The craft of creating Hindi music magic.
In this amazing photo we see at work the magicians and masters that created some of the most enduring and oft sung music of the last half of the 21st century. pictured are from left to right: Dev Anand the producer and director of this particular film that this recording session was held for Heera Panna (1973), Lata Mangeshkar the playback singer and singing voice of nearly every Hindi movie heroine for over three decades and gave voice to over 20,000 songs, Kishore Kumar the singer and actor who's voice became associated with Dev Anand (and many other heroes) through out the 1970s, Anand Bakshi the lyricist who penned the lyrics to over 4000 film songs from the 1960s to his death in 2002 and RD Burman the composer who was one of the most prolific and inspired writers of film music in the history of cinema.
Pictured here, putting it mildly, is one room full of talent. What I also see in this photo is a glimpse into the process of Bollywood Film Music creation. Here we see RD Burman going over a song with his singers and the films director. Its a creative process, the song and singers must somehow not only make a good recording but convey the emotion and nuances of a song being sung within the picturized setting of the movie, one that has yet to be filmed. I am sure that at any minute Dev Anand will step foward and narrate how he plans to film the song. Lata and Kishore sit deep in thought as if visualizing not only the music and its notes but also the emotions and melodrama of the song and the way the actors may "act" the singing. Because one of the beautiful things about Indian Popular film music is how the songs sound as if recorded with real life in mind. Kishore, may cough in mid verse, or Lata may giggle at the end of a phrase. Yes the best of Bollywood film songs have the feeling of setting and place. We know it is Lata and Kishore singing but feel and most important of all feel it is Zeenat Aman and Dev Anand singing as they wander through a forest in Shimla.
