There is something about music that is very fundamentally rooted in all of us. Please spare me the horror of having to explain what the 'something' is about music, because frankly, I have no clue. If I were to sum "Something" up in 2 words, my 2 words would be: ''Inexplicable shit"
I see people who listen to listen to a lot of music. Some listen to so much music that I haven't even heard about half of what they listen to, let alone, hearing half of what these folks listen to.
There are a few things that stand out about the fellows who have a huge body of music behind them.
[1] Their parents have a good taste in music.
[2] Their immediate surrounding is filled with people who are crazy about good music.
[3] They have a thing for finding/mining for good music
[4] They watch crazy amount of movies.
Now, here's the deal. I fall in 3 of the 4 categories mentioned above, and yet, if you mention some good piece of work to me, I in all likelihood, will have a blank look on my face. I might even have the audacity to shrug my shoulders, given my predicament. But I am not here to describe shame and my reactions to shameful situations, or rather the lack of it. What I write this piece for, is to throw light upon reason number [4].
It is the MUSIC BEHIND MOVIES!!
I love movies! It is one of the vices I acquired after coming to college. You are bound to develop an Achilles heel for something in college. For some, it must be pot, for some, it might be porn, and for a few, it might be both, sometimes even together. This is about the guys. About girls..... I have no clue. I guess I should ask them. But later..
I like watching movies. I like talking and discussing about movies, until, someone tries to champion me by describing every intricate detail of a scene from a movie. Specially so, if I haven't seen the movie myself. How the hell do these folks just pop out of nowhere and start their relentless rant about a scene from some movie they just saw and found amazing? Too much digressing. Coming back to the point! What I do look forward to the most is the soundtracks in the movies. Specially if the soundtracks are instrumental. No cacophonous accompaniment.
It goes without saying that the music gives a completely new dimension to the stuff on the screen. Specially in case of Indian movies. We build movies around songs, instead of it being the other way round. So by default, all our movies(barring the exceptions, of course) fall under the 'Musical' category. But again, no complaints here. Since we have such an abundance of songs being produced, there is always a good chance of listening to good music.
Moving to the movies that lure our attention from the west, which are the 'in-thing' in today's time, it is a completely different ball game.
Somewhere back in 2000, I consciously noticed the soundtrack of an English movie. I actually was so hooked to the track that I let the entire credits roll right in front of my face. The movie was Terminator 2. And what a soundtrack!! It still has a ring to it inside my head.
The reason that things are completely different in the case of non-Indian movies, as we all have noticed, is this. The lead characters in an Indian movie do the following to fit a song into the scheme of the movie...
They abandon the scene in which they were a moment ago
They catch a flight to the most scenic and expensive place imaginable, severing all ties to what was going on in the last scene.
And then, they start DANCING! Of all things? Seriously?
Mind you. The song-and-dance is our version of a decent substitution for a sex-scene. Don't you notice how happy the hero and heroine are? And how can one forget the flowers that the fellows keep shaking throughout the song?
Just in case the viewers are having a bad day, there will be a bunch of at least 20 extra dancers who, magically know the steps to the dance. It's like The Matrix. The extras come pre-programmed with the dance steps. So next time someone wants to shoot the extras, bad luck! These buggers even dodge bullets. Damn! Then again, no complaints. I know more people than I can count, including myself, who would love to, and even have danced to the tune of many such songs.
Nothing dramatic on the other side of the ball park. Western chaps are supposed to be suave. Or, we just place them on a pedestal for some reason. Their music is very subtly interlaced with everything. No dancing. So no choreography required. No extras required. No expensive tickets to scenic places required. Besides, they are already shooting their movies in the places our folks consider 'scenic'. Wow! So much savings! Where these folks must be saving about 100 crores in unnecessary expenditure, our movies celebrate on crossing the 100 crore barrier.
I must deserve some kind of an award for my ability to digress! Back to music.
Some years after The terminator 2, some fellow called Hans Zimmer came into the scene. And how he did! Each of his tracks gives me goosebumps that can only be rivalled by Rahman's "Vande Mataram"!
Then started my movie-frenzy. Although nothing has ever come close to "Vande Mataram", I have had the fortune to listen to a lot of good music from the movies I have seen.
A close friend of made a very valid point some time ago. The general public doesn't know many composers apart from Hans Zimmer. True. Surely not many I can name. But one fellow stands out like a sore thumb. Ennio Morricone. The DUDE behind "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".
Another thing. Apart from the credits of movies, another place one could, and will come across good music is movie trailers! The best of old and new songs get recycled into trailers.
Enough phirangi talk. Back home, there are more titans than one can count. Anyone remembers the movie "Dil toh paagal hai"? It had THE best music of its time. And the person who gave the music for the movie is a pappaji(Sardaar). Where is Uttam Singh(The Sardaar)??
As an ending note, there is only one thing I'd like to say.
No! No! Honey Singh! Only good music please!
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