“If music be the food of love, play on…” said the Bard of Avon (Shakespeare) in his Twelfth Night and our Bollywood cinema since its inception has adhered to this dictum, giving us both love and music in ample measure. From the tragic notes of K L Saigal or an S D Burman to the vivacious “Yahoo!” and yodelling from Kishore Kumar, from the Greta Garbosique night club singing picturised on Madhubala in Babuji Deere Chalna… to the Jazz inspired music of the late 60s and 70s to the effervescent cabarets immortalised by Helen, Bollywood has echoed the trends in world music, familiarised it to the common man in India, enabling each one of us to sing and croon and call it our own by adding the unmistakable Indian allure of emotions to it.
We must doff our proverbial hats to the mainstream Bollywood composers for infusing life and rhythm to rather staid plots of our cinema and thus making it glamorous, glitzy and melodious. Glitz, glamour and bling invariably rings in images of the swerving golden ball hanging from the ceiling accompanied by a plethora of background singers and dancers dressed in the brightest of hues gyrating to the iridescent blue, red and golden lights that is so synonymous with the Disco Music of the 1980s! Would you believe it that this sensational and stylish form was ushered into Indian cinema by a 15 year old?! Apparently, this is the case. Disco music in India owes its debut to the Indian born British music composer, Biddu, who introduced the then Pakistani teenager, Nazia Hassan crooning Aap jaisa koi mere zindagi main aaye to baat ban jaaye… that set the charts on fire with the on screen sensuality of Zeenat Aman and her shimmering evening gown and svelte figure. The rest of India swooned to this sensual song that is at once enticing, fresh and filled with a distinct lilt. Clearly for a sex starved society like ours, the image of the sexy was never this sexy and seductive!
While disco music made its foray in the mid 70s in the US with John Travolta’s moves and Bee Gees churning out numbers such as Stayin’ Alive and Tragedy, Bollywood caught on to the bandwagon with this inspired innovation in the movie, Qurbani, helmed by Feroze Khan and music for this number lent by Biddu. The movie, to date, enjoys a cult status for eternal numbers like Laila O Laila rendered by Amit Kumar, Babla and a lesser known singer, Kanchan, and it immediately recreates images of Zeenat Aman in a headband, flowing robe with the mike in hand, a red flower on her mane swaying seductively to the furtive expressions of Amjad Khan playing on the drums. The image of a discotheque, the distinct style in music that is at once softer yet peppier and definitely foot-tapping set the stage for disco music in Bollywood of the 1980s.
One of the best things about us, Indians, is that we are quick to imbibe a new culture and lend it a distinct Indian touch. Also, we can spot trends even before it starts becoming a trend and Bollywood is he finest example of this. The disco numbers from Qurbani quickly paved the way to the singing sensation Asha Bhonsle, with her naturally seductive voice and allure reinforced the genre with Disco Station, Disco… in the 1982 movie, Hathkadi, with the shimmying Reena Roy waltzing into the young hearts of Bollywood cinema. In a cultural tribute to the ethnicity of the north Indian community of Punjabis and Sindhis, she etched the blinginess to its blingiest heights. Draped in a bling woven, shining saree worn like a dhoti, with gold headband, oversized neckpiece all of which complimented the brightly lit dance floor, shining series light lit train marching onto the stage letting out the young lovers whose otherwise regular attire is underscored by silver coloured shining belts worn by them as they move to the peppy beats of Disco Station that becomes a motif of rebellion, desire and break away from the norm. Clearly, Bollywood and its fans were bewitched and they clamoured for more!
And more is exactly what they got! In fact, encouraged by the immense popularity of Aaap jaisa koi…Biddu helmed the 1982 musical, Star, featuring Kumar Gaurav in the lead. Despite the movie tanking at the box office, its music rendered by the singing sensation Nazia Hassan with yet another iconic number, Boom Boom… struck a chord with Indians who rooted for the Pakistani brother-sister duo, Nazia and Zoheb Hassan, who sang all the songs in this musical. Few of us know that Biddu actually lifted Giorgio Moroder’s pulsating bass line straight from the Donna Summer hit “I Feel Love”. Actually it would not be amiss to say that Biddu, the Bangalore born Biddu Appaiah, whose career as music producer, singer and song writer lasted over five decades in India and Britain was singularly instrumental in ushering in the disco music to Bollywood. With his international breakthrough in the 1974, Kung Fu Fighting, performed by Charles Douglas becoming a best selling singles with 11 million copies sold worldwide, popularised disco music and his foray into Indian cinema naturally gave us a genre that we still cherish.
Though disco music steamed up from the streets of New York this decadence embracing, beat-driven music assumed cult status with the1974 George McCrae's “Rock Your
Baby”.The imported cassettes soon cut ice with the likes of bling worshippers like Bappi Lahiri, who is a Demi God in the annals of the 1980s disco music era. His heavy girth, a synth-heavy music, the technicolour outfits and the metallic, blinding lights shone on for years as Bollywood fans gyrated and jived to numbers belted out by legends like Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle. Disco Dancer released in 1982 starring Mithun Chakraborty is an iconic example of this genre. Not only is it the fourth highest grossing film in the overseas market ($75.85 million) but each number in this musical is unfailingly played at any event or a disco to date. The infamous pelvic thrusts, crystal encrusted ensembles, golden headbands and sweaty stars furtively thumping their foot while strumming their electric guitars in a nightclub amidst their audience that is berserk with ecstasy established a distinctive feel among the filmgoers and music lovers alike. No Indian ear is unfamiliar to I am a Disco Dancer… popularised by Vijay Benedict’s rendition with an angry roar at the end of the song, unheard of ever before!
In fact, unheard of voices, novel sounds and newer concepts of melody is what disco music brought in with it. Bappi Lahiri with his nasal tone or the ever popular, almost masculine voice of Usha Uthup, cannot be imagined of in any other context. It is a lesser known story that the soundtrack from Disco Dancer is hugely lifted from dance floor artists such as the Ottoman and The Buggles, but Lahiri Indianised it in a way that it sounds and feels like our own captivating each Indian to join in as Parvati Khan invitingly urges: Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja aaja… Likewise, never before did Hindi songs sound as onomatopoeic as Auva Auva Koi Yahan Aha Nache Nache…as Bappi and Usha Uthup celebrate the pinnacle of disco music and entrenched it in Bollywood cinema of the 1980s.
Even purists such as Lata Mangeshkar joined in the bandwagon to belt out a number such as Disco 82… that competed with the raging hits of the new singing sensation, the saree clad, masculine sounding Usha Uthup crooning Hari Om Hari… or the heavily nasal and inherently melancholic sounding Salma Agha deliver Jhoom Jhoom Jhoom Baba… infusing a pulsating dance and celebration of life into Indian pop music and Bollywood cinema. In eternal testimony to the disco music that paved the way for Indipop, the DJs at the ever popular, New York nightclub, “Bollywood Disco”, to date weave in morsels of Bollywood disco music for such is the allure of this beat happy, synthesised music it is impossible to resist swaying to a number like Jawani Jaaneman… that featured another Indian diva, Parveen Babi and reaffirmed the singing prowess of Asha Bhonsle. From well known musicians like Kalyanji Anandji to the experimental genius R D Burman, disco music became a norm in each composer’s oeuvre. Although we have now moved on from the disco genre in Bollywood, it just takes one moment to reinforce our love and reaffirm that we still are Disco Deewane… which was remixed in a recent Karan Johar movie.
- A G K
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