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Songs and music have always played an integral part in Indian films. Sometimes they work as a catalyst to move the story forward while the other times they are included as the interlude to break the monotonous regularity. But with the passing time, the music changed its form; from art to business.
Explaining how songs should be used as a helping tool and not just a filler in the movie, Karan says,
Songs are important in a film if they contribute to its narrative, not otherwise. These days, they are basic promotional tools to market your film with radio play, digital downloads, FCT s etc and that’s fine to a certain extent. If there are popular songs in a film, woven correctly into its storyline, it serves a purpose. But if they are just an added allure, you cannot expect the film to work purely on the strength of its songs. At the end, narrative needs to be engaging.
Understanding the inclination of people towards melody, Indian filmmakers have also relied on songs to express things that cannot be explained through words. From anger, to love, friendship, hatred, sympathy and what not, versatility in Indian music is something to be cherished. Speaking of the most popular and liked genre in the Indian music, Karan says,
There is no specific genre that one can predict to work for an entire audience because we all have individual tastes in art. Having said that, a melodic song tends to last longer in people’s memories as compared to arrangement and sound based songs, like rap and EDM, as far as Indians are concerned.
Anyway, someone rightly compared films to a feast that’s enjoyed by millions. And just like a feast, it needs to have all flavours in balanced proportions, with songs playing a quintessential role.
