The missing mass in media

Dance in a pub, at a house party, or a wedding anywhere in India, and the songs that get everyone going are from the eighties, nineties, and up to about 2019.

- VANITA KOHLI- KHANDEKAR

Come Chaiyya Chaiyya (Dil Se, 1998) and halfthe people kneel on the dance floor striking the Shah Rukh Khan-on-the-moving-train pose. Two years ago, ata wedding in Kovalam (Kerala), over 150 of us danced till the wee hours of the morning to everything from Chura ke Dil Mera (Main Khiladi Tu Anari, 1994) to Lungi Dance (Chennai Express, 2013). Incidentally, the DJ hadn’t been told what numbers to play at this Maha-rashtrian-Malayalee wedding.

Our collective memory ofthe popular is what makes the whole experience fun. That is true for films and TV shows too. Buniyaad, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, or ThirumathiSelvamwere watched by hundreds of millions of viewers. And then discussed the next morning in homesand offices. Ditto for, say, a Sholay (1975), Dalapathi (1991) or Dangal (2016) among other Indian blockbusters. The songs, films, shows that are mass hits become part of popular culture. They can be referenced easily in a crowd, at gatherings or among friends and increasingly on social media. From “Pushpa, I hate tears,” (Amar Prem, 1972) to “Kitne aadmi the?” (Sholay,1975) and “Jaa Jee le apni Zindagi Simran” (Dilwale Dulhania le Jaayenge, 1995), the language of popular culture hasalwaysbeena potpourri made up of things from films, music, and television.

‘These are, inevery sense ofthe word, mass media. IttookShah Rukh Khan's 60th birthday on November 2and Piyush Pandey’s passing on October 24 to highlight this, again.