The 80’s and 90’s saw the advent of television and satellite TV that became a part of most Indian homes. Latest technical innovations resulted in an ever-increasing standard of recording quality that improved the sound quality of film songs. The 60’s and 70’s on the other hand witnessed a change in the technical quality of film music.
Burman, Shankar - Jaikishan, and Madan Mohan became very popular with their soulful and inspiring numbers. Many famous playback singers rose to prominence in this period including Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt, and Asha Bhosle. This period was also noted for the introduction of the "playback" singer. The 40’s and 50’s saw a shift in the way movies were produced, from big motion picture studios to independent producers, and this trend opened doors to many new musicians and music directors. In fact, actors were chosen specifically for their singing abilities. An interesting observation is that during this early period producers did not favor "playback" singers as many of the original actors sang their own songs. The trend set by Alam Ara continued and between 19, India produced 931 Hindi feature films with an average of 10 songs per films. Right from then on music proved to be the essential ingredient that played a necessary part in every Indian movie. This decision proved to be a success since the songs in the film were able to woo the largely illiterate audience to the cinema. Adapted from the theatre, the producers of Alam Ara, retained the original songs that were in the play. The arrival of India's first talkie Alam Ara in 1931 ushered in the birth of the first filmi song. India film music emerges as the most popular music genre: From dominating the airwaves and satellite channels to turning into ringtones and popping up on the Internet, Indian film music is statistically, commercially and aesthetically the most popular music genre in India. Film songs permeate class, creed and language, making it the lingua franca of most Indians. Accounting for approximately 72% of music sales in India, film music has few serious rivals in India.
A film's success often depends on the popularity of such musical numbers, which has in turn given birth to India’s most popular genre of music- Bollywood filmi music. Written by Shankar Mahadevan Academy on 04 June 2014īollywood films (referring to Hindi language Indian cinema), are mostly musicals and are therefore expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script. Indian Film Music - The Most Popular Music Genre in India