Songs From The Heart
Songs From The Heart
Songs From The Heart
EDITED BY
Chapter
Sage.
Pinney, C. zoor. "Public, Popular, and Other Cultures." ln Pleasure and the Nation: The History, Politics, and Consumption of Public Culture in India, ed. Q,
Pinney and R. Dwyer, r-34. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Scott, S., and S. |ackson. 1996. "Sexual Skirmishes and Feminist Factions: Twenty.
five Years of Debate on Women and Sexualityi' ln Feminism and Sexuality, ed,i,
S. Scott and S. fackson, r-34. New York Columbia University Press.
Sherawat, M. zoo5. "Come on India, Be Honestl' India Tbday n5, fanuary 3r.
Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. zooo. "The Global and the Local in International
municationsl' ln The Anthropology of Media, ed. K. Askew and R. R.
B7-j6. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell.
Virdi, I. zoo3. The Cinematic Imagination: lndian Popular Films as Social
New Brunswick, N.l.: Rutgers University Press.
Natalie Sarrazin
South Asia.
In this chapter, I identify some common traditional and contemporary
musical film song codes and their relation to melodrama,
exploring how
Indian film
identifi
in film song sounds and codes for ways in which music
cngenders "heart" to negotiate a new sonic Indian iientity
in a grobal
recent changes
context.
SongsfromtheHeart
2o5
country and that are laced with the appropriate nationalistic or romantic
sincerity.
SongsfromtheHeart
itself is a vehicle through which central aspects of sringar rasa are examined. Each ofthe film songs represent the subtleties oflove, such as obsession, desire, etc., and each song in the film incrementally marks the protagonist's total surrender to the emotion, ending in his ultimate sacrifice
at the films culmination.
Given its contemporary usage in films, "heartl' emotion, and love'
seemed to be perceived as uniquely Indian constructs. And given a strong
cultural background that intertwines sound and emotion, music as a me'
dium is used to convey this primary emotional expression, where the
vehicle of the song and the singing of the song converge to amptify the
emotional experience for the audience. It is a form of identity that carrieq
cachet, can be negotiated, and can contain transformative Powers for ther
listener, as I will discuss further below.
2o7
is used in marriage celebrations. For example, in the song "Kabhi, Kabhid' (Sometimes, 1976, by the film of the same name) sung by Mukesh
and Lata Mangeshkar, the sound of the instrument is subtly placed but
indicates a powerful symbol of the couple's relationship. Two-thirds of
the way through the song, the two phrases "as the shehnai plays along
the way" and "it is my wedding night and I am lifting your veil" occurs
with the shehnai literally playing in between the two lines. By inserting
this shehnai in this location, the sound not only underscores the idea of
"marriage" by its mere presence and timbre, but it actually connects or
"marries" the two lines together in a rather literal or concrete way as it
metaphorically marries the on-screen couple. These interstitial timbres
and instrumentation are certainly not accidental, and occur frequently in
film song accompaniments to illustrate exactly such symbolic points.
Cultural codes can also be resignified over time depending on the
in other films or
take on new meanings. For example, in the song 'Aaye ho meri zindagi
meirt''from Dharmesh Darshan's Raja Hindustani Q996), the sound of the
shehnai remains intact as a traditional code in that it signifies a wedding.
However, a few measures later, a sitar is heard as the camera shows a line
of village girls carrying water pots on their head. In this instance, the Indian classical instrument, which normally symbolizes Indian tradition
writ large, is extended to symbolize traditional tropes in general, including Indian village life.
Musical dramatic codes are used to affect the audience's interpretation
of the drama itself. These can enhance mood, suspense, and action. In the
case of Kamal Amrohit Pakeezah (rg7i, music is used to illustrate the
quick passage of time through use of a musical raga montaga The tawaif
singer is in musical training, and in addition to a series of visual cuts,
the music itself progresses through at least half a dozen ragas in jt:st a
few minutes. The exact indication of time is not given, but the viewer understands that many years have passed. In addition, the use of raga itself
implicates the classical nature of the learning, enhancing the historical dimensions and time period for the viewer.
