Bolly Music

Music was introduced to Bollywood with the advent of sound in 1931 and playback singers in 1935.  Playback singers were professional singers who prerecorded songs that a film’s actors lip-synched to. A film’s music is used to build interest in a movie before it is released and popular songs live in people’s memories for years. Most of a movie’s music is used to move the storyline along. Bollywood is also known for its ‘item’ songs, in which a beautiful girl, who is not a part of the storyline, sings and dances for a group of admirers. ‘Picturisation’ is a term used to describe the sudden change to exotic locations and endless costume changes in certain songs.