Notes in the Dark

First, an explanation of this post’s title. By “mainstream” I don’t mean “mainstream in real life,” but rather “mainstream in the soundtrack fan world” — which, it goes without saying, is not “mainstream” at all.

While nobody yet on the FSM forum would be caught dead talking about A.R. Rahman, that doesn’t mean the answer to my question is “no.” (Especially since the FSM crowd can be so fusty.) Because I notice that on StreamingSoundtracks.com, Bollywood film music seems to be getting requested more and more. The usual gang at SS.com, who have very wide-ranging tastes, might just be seeking novelty, but when a new Bolly album gets added to the playlist, they seem to descend upon it very enthusiastically. And it’s not just the instrumental music they seem to like playing.

I also noticed the other day that you can get more Bollywood soundtracks on iTunes, where just a few months ago they couldn’t be found. Dil Chahta Hai, Swades and Musafir are now available (although, oddly, they do not have the latest, Aishwarya Rai version of Devdas, only music from a prior film version).

No film industry has been better at taking Western film conventions and making them completely their own like the Indian film industry has, and that includes their very unique music-scape. My favorite Bollywood movie isn’t a very adventurous choice (and they are very much an acquired taste and I haven’t seen very many of them) — Dil Chahta Hai — but it sure has a lot of great songs.