual medium of cinema. Therefore, such compositions not only help to enhance the appeal and reach of these ragas to the large…

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Hindi film songs based on Raga ‘Charukeshi’

My Views On Bollywood

By

Sharada Iyer

“Your classicism is of value only if you know how to fine-tune it to the peculiar visual needs of instant cinema. In the end in the recording room it is not who knows classical singing but who has the ability to modulate classicism to the adolescent needs of mainstream cinema”

– Raju Bharatan (taken from his book- ‘A Journey Down Melody Lane’, 2010)

The repertoire of our century old Hindi film music boasts of a wide range of songs based on a variety of classical Hindustani ragas. As the object of a raga is to express a certain emotional mood and sentiment each music director has captured the essence of the raga in his/her own way to fit into the milieu of the narrative- ranging from deep love and longing, to the agony of separation, a heart-felt devotional ‘bhajan’ or just a peppy dance number.

Instead of…

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The use of Raga ‘Bhimpalasi’ in Hindi film songs

Those who appreciate the fine nuances of classical music would surely relish this blog post!

(Related Post: https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2016/09/28/the-use-of-raag-shivaranjani-in-hindi-film-songs)

My Views On Bollywood

By

Sharada Iyer

The repertoire of our century-old Hindi film music boasts of a wide range of songs based on a variety of classical Hindustani ragas. There is no denying that the reach of films and film music in our country is far beyond any other form of music. Therefore instead of composing these songs in a typical classical style which may appeal only to a select audience, our music directors have time and again proved their mettle to draw inspiration from our vast legacy of classical music and modify it to suit the mood and setting of the visual medium of cinema.  

Noted music critic and author Raju Bharatan writes a valid point in his book ‘A Journey Down Melody Lane’ –“Your classicism is of value only if you know how to fine-tune it to the peculiar visual needs of instant cinema. In the end…

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The use of Raag ‘Shivaranjani’ in Hindi film songs

Purists might scoff at the use of classical music based compositions to connect with Hindi movie buffs, but such endeavours do have the singular advantage of popularizing such uplifting ‘ragas’ amongst the masses.

Here is an interesting post which elaborates on the use of one of the better known ‘ragas’ of Hindustani classical music in Bollywood songs.

Enjoy!

My Views On Bollywood

By

Sharada Iyer

The repertoire of our century old Hindi film music boasts of a wide range of songs based on a variety of classical Hindustani raagas. Instead of composing these songs in a typical classical style which may appeal only to true music aficionados, our music directors use the raag to compose semi-classical songs and at times touch upon the raag lightly to include subtle modifications in the raag which makes it easier for the general public to enjoy them. Such compositions not only help to enhance the appeal and reach of these raagas to the large base of film-viewing populace of our country, but also exposes them to our unique heritage.

In this blog, I have chosen to explore the raag ‘Shivaranjani’, an ancient raag which derives its name from the words ‘Shiva’ = Lord Shiva and ‘ranjani’ = to please.  It is said that when Lord Shiva was performing his ‘taandav’ (cosmic dance)…

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