Below is research that I collected for the first crit; I have pasted comments straight from the sources, and highlighted key points that I think are important towards this project.
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Research Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmi
"Filmi (Hindi: फ़िल्मी संगीत, "of films") is
India's mainstream motion picture soundtrack
as written and performed for Indian cinema.
In cinema, Music directors make up the
main body of composers; the songs are
performed by playback singers and it
makes up 72% of the music sales in India."
"Filmi music tends to have appeal across India and overseas, especially among the Indian diaspora. Songs are often in different languages depending on the industry, for example in Hindi or Tamil. Playback singers are usually more noted for their ability to sing rather than their charisma as performers. Though these singers may release solo albums, their performances in film soundtracks tend to be more noticed due to the widespread appeal of movies.
At the "Filmi Melody: Song and Dance in Indian Cinema" archive presentation at UCLA, filmi was praised as a generally more fitting term for the tradition than 'Bombay melody' "to suggest that the exuberant music and melodrama so closely identified with the Hindi commercial cinema produced in Bombay (Mumbai) are truly pan-Indian."
Origins
"In the earliest years, filmi music was generally Indian (classical Carnatic, Hindustani, and village folk) in inspiration; over the years, Western elements have increased significantly. However, film soundtracks continue to be very diverse, sometimes fusing genres or reverting to entirely classical music. Examples of this can be found throughout the history of filmi music."
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the role of the playback singer, and the elements of increasing themes of western music. Could me outcome look at the celebrations of traditional filmi music before westernisation?
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Research Source : https://rateyourmusic.com/genre/Filmi/
- Filmi is the music of films in the Indian subcontinent,
- India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
- In which Hindi-Urdu is the primary language.
"Bollywood": Kollywood is the Tamil-language
film industry centered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu;
Tollywood is the Telugu-language film industry
centered in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh; Sandalwood
is the Kannada-language film industry centered
in Bangalore, Karnataka; Mollywood is the
Malayalam-language film industry centered in
Trivandrum and Kochi, Kerala. The term "Tollywood"
- The music is usually composed and arranged by a small clique of music directors. Songs are prerecorded by playback singers and then lip-synced by the actors who picturise the song with elaborate choreography, often featuring dramatic changes in scenery and costumes.
- Filmi songs are often recorded in multiple languages by the same singer for different markets.
- In the early years of South Asian cinema, filmi was typically composed of South Asian Music folk and classical with some European orchestral flourishes.
- Additional foreign elements, e.g. Rock & Roll, Mariachi, Funk, Disco, Techno, Hip Hop, etc, have became deeply interwoven in filmi
- Filmi music has an immediately identifiable sound, whether it's the soft and tender songs of the early days or the frenzied songs of recent decades infused with rock, techno, etc.
- Often the soundtrack is more popular than the movie,- Oftentimes people only watch the song and dance scenes instead of the whole film
- Filmi music and dance is also popular around the world, including many fans who don't understand the language of the singing.
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the the impact Filmi has worldwide. The further detail into the different languages used in Filmi. Further detail in different ways genres that are used in Filmi. The fact that Filmi music plays a huge role in Bollywood, and is the selling point of the film.
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Research Source : http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FilmiMusic
- Most of India's music industry is tied to its movie industry.
- Movie soundtracks will typically contain 5-10 songs, and there are around 1,000 films released in India each year.
- The success of a soundtrack can make or break the movie.
- The playback singer is often matched with an actor in the movie so the voice of the character is consistent.
- Composers, lyricists and Playback singers are well respected in the industry. A soundtrack is guaranteed to sell if a famous composer is associated with it.
- The most renowned composers are A. R. Rahman and Ilaiyaraaja (also playback singers).
- Ilaiyaraaja is the senior composer and has done tracks for all the South Indian industries (mostly Tamil) and Hindi. He has an astounding 900 movies under his belt.
- Rahman is the newer composer; he's the guy that did Slumdog Millionaire. Well-known singers include: S.P. Balasubramaniam, Hariharan, K.S. Chitra, Asha Bhosle, Shreya Ghoshal, Udit.
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the severity of Filmi in the Film industry. The usage of music in the films, and the fact around 5,000-10,000 are made annually. Famous composers such as Ilaiyaraaja has composed music for around 900 films. Again like the other research is how key the usage of Filmi has on the industry.
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Research Source : http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-music/film-music.html
- It is interesting to note that some of the movies become successful because of their music only.
