Editor's Note: This is the second part of a column on Bollywood dance that began on June 27.
Dance sequences are an integral part of Indian cinema, allowing filmmakers to expand their creative scope while also catering to the audience's need for an escape from a dramatic plot. Three magic words: 'dream sequence song' take viewers from an Indian city to the Pyramids of Giza or the Alpine mountains.
During this short sequence, regardless of the characters they play, the actors are shown flirting in designer outfits amidst world-famous landmarks before returning to the world of the film at the end of the song.
Dance songs have often exceeded the budget of an entire Bollywood film (like “Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” from “Mughal-E-Azam”) and directors are known to go all out to fulfill the need of a song. A five-minute dance sequence is taken very seriously as the visuals and music seep into the audience's consciousness. A song has the ability to make the entire film more identifiable.
“Chaiyya Chaiyya”, a song from the 1998 film, was featured in a 2002 BBC World Service international poll of the top 10 most popular songs of all time (“Chaiyya Chaiyya” came in at number 9, beating “Bohemian Rhapsody” to number 10). The song's groovy beat mimics the metronomic motion of a train and has even been filmed atop a moving train.
The sequence appears in the film when the male lead, Amarkant Verma, played by superstar Shah Rukh Khan, meets a stranger at a railway station on a stormy night and falls for her charms. The song follows his train journey and shows him dancing with a group of travelling musicians and dancers.
“Chaiyya Chaiyya” was initially supposed to be shot at Ooty railway station, but when the producers could not get permission to close the platform for four hours, director Mani Ratnam and choreographer Farah Khan decided to shoot the song on a moving train.
The team was given an alternate track between the rolling hills of Ooty and Coonoor and a separate train to shoot on for four days. The dancers had only rehearsed in the studio but took on the difficult challenge of dancing on a train that passes through tunnels and starts and stops randomly since it is a narrow gauge steam locomotive.
Back then, in the absence of microphones and walkie-talkies, the choreographer would use a white cloth and hoist it as a signal to alert the dancers of the approach of a tunnel so that they could duck. Many viewers may not have seen the film 'Dil Se', but the costumes, cinematography and dance moves of 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' are etched in the mind of any viewer with even a cursory knowledge of Bollywood.
Watching movie stars dance in sync with hundreds of backup dancers, creating an infectious vibe on screen, is a magical experience. Over the years, with choreographed steps and catchy beats, Bollywood dance has created a space where viewers can copy and recreate the dance moves. I grew up in the suburbs of Mumbai city, where we live in housing societies or apartment buildings. Each housing society has anywhere from 50 to 200 apartments, and the idea is that we are all part of the same collective.
To facilitate constant social interaction among all neighbors, residents of these housing societies organize festivals, cultural events and talent shows where a temporary stage is built within the compound and a sound system is rented.
The most common spectacles at these events include children performing dances to popular Bollywood songs in their own unique style. Choreographing, rehearsing and painstakingly performing our own Bollywood dances at these cultural events in front of our neighbours and friends was a big part of my childhood. It is a great way for young children in Indian cities to overcome their stage fright.
In schools too, teachers help students prepare dances for the annual celebrations and songs are often chosen from Bollywood's vast oeuvre of melodies ranging from slow tempo to fast rhythms.
Another function of Bollywood is to provide music for pre-wedding parties. In India, the sangeet is now a highly anticipated event that precedes the wedding day and involves family members and friends performing choreographed Bollywood dance routines on stage in front of their loved ones.
Bollywood music composers are trying hard to create songs that could become the wedding favourites this season. Songs like 'London Thumakda', 'Gallan Goodiyan', 'Ae Meri Zohrajabeen', 'Gal Mithi Mithi Bol', 'Sadi Gali', 'Mehendi Lagaa Ke Rakhna' etc. have become staples of Indian weddings.
Last summer, I was invited by close friends living in New York City to host their wedding party. The guests included South Asians from Bangladesh, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, India, as well as first-generation South Asians born in the United States. I was surprised by how familiar the Bollywood hits on my playlist were to everyone and how they acted as a unifying force that we could all have fun dancing to.
Bollywood's simplified format of choreographed songs, combined with the audience's penchant for imitating dance moves, created a dance reality show industry that exploded in the early 2000s. Dance reality shows are among the highest-rated programs on Indian television.
The most appealing aspect of these shows is the fact that a person of limited means living in an obscure town or village in the countryside can dance their way to fame and opportunity. There are countless stories of contestants who have gone from rags to riches and built an organic audience through these shows and have now established themselves as choreographers and actors in show business.
Bollywood dance is rightly a genre in its own right and goes way beyond that. As an Indian living abroad, when I hear a Bollywood song in a shop or restaurant, my ears instantly perk up and images of the song start appearing in my mind.
The word 'magic' is often used to describe Bollywood songs and dances. If that's what the makers are going for, I'm sure it works and spreads very well.
