The Eighties: More than just “Ooh la la” and Oomph

I am a great fan of the relatively new music channel Sony Mix which is devoted exclusively to music. A few days back I was watching their programme “Hits of the Eighties” and was waiting for one of the so –called songs that defined the eighties. The films of the eighties have been a lot in the news thanks to “The Dirty Picture”. The movie is not only supposed to be a biopic on the late Silk Smita but also some kind of a reminder if not a tribute to the eighties. ‘Ooh La La from “The Dirty Picture” has become some kind of an anthem to the eighties. In short the movie and the song have become a symbol for some very crude music\movies and by extension the eighties.

I do not dispute for a moment that the mid-eighties was the most vulgar era in the history of Indian cinema. This period is best remembered for the movies\songs featuring Jeetendra-Sridevi-Jayaprada. Crass commercialism conceptualized vulgar art. The majority of the movie halls were badly maintained which made the average middle class family think twice before venturing into them. Add to this a disruptive technology called the video cassette recorder or VCR (It was indeed disruptive although in today’s era of movie downloads it may seem like an antique piece) which allowed people to view the latest movies at home thanks to piracy. The only way producers and theatre owners could make money was to make movies for the lowest common denominator who would flock to the theatres as they had little or no access to these new VCRs.

Now to get back to my original point, I was awaiting some of the songs of the “vulgar” era. What I got instead was gems like “Neela Aasman So Gaya” (Silsila); “Dikhaayi Diye Yun” (Bazaar) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVsIxzMgwVY); “Sheesha Ho ya Dil Ho” (Aasha); “Hazaar Raahein” (Thodisi Bewafai); and “Sun Sun Didi Tere Liye Ek Rishta Aaya Hai” (Khoobsurat). What you have is as good a collection of Hindi songs as any. There are some other songs as well from the eighties from movies like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak- “Hai Mere Humsafar;” “Dil Deewana Bin Sajana Ke Mane Na” from Maine Pyar Kiya; the party song of the eighties “Ek Do Teen”(Tezaab) and not to forget “Kahdo ke Tume Meri Varna” as well as “So Gaya Yeh Jahaan”from the same movie. Can anyone forget the immortal “Mujhe Tum Yaad Karna” from Mashal or “Sun Sahiba Sun” from Ram Teri Ganga Maili which was another landmark in the career of Lata Mangeshkar. The list can go on really. The point that I am trying to make is that if “Ooh La La” is one reality of the eighties so was “Dekha Ek Khwab” from Silsila. If it was the era of a Bhappi Lahiri, it was also the era that saw Shiv-Hari compose music for Silsila and Chandni. Granted “Ooh La La” was the dominant theme of the eighties but by no means the only one. And Thank You Sony Mix for helping put things in context.