The filmi-ghazal is a genre of

filmi Filmi () music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Cinema of India, Indian cinema. In cinema, List of Indian film music directors, music directors make up the main body of c ...

music based on

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

poetry in Hindustani (

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

), used in

Indian film The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on pr ...

s, especially the

music of Bollywood Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or Filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with da ...

(

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

). The filmi-ghazals retain the couplet format and rhyme scheme similar to that in ghazals. However, instead of vocal or instrumental passages as interludes, the filmi-ghazal usually uses precomposed musical pieces.

History

The

tradition of

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

was the basis for early Bollywood music, ever since the first Indian

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

film, ''

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Wazir Muhammad K ...

'' (1931). In turn,

ghazals had roots in earlier Urdu Parsi theatre during the 19th to early 20th centuries. The ghazal was the dominant style of

music since the 1930s up until the 1960s. By the 1980s, however, ghazals had become marginalized in film music. Reasons for the decline include Urdu ghazal poetry being gradually phased out from the Indian education system, lyricists targeting urban middle-class audiences, and the influence of Western and

Latin American music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music highly incorpor ...

. Music directors like Madan Mohan composed notable filmi-ghazals extensively for Muslim socials in the 1960s and the 1970s. The filmi-ghazal style experienced a revival in the early 1990s, sparked by the success of

Nadeem–Shravan Nadeem–Shravan is an Indian composer duo in the Bollywood film industry of India. They derive their name from the first names of Nadeem Akhtar Saifi (born 6 August 1954) and Shravan Kumar Rathod (13 November 1954 – 22 April 2021). Nadeem� ...

's '' Aashiqui'' (1990). It had a big impact on Bollywood music, ushering in ghazal-type romantic music that dominated the early 1990s, with soundtracks such as '' Dil'' (1990), '' Saajan'' (1991), '' Phool Aur Kaante'' (1991) and '' Deewana'' (1992). However, the filmi ghazal style was once again marginalized by the early 21st century, as filmi songs became faster-paced along with greater Western and Latin influences. However, there have been a number of well-received filmi ghazal songs composed into the 2010s. A popular ghazal song from ''Aashiqui'' was " Dheere Dheere", a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of which was later recorded by Yo Yo Honey Singh and released by T-Series in 2015.

References

Filmi Ghazal Hindi cinema Indian music history * {{film-term-stub

History

See also

References