As I sat in sociology class last week viewing random clips of Bollywood movies and dances, I realized that dancing and singing were extremely vital for a Bollywood film. In about every few minutes of a scene, the stars burst out into song and flash mob dances.
My focus is on a musical number preformed in the Bollywood movie ‘Love Aaj Kal’ titled “Aahun Aahun.” The title of the song has no specific meaning, however the song lyrics themselves hold more meanings to love than you could think of.
The movie’s plot is of finding your soul mate. Where the two lead characters were a couple and then decided upon a mutual separation and then to remain friends. As Meera, the female lead goes to India and Jai, her boyfriend remains in England they seem like they have both moved on.
At the same time, in parallel to Meera and Jai’s love story, Veer, a traditional love believer was narrating his story and how in the olden days they loved with respect.
The song Aahun Aahun is played in the theme of Aam Janta (meaning "common man') and Pratigya, in which Veer Singh represents Pratigya, while Jai represents Aam Janta. Each shows his different way of love, but both conclude that love has never changed. It shows that, even though, people these days try to make themselves believe that love is just an infatuation that goes away with time and that there is no such thing as "true love" or "soul mate", in their hearts they still love each other with that passion.
I guess what I’m trying to convey here is that there is a mix in culture and tradition. The old versus the new in Bollywood is what we’re studying nowadays in Sociology class.
Bollywood is being westernized and that’s what you can see in the clip.
