Influence of western music on India has never been so immense, till now. All Hindi Bollywood songs are filled with English lyrics. There is a bit of Hip Hop after every verse.
Bollywood film industry never had a craze to imitate Hollywood guys. Everyone knows Indian film makers have copied films but music was original. Musical movies and dancing to Hindi tracks were Bollywood’s ingenuity.
With the success of Slumdog Millionare, western audiences have become familiar with Indian style of cinema. No Indian film is complete without dance tracks where all leading actors of the film dance together. Choreography is a tough business, not every famous celebrity agrees to do certain steps. Choreographer adjust moves according to the wishes.
Western English music influence was always there but not quiet prominent in the major scene.
Tata Young’s Dhoom Machale
The first time an English song was picked up by Indian music lovers was when ‘Dhoom’ released in 2004. Song titled ‘Dhoom Machale’ was sung by Tata Young, all the wording were in English except the the title of-course. The song turned out to be such a craze that still today you will see people dancing to this tracks in functions and parties.
Snoop Dogg’s Rap song in ‘Singh is Kinng’
In 2008, Snoop Dogg featured in music video along with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is a rap song. Video and song was an instant hit. It was the first time when we saw any big international celebrity tying up with Bollywood
There are whole lot of other songs and several international music artists have composed music in a Bollywood film. Even regional songs features hip hop. Bollywood is slowly giving away with originality and now focusing what is in world demand.
I am not complaining against usage of English but integrity of traditional Bollywood songs is being compromised. With the increasing penetration of American music into our Indian Television, youngsters are being more interested towards Western music. And for Bollywood music industry to survive they need to change and adapt to more popular music styles.