I’m going to venture a guess that whenever you hear the term Bollywood, especially if you’re less familiar with Indian movies, your mind will wander to large production songs of singing and dancing. While songs are not always included in Indian films (see below), for the films in which they do, they often play a very important narrative role. So, if you’re new to the industry, or if you just love reading about them, here’s your ultimate guide to the songs of Indian film.

Deepika Padukone dancing in the film Om Shanti Om (2007)  Image source

Part One: The Basics

1. Not all films have singing and dancing

This blog has yet to get into too much detail about the great diversity of Indian cinema, save its linguistic variation, so for now, we’ll have to settle for a sound bite. Namely, not all Indian films have singing and dancing. Many do, but not all. Increasingly, there’s also a trend of having fewer songs, and ones that have less dancing.

2. The music and film industries are linked

If you’re from the United States, Europe, or most of the world for that matter, you’re probably used to a clean divide between the film and music industries of your country. Of course, films feature songs, but those songs would have existed whether the movie had been made of not. Such a divide is much less clear in India.

For sure, there’s an independent music scene in India, and accomplished musicians have serenaded the country for centuries, but the pop music scene is largely dominated by music made directly for film. In many cases, the song sections of movies are released before the movies themselves as a form of advertising. Incredibly successful advertising!

So, does this mean that the actors of India are also incredibly good singers? In some cases, yes, but in most cases, the singing is done by others. And this brings us to the next point.

3. Playback singers are the stars behind the scenes

If you’ve ever wondered why it looks like an actor is singing, but their lips don’t correspond exactly to the words, don’t worry! This is common and can be explained by playback singers.

In Indian cinema, a playback singer is a professional singer who records songs for an upcoming movie. These songs are then incorporated into movies scenes in which actors lip sync. This is the norm, although there have been some exceptions.

But while playback singers are rarely in front of the camera, many of them are very famous in their own right. Some of the biggest names include Arjit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, and Kanika Kapoor.

Part Two: Let the songs begin!

Now that we’re on the same page about what we’re talking about, I present you with the six types of songs you’ll see. If you can think of other categories, please feel free to add them in the comments!

Type 1: The Love Song

This is perhaps the most common and most important for narrative purposes. A love song can make a movie by itself and can live on for generations. In Indian cinema, a love song is used in much the same way as one is used on a Broadway show, to underscore emotion, and to relate them to audience through music. The list for such songs is endless, but below is one of the most famous of all time.

Type 2: The Montage

Using a song to soundtrack a montage is very common, and should be familiar to western audiences as well. The scene could go something like this: Characters A and B, and maybe C and D, decide to accomplish a task and the song kicks in and follows them through the process. A perfect example can be found in the film Wake up Sid (2009), with characters A and B, played by Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma, deciding to live together and find success in Mumbai.

Type 3: The Transition

A transition song is one that marks a pivotal change in a relationship between characters or in the attitude of a character. This could double dip into the love song category, as many love songs are featured in just such a moment, and it could also fit in the montage category, as the shift from friendship to love is often recorded in montage. But below is Pinga from Bajirao Mastani (2015), a song that is neither, but none-the-less marks an important change in the relationship between two characters (spoiler: they had been competing for the affection of the same man).

I’ll also add that some songs will feature a certain tone throughout and then end with a massive change in tone and the introduction of a major plot changer (the song All Izz Well from 3 Idiots (2009) is one such example).

Type 4: The Introduction

This type of song basically introduces you to a character and through the song, educates you a bit on their personality and how the audience should accept them (hero, villain, etc). Below is Selfie Le Le Re from Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), a song that introduces Salman Khan’s character as the hero who will return a lost girl to her family.

Type 5: The Party Song

The name pretty much explains itself. Party songs don’t always add to the plot, but they serve as great scene transitions, are fun to watch, and are great for pre-movie advertizing purposes. Below is Kar Gayi Chull from the film Kapoor and Sons (2016).

Type 6: The Item Song

And now perhaps the most famous, most debated, and most controversial: the item song. Item numbers are basically songs that often have little (or nothing) to do with the plot of the movie (like, they could literally be removed and it wouldn’t change a thing), often include suggestive dancing, and sometimes feature actors who have no other role within the movie outside of the song. Below is an example from Yeh Deewani Hai Jawani (2013). This is a fitting and interesting example, because 1. Madhuri Dixit (the performer) is not in any other part of the movie, and 2. the scene features a strong allusion to another famous song in another famous movie: Maar Dala in Devdas (2002).

You did it!

Congrats on getting through this rather long post, and props to those who watched all of the videos. Hopefully you now know all the basics that you’ll need to talk shop with the best of them! As an extra reward, I present below Deewangi Deewangi from Om Shanti Om (2007), which is worth a watch if only because it packs so much star power in a single scene that it might as well be the Filmfare Awards (or the Oscars)!

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