- Movie soundtracks are released as tapes and CDs much before the movie is released.
- Earlier, radio was the main media of Film music but with the coming of satellite TV and FM radio the scenario has completely changed.
-Indian Film Music is said to have begun with the release of Alam Ara in 1931. In the early years of Indian cinema, the music was mainly classical and folk in inspiration, with some Western elements.
-The most fascinating part of Indian film music is its evolution with time. The Indian film music experts have always experimented with new things to cater to the changing tastes of music lovers.
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the advancement of Filmi music. For promotion, the CD is released before the film, again highlighting it's vital role. The beginning of Filmi started in 1931 with Alam Ara.
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Research Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Bollywood
- "Derived from the song-and-dance routine in Western film circles, Bollywood songs, along with dance, are a characteristic motif of Hindi cinema which gives it enduring popular appeal, cultural value and context."
- "Linguistically, Bollywood songs tend to use a colloquial dialect of Hindi-Urdu, or Hindustani, mutually intelligible to both Hindi and Urdu speakers, while modern Bollywood songs also increasingly incorporate elements of Hinglish. Urdu poetry has had a particularly strong impact on Bollywood songs, where the lyrics draw heavily from Urdu poetry and the ghazal tradition."
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the derivity of Filmi, the origins and contexts of what makes filmi music.
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HISTORY
- Hindi film songs are present in Hindi cinema right from the first sound film Alam Ara (1931) by Ardeshir Irani which featured seven songs.
- This was closely followed by Shirheen Farhad (1931) by Jamshedji Framji Madan, also by Madan, which had as many as 42 song sequences strung together in the manner of an opera, and later by Indra Sabha which had as many as 69 song sequences.
- In 1934 Hindi film songs began to be recorded on gramophones and later, played on radio channels, giving rise to a new form of mass entertainment in India which was responsive to popular demand.
- Within the first few years itself, Hindi cinema had produced a variety of films which easily categorised into genres such as "historicals", "mythologicals", "devotional, "fantasy" etc. but each having songs embedded in them such that it is incorrect to classify them as "musicals".
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the information from the easliest filmi music made in 1930's. Also information about Filmi intergrated music genres, this leaves me questioning if Filmi is a larger music genre than expected, should I further choose a refined genre.
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CULTURAL IMPACT
"Indian cinema, with its characteristic film music, has not only spread all over Indian society, but also been on the forefront of the spread of India's culture around the world. In Britain, Hindi film songs are heard in restaurants and on radio channels dedicated to Asian music. The British dramatist Sudha Bhuchar converted a Hindi film hit Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! into a hit musical "Fourteen Songs" which was well received by the British audience."
"Film-maker Baz Luhrmann acknowledged the influence of Hindi cinema on his production Moulin Rouge by the inclusion of a number "Hindi Sad Diamonds" based on the filmi song "Chamma Chamma" which was composed by Anu Malik." "In Greece the genre of indoprepi sprang from Hindi film music while in Indonesia dangdut singers like Ellya Khadam, Rhoma Irama and Mansyur S., have reworked Hindi songs for Indonesian audiences." "In France, the band Les Rita Mitsouko used Bollywood influences in their music video for "Le petit train" and French singer Pascal of Bollywood popularised filmi music by covering songs such as "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana." "In Nigeria bandiri music—a combination of Sufi lyrics and Bollywood-style music—has become popular among Hausa youth. Hindi film music has also been combined with local styles in the Caribbean to form "chutney music."
"Film-maker Baz Luhrmann acknowledged the influence of Hindi cinema on his production Moulin Rouge by the inclusion of a number "Hindi Sad Diamonds" based on the filmi song "Chamma Chamma" which was composed by Anu Malik." "In Greece the genre of indoprepi sprang from Hindi film music while in Indonesia dangdut singers like Ellya Khadam, Rhoma Irama and Mansyur S., have reworked Hindi songs for Indonesian audiences." "In France, the band Les Rita Mitsouko used Bollywood influences in their music video for "Le petit train" and French singer Pascal of Bollywood popularised filmi music by covering songs such as "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana." "In Nigeria bandiri music—a combination of Sufi lyrics and Bollywood-style music—has become popular among Hausa youth. Hindi film music has also been combined with local styles in the Caribbean to form "chutney music."
> Key aspects I have taken from this is the impact Fimli has had across the world. I will further look into how Fimli has been used possibly in Hollywood and the rest of the western world. This information also depthens my research into the cultural aspects of this project.
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