The Indian and American Music

The musical theater of India

The concept of the Hindi song and dance is gradually paving its way in the regular scene worldwide. Initially popular in India and for Indians overseas, the lyrics and style are now leaning more towards addressing a much wider audience especially after the production of the infamous movie Slumdog Millionaire with Jai Ho stealing awards for music. The basic concept of song and dance is actually the synthesis of formal and folk Indian traditional music and dance with an infusion of western rap and the hip-hop moves. Since they are mostly group dances, the music is usually more energetic and lively.

Songs from Bollywood movies are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers, with the actors then lip synching the words to the song on-screen, often while dancing in huge groups. Playback singers are prominently featured in the opening credits and have their own set of fans. The dancing in Bollywood films, especially older ones, is primarily modeled on the different style of Indian dances, some of them might include; classical dance styles and dances of historic northern Indian courtesans. Today in the modern and most recent films, Indian dance elements often blend with Western dance styles though it is not unusual to see Western pop and pure classical dance numbers side by side in the same film. Usually, the hero or heroine will often perform with a troupe of supporting dancers.

One of the many unrealistic aspects of the song-and-dance routines in the Indian films is the instantaneous shifts of location and/or changes of costume between verses of a song. One moment the heroin could be in the fields of India wearing the traditional Indian saris and in the very next minute she would be in Switzerland dancing to the tunes of fusion music wearing a totally different set of clothes. One of the key elements in establishing the success of the movie is the songs that it incorporates, hence not placing heavy emphasis on the plots. This element is one of the biggest differences with the American musicals and the Indian cinema.

Unlike the latter, the musicals place equal importance to the plot, song and the lyrics generally focusing on the spoken dialogue. However, the Indian and the western musicals share numerous similarities. Musicals are mostly moving and emotional because of the different themes it incorporates. Such themes include love, betrayal, anger and empathy. Another similarity between the American musicals and the Indian cinema is the way the complete ‘performance’ is broken down. Musicals and generally broken down into several acts, however, the modern ones just have two acts which are separated by an intermission which is very similar to the Indian cinema.