NOT JUST LIP SERVICE

THE MULTIPLEX GENERATION TURNED AWAY FROM LIP-SYNCING IN MOVIES, DEEMING IT 'UNREALISTIC' BUT AUDIENCES ARE HUNGRY FOR ITS RETURN

- BY JUSTIN RAO

In a theatrical event no one saw coming, the Gen Z (and privately, even the Millennials and Boomers) were reduced to tears and applause in a sequence from the blockbuster Saiyaara when Ahaan Panday’s Krish Kapoor poured his heart out to the haunting melody of the title track.

On cue, the audience gasped and surrendered to the power of the chartbuster track as the camera panned across his anguished face, his voice soaring with the lyrics. The cinema hall had turned into a stadium, because the quintessential Hindi film hero had finally done what a section of the audience was craving: embracing and singing the heartache, not pushing it into the background.

Reams have already been written about why Saiyaara, a film starring newcomers (Panday and Aneet Padda), exceeded every expectation. While the broader stroke theories include a vacuum of love stories, smart marketing, and great music, those in the industry are also rejoicing to see that the film had songs, which were lip-synced by the characters, and have been lapped up by the audience.

Lyricist Irshad Kamil, who wrote the earworm title track that reached the top five of global Spotify, said in an interview that the movie’s success has proved that if the character lip syncs, the songs “will connect more with the audience.”

“But we have moved on from that, looking down upon lip syncing as a curse, not our inherent culture,” laments veteran lyricist Sameer, who has given words to some of the biggest chartbusters in the '90s and 2000s, from Aashiqui (1990), Saajan (1991), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005) among others.

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