Abstract
Disco first appeared in the Hindi cinema in 1980 and dominated mainstream Indian popular culture in many film soundtracks through much of the 1980s. Its dominance was both enabled and driven by changes in the Indian mediascape and the ongoing dynamics of globalization. Disco was also caught up in a demographic shift in the Hindi cinema audience and changes in some of the key creative voices—singers and composers—of Hindi film song. Disco dancing contributed to changing visions of masculinity and heroism as represented in the cinema. This study examines these issues and shows how the film industry’s partial enthusiasm for, and ability to engage with, western pop also characterized the cultural tensions inherent in 1980s India and its culture industry.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Hindi song and film titles are translated on first appearance except where the titles consist of proper nouns only. All translations are by the author. When not referred to in the text, the titles of the films in which a song appears follow the song titles, in brackets. The songs referred to in this study can normally be found on YouTube.
- 2.
The website produced by Karthik S., http://www.itwofs.com/, traces the sources of a large number of Hindi film songs, by nearly 20 different composers. The site notes that Lahiri was inspired by musical content from the Buggles, Ottawan and UB40 as well as those mentioned above.
Bibliography
Azam, Mehtabul, Aimee Chin, and Nishith Prakash. 2013. The Returns to English-Language Skills in India. Economic Development and Cultural Change 61: 335–367.
Booth, G.D. 2014. The Beat Comes to India: The Incorporation of Rock Music into the Indian Soundscape. In More than Bollywood—Studies in Indian Popular Music, ed. Gregory D. Booth and Bradley Shope, 216–237. New York: Oxford University Press.
Chopra, Anil. 1986. Interview with Vijay Lazarus. In Playback>> And Fast Forward Issue 1, June.
Mukherjee, Madhuja. 2017. Music, Sound, Noise: Interposition of the Local and the Global in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur. In Music in Contemporary Indian Film: memory Voice, Identity, ed. Jayson Beasteer-Jones and Natalie Sarrazin, 176–191. New York: Routledge.
Padukone, Chaitanya. 1988. Playback>>> and Fast Forward 3.
Vitali, Valentina. 2005. Hong Kong–Hollywood–Bombay: On the Function of “Martial Art” in the Hindi Action Cinema. In Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema, ed. Meaghan Morris, Siu Leung Li, and Stephen Chan Ching-kiu, 125–150. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Discography
Appaiah, Biddu. 1981. Disco Deewani. The Gramophone Company of India.
Boney M.. 1980. M3—Disco The Magic of Boney M. Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
Jackson, Michael. 1982. Thriller. Epic/CBS.
———. 1984. Bad. Epic/CBS.
Lahiri, Bappi, and Runa Laila. 1982. SuperRuna—Bappi Lahiri Presents Runa Laila. The Gramophone Company of India.
Musarrat & Kapoor, Mahendra. 1981. M3 Disco Fantasy In Hindi. Multitone.
Filmography
Ali, Muzaffar (Dir.). 1981. Umrao Jaan.
Anand, Dev (Dir.). 1971. Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
———. 1973. Heera Panna.
Anand, Mukul S. (Dir.). 1986. Main Balwaan.
Anand, Vijay (Dir.). 1966. Teesri Manzil.
Badham, John (Dir.). 1977. Saturday Night Fever.
Chopra, Yash (Dir.). 1981. Silsila.
Desai, Manmohan (Dir.). 1988. Gangaa, Jamunaa, Saraswathi.
Hussain, Nasir (Dir.). 1959. Dil Deke Dekho.
Johar, Karan (Dir.). 2012. Student of the Year.
Khan, Feroze (Dir.). 1980. Qurbani.
Mitra, Shibu (Dir.). 1986. Ilzaam.
Mohan, Surendra (Dir.). 1982. Haathkadi.
Nagaich, Ravikant (Dir.). 1981. Sahhas.
Pande, Vinod (Dir.). 1982. Star.
Sadanah, Vijay (Dir.). 1985. Pyar jukhta nahi.
Sippy, Raj N. (Dir.). 1984. Boxer.
Sippy, Ramesh (Dir.). 1980. Shaan.
Subhash, Babbar (Dir.). 1982. Disco Dancer.
———. 1984. Kasm Paida Karne Wale Ki.
———. 1985. Aandhi Toofan.
———. 1987. Dance Dance.
Subhash, Ghai (Dir.). 1985. Meri Jung.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Booth, G.D. (2022). Disco, Dancing, Globalization and Class in 1980s Hindi Cinema. In: Pitrolo, F., Zubak, M. (eds) Global Dance Cultures in the 1970s and 1980s. Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91995-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91995-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91994-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91995-5
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)