The Hindi film song has been part of our existence, seemingly forever. But you can actually put a date to it: 85 years ago, in 1935, the first playback song was recorded, for Nitin Bose's Dhoop Chhaon, by music directors RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick.
Before that, actors sang their own songs, on the set. Playback singing took time to settle in, but 1947 was something of a turning point. India's most famous singing star KL Saigal died early that year, and the reigning female singing star Noorjehan went to the newly carved-out Pakistan, leaving behind a huge void. That void was filled by two singers who went on to become playback legends: Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
Playback singers acquired independent fame and fandom with the film Mahal in 1949. Lata was not mentioned on the music record as the singer of Aayega Aanewala; the song was credited instead to Kamini, the character played by Madhubala. Fans demanded to know the name of the actual singer, whilst Lata lobbied too. The 'mistake' was rectified in the next batch of records. Thereafter, crediting playback singers became the norm. The appearance of playback singers' names on recordings was in fact "the pivotal point when playback singing was fully accepted by Indian audiences".
The foundations of playback singing were laid in these years; the late '40s and early '50s would birth what is generally regarded as the Golden Age of Hindi film music.
Alongside Lata and Rafi, other revered singers came into their own in these years: Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Geeta Dutt (Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle would find their own huge stardom later). And the lyrics were by extraordinary poets like Shakeel Badayuni and Shailendra.
Playback singing meant songs were recorded in separate venues, usually in advance, and released before the film, in order to promote it — a practice that continues till today. Playback technology separated the production of the music from that of the films, and gave the Hindi film song a powerful and independent existence.
The Hindi film song has been part of our existence, seemingly forever. But you can actually put a date to it: 85 years ago, in 1935, the first playback song was recorded, for Nitin Bose's Dhoop Chhaon, by music directors RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick.
Before that, actors sang their own songs, on the set. Playback singing took time to settle in, but 1947 was something of a turning point. India's most famous singing star KL Saigal died early that year, and the reigning female singing star Noorjehan went to the newly carved-out Pakistan, leaving behind a huge void. That void was filled by two singers who went on to become playback legends: Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
Playback singers acquired independent fame and fandom with the film Mahal in 1949. Lata was not mentioned on the music record as the singer of Aayega Aanewala; the song was credited instead to Kamini, the character played by Madhubala. Fans demanded to know the name of the actual singer, whilst Lata lobbied too. The 'mistake' was rectified in the next batch of records. Thereafter, crediting playback singers became the norm. The appearance of playback singers' names on recordings was in fact "the pivotal point when playback singing was fully accepted by Indian audiences".
The foundations of playback singing were laid in these years; the late '40s and early '50s would birth what is generally regarded as the Golden Age of Hindi film music.
Alongside Lata and Rafi, other revered singers came into their own in these years: Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Geeta Dutt (Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle would find their own huge stardom later). And the lyrics were by extraordinary poets like Shakeel Badayuni and Shailendra.
Playback singing meant songs were recorded in separate venues, usually in advance, and released before the film, in order to promote it — a practice that continues till today. Playback technology separated the production of the music from that of the films, and gave the Hindi film song a powerful and independent existence.