Some months ago Prerna Subramaniam, an assistant professor at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, made an Instagram reel that started as a personal rant. Subramaniam says she noticed a pattern at children’s events in her residential complex. The same songs, such as ‘Bum Bum Bole’, were played on repeat, “as if the archive had frozen there”, she said while speaking with TMS. What really surprised her, though, was adult-themed Bollywood tracks that came up next, blaring at places meant for children.
Subramaniam’s post continues to gain traction online. It has millions of views. “The issue is still sitting with people,” she says. Truly, whatever happened to children’s songs in Bollywood? Why has the creation of new ones slowed down? And has the industry moved away from young audiences altogether?
Hindi films used to make space for content devoted to children. Young viewers had their own share of songs — from the mischievous ‘Nani Teri Morni’, to the curiosity-inducing ‘Ichak Dana Bichak Dana’— and their stories were interwoven with the stories of adults. Good standalone children’s films were also made such as Santosh Sivan’s Halo (1996), Taare Zameen Par (2007), Stanley Ka Dabba (2011), Chillar Party (2011) along with movies based on classics and short stories like Vishal Bhardwaj’s The Blue Umbrella (2005) based on a Ruskin Bond novella.
The economics of it
Music journalist Sarthak Sharma believes that the fading away of children’s music began with the fading away of the genre for a variety of reasons. Dramas targeting all age groups are being made now rather than for kids per se; they draw limited investment anyway. “Even a seven-year-old kid is going to watch a big star film,” he says.
According to screenwriter Devarsi Ghosh, family films are “dead.” What exists now, he says, are usually centred on romance or mild social issues, with little space for children. Children’s songs were earlier mostly part of family films in which a large part of the story revolved around a child and his/her inner world, he adds.
The change is not just industrial; it is also technological. The rise of television channels dedicated to children, followed by platforms like YouTube and Instagram, has altered how young audiences consume content. Sharma notes that animated series like Chhota Bheem (2008) and Motu Patlu (2012) have, in many ways, replaced cinema as children’s primary source of entertainment.
All this has unsurprisingly had an impact on music. According to Subramaniam, algorithm-based platforms push popular, catchy content, which tends to favour adult music. “Children’s songs need a different kind of repetition”, she explains. “They are playful and developmental. But algorithms flatten out that distinction.” This means children are now consuming and even performing adult music more than before—and it has psychological impacts too.
Even in films, songs are no longer what they used to be. There was a time when Hindi cinema gave childhood its own soundscape. It was a world where a wooden horse could trot through a courtyard with ‘Lakdi ki kaathi’, and a classroom could turn into a chorus of hope with ‘Nanha munna rahi hoon’.
Senior journalist and author of When Ardh Satya Met Himmatwala, Avijit Ghosh says they were once key to storytelling in Hindi cinema. “They were sutradhars — they carried the narrative forward,” he says. Films featured a variety of songs including romantic duets, festival songs, devotional tracks, and children’s numbers. Today, songs are fewer and often relegated to the background. “When songs themselves have taken a backseat, children’s songs are part of that larger decline,” he remarks.
Psychological effect
Dr Astik Joshi, an adolescent and child psychiatrist, warns that exposure to age-inappropriate content can shape how children understand behaviour. “They may begin to see such behaviour as normal,” he tells TMS, adding that it can influence decision-making and emotional development.
Constant exposure to quick, high-reward videos can reduce attention spans and increase impulsivity. “It creates a loop where the brain keeps seeking faster rewards,” he explains. In such a situation, slower, narrative-driven forms like film songs, especially those designed for children, struggle to hold attention.
Institutional restructuring have also played their part. In 2022, the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI), a major supporter of children’s cinema, was merged with the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) in 2022, along with the Films Division and the National Film Archive of India. While a body like CFSI would specifically support children’s films, its merger into a broader structure, diminished attention on the genre.
Institutional restructuring
Citing an example of the recently released Malayalam-language fantasy, Achappa's Album (2026), Tarun Talreja, general manager, Film Production and Distribution unit at NFDC, says the organisation continues to support children’s films, though not as a separate vertical. “After the merger, everything is integrated,” he explains. “Our focus is on supporting good stories, regardless of genre.” However, he acknowledges that mainstream studios operate differently, often prioritising commercial viability. Talreja also pointed out that even when such indie or experimental films are made, they often struggle to reach wider audiences due to the absence of popular faces, which makes them harder to market and distribute at scale.
End game?
Hence, the issue comes down to culture versus commercial interests. Children’s songs, by their nature, may not generate the same returns as chart-topping dance numbers or romantic hits. As a result, they are increasingly pushed to the margins. But songs like these are not entirely gone. Avijit says these songs still show up in places like birthday parties, school functions, and nostalgic playlists. “The past has not disappeared,” he remarks. “It has simply gone underground.”
Some work is also happening outside the mainstream. Independent creators and smaller filmmakers are still producing children’s content, though it rarely achieves the reach of Bollywood’s earlier output. Subramaniam notes that many people reached out to her after her reel, saying they are trying to create such music. “But it exists in fragments,” she says. “Not as part of a shared popular culture.”