Bollywood songs are neither traditional classical music nor the best form of Western music or famous folk. They are not even a pure genre of music with any real tradition or accumulated perfection that describes most other forms of music genres. Yet, they form one of the most popular musical forms of our times and have displayed a kind of popularity and longevity remarkable in the reach and intensity of their appeal. Here is an explanation for this apparent ironic paradox regarding the popularity of Bollywood music and how it thrives on the fusion of different art forms to create a unique sublimation effect.
Bollywood Songs: Fusion of Various Genres of Music and Art
Bollywood music is not a pure genre of music. It has songs that adopt different genres and fuse them to make a cocktail of its own. These include classical tunes and folk or Western music, ghazals, and qawwali.
However, most Bollywood songs cannot be categorized into any of these varieties, and together form a popular genre that has slowly come to acquire a character of its own.
Despite an apparent lack of specific character or richness, Bollywood songs have exceeded all other varieties of music in India and acquired popularity that can give a run for money to any other competing music genre in the World.
What makes Bollywood Songs so Popular?
Bollywood songs so popular are the rare fusion of four major types of art combined to create musical gems. These four forms are music, screenplay, poetry, and fiction. The popularity of Bollywood movies and the acknowledged part of songs in their Box Office success ensure that the industry can draw the best practitioners of each of these arts. Such fusion of the best of different skills does not quickly occur anywhere else, giving Bollywood songs a significant advantage over all other forms of music.
The Art Forms that Combine to Create Bollywood Songs
The first and foremost part of Bollywood songs is music. Ultimately, it is music that matters. No song can possibly become famous without great music. The musical composition is usually a fusion of vocal and instrumental, and usually, the synergistic effect of their fusion makes it great. Then there are the Bollywood Song Lyrics. It is the words that make the song expressive.
Rich choreography, creative picturization, and well-knit videography can be a pleasure in itself. The characters on the screen come from a context formed by the movie and its plot. They deliver the context to the whole audio-visual number, making it easier for the audience to identify with it immediately and thereby experience the emotions expressed therein.
