Music no doubt is the lifeblood of Indian film industry. But with an overzealous bunch from the fraternity focusing just on the music and compromising on the storyboard, isn't it time for audiences to hammer out a better deal?
“Aaah, How long are we going to see Kuthu songs in films?” tweeted a movie buff, while another fan proclaims “The movie is worth seeing for its songs”.
With social networking reaching a frenzy every Friday, the opinions of the audience are no longer considered trivial. The elitists of the film industry are divided over various issues and whether having six songs is still relevant is one of those heated debates doing the rounds.
A well-established mainstream director (who requested anonymity) revealed that conceiving a song is not an easy process and is okay with doing away with a musical element and instead beef up the story. Director Lingusamy basking in the glory of his recent success ‘Paiyaa’, which rode on the popularity of its songs, rubbishes such a notion, “The primary reason why we still have songs is because there is a demand for it. Song and dance is a robust part of our Tamil culture.”
Is that the only reason why we still get to see 6 songs?
He explains, “Look, our revenue models have evolved, we make money from caller tune downloads too.” When pushed for a reason what makes the film maker include songs into their narration even when it spoils the flow of the screenplay, Lingusamy says matter-of-factly, “See, I need to come up with a script like ‘Bicycle Thieves’ to do away with songs.”
The cash rich producers, it seems are, partly to blame for this over-emphasis on songs. When songs provide a distinct advantage in terms of movie marketing, why should we shy away asks director Chimbudevan . “Musicians in our country do not have a market like in western countries.
"Including songs in mainstream movies act as a two-in-one purpose. A movie with great songs helps in reaching out to wider audience,” he says.
Baradwaj Rangan , the resident film critic and national award winner says, “We have seen choreographed songs for the last decade or two. Repetitive steps and filling up half an hour of the narrative with songs is frowned upon by modern restless audience.”
So, have the usage of songs been exploited to the extent that there is no scope to innovate more? “I like the way Mani Ratnam uses songs in his script. Selvaraghavan too uses songs as an extension of an emotion. Ameer and Pandiraj use songs to portray an emotion or the culture
and the characters,” he opines.
If we were to evolve into an industry that is at par, intellectually and technically, with the rest of the world we need to inculcate a stronger focus on the storyboard and entwining music that works for the film rather than songs that detaches you for those 3-minutes.