Given the propensity for conveying "heart" in Hindi film, emotional
codes reign supreme. Some of the oldest and most prominent emotional
codes in Indian cinema are found in the romantic films, most notably in
the song duets. Love songs are associated with the predominant rasa sringar, which embodies love-in-union and love-in-separation with shades of
SongsfromtheHeart 2o9
rated, and then reunites is the basic foundation of the romantic film genre
for both Indian and western romantic films.'
Love songs, either solos or duets,s are cinematically almost entirely
the seashore. The actor's movements augment the freedom and intenS
of the moment, often with a long shot of the heroine running
blooming fields with the end of her sari ot dupatta (scarf) flowing in
breeze. In urban settings, they are on top ofbuildings or, as in the case
Dil Chahta Hai, tn a helicopter captured by crane shot above Sydney'
The sudden, rising orchestral violin "flourish" is the single most
sive iconic musical sound pattern used across films to accompany the
of height and frame the intimate love song. Found in the introduction of
the love song, this prominent upward flourish of the violins is encoded to
indicate sringar rasa, and can introduce the idea of budding romance or
intimate romantic union.
The musical flourish coupled with visual images of height is familiar
fare in Hollywood romances. But the rising violin motif or museme (musically representational meaning) used in Indian popular film has rong
outlived and out-impacted codes of other types. The swirling, upward
flourish was in regular use by Raj Kapoor's Sangam Og6+), although its
heyday was in the r96os-r98os.
The flourishs placement in the film also acts as a dramatic code in that
it is usually most evident as the opening strains of a love song or as a
cue to indicate an upcoming song. However, as the preponderant string
section fades with newer, lighter musical styles, the flourish can also be
found buried in the orchestration of a verse or refrain or may be eclipsed
almost immediately by other melodies.
The isolated nature of these musical, visual, and dramatic codes indicates that the couple is occupying a fantasy world unto themselves. Rarely
do others appear in the shot, and the wide vistas, cinematographic long
shots, and relative freedom of restraint from onlookers, and especially
from the eyes of disapproving relatives, returns the association to the music itself. The violin flourish, therefore, connotes this particular type of
romantic freedom, and sets up the ensuing song content to indicate romantic anticipation and its temporary abandonment of social strictures in
lieu of private romantic expression. This is an important emotional moment in Hindi film songs, and particularly important for an audience in
which such private moments with a lover are difficult to achieve even in
contemporary society.e The songs also tie into the historical snapshots of
the ragamala paintings, Radha and Krishna moments in which the frame
cxcludes outsiders and the lovers are prominent and isolated and free to
cxpress their relationship. Thus, despite the "love marriage" implication
in such songs, Radha and Krishna nuances provide traditional, historical
precedent for the social acceptability for such display. Because this code
can be read as both traditional and modern, its popularity is guaranteed
continuity.
Although still prevalent, this code is sometimes used only as an acknowledgment of the longstanding musical tradition. However, many of
tlre more recent love songs have dispensed with the string flourish and
rcly only on the visual rising to refer to this love code.
SongsfromtheHeart 2rt
lines and other musical devices that not only allude to functional
mony, as was the case several decades ago (Manuel 1988), but are
on functional harmony. Interestingly, the classical drone, which is left
of the film song almost entirely since its inception, is now back, albeit
a modified form. Drone is reinterpreted and then reintroduced usually
the form of an ostinato pattern. This is one of the only examples of a
incarnated" traditional sound added back into the Hindi film soun
rather than subtracted from the contemporary soundscape.
Nonlyrical song vocalizations (such as "ahl' 'boi' or vocables) in
songs have also increased, adding meaning through timbre, pitch,
melody rather than text. During the first interlude section of "|ane
from Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai (zoot), for example, music di
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy add a thickly layered orchestration i
a didgeridoo, harmony, ro-ck beat, and three different types of vocalii
tions. The first is a male vocal drone that is interspliced with the sound
helicopter blades that take the couple uP over Sidney (rising code)
female soloist and mixed chorus imitate an American gospel/light
sound respectively.
The assimilation of Western aesthetics and Indian codes is
place from the technological standpoint as well. Inclusion of
and digitized sounds reinforced rhythmic tracks and bass lines pump
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