Big Beats from Bollywood
A trio of compilations exploring the funky side of 1970s Bollywood music
I don’t know what was in the water in late 1990s and early 2000s, but whatever it was led to a lot of DJs and music fans outside of India and the global Indian diaspora to stumble upon, become fans, of, and release some of the funkier, freakbeatier selections from the wild world of 1970s masala, dominated by stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman, and composers such as Kalyanji-Anandji. I was among the converts, and the music in turn led me to a now decades-long love affair with Bollywood action and horror films.
And of those early 21st-century compilations, which admittedly were somewhat dubious in terms of legal rights, I still listen to all of them. Below are the first three I acquired, now out of print but not impossible to find.
BOMBAY THE HARD WAY: GUNS, CARS, & SITARS
Bombay the Hard Way (1998, Motel Records) packaged itself as a compilation of music from Hindi action films of the 1970s, but if you are expecting the delirious pop tunes that most of us identify with Indian films, you're in for a surprise. A pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. This album has very few pure musical numbers with singing. DJ Dan the Automator (aka Daniel Nakamura, who has worked with everyone from Del the Funky Homosapien to Gorillaz) sampled and remixed pieces of old Bollywood movie music by the duo Kalyanji-Anandji (Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah). Except for the one Little Richard/Equirita-sounding song, everything is instrumental. This is music for cruising down the street, fighting crime, and being a super slick high roller at the gambling table.
Most of the samples come from a couple of key films starring Bollywood action icon Amitabh Bachchan. In particular, his 1978 thriller Don is mined for material, which makes sense. It was a boss film with a classic action-funk soundtrack. The main theme of that movie is presented here unaltered, not as a remix, because you don’t mess with perfection. It’s one of the hardest-hitting, funkiest themes ever written, and nothing else needed to be done. There are also tracks from another Bachchan movie, The Great Gambler, and a couple of others from Purab Aur Pachhim (1970) and Karmayogi (1978).
This album started a trend in Bollywood action movie music remixing and releasing, including a sequel.
BOMBAY 2: ELECTRIC VINDALOO
After wowing everyone with an incredible collection of Bollywood film music remixes on Bombay the Hard Way, the folks at Motel Records assembled another cast of DJs and artists (minus the participation of Dan the Automator) to work their magic again. Where the previous volume concentrated on music from the 1970s, Bombay 2: Electric Vindaloo (2001) collects more electronic-oriented disco beat music of the 1980s, again drawn largely from the portfolio of Kalyanji-Anandji. There's still plenty of action film funk to be had, but nothing will be as cool as the theme from Don that was included unaltered on the first album.
Ursula 1000, who made a name for himself with easy-listening-inspired club music, sets the groove with "Ram Balram," mixing flutes with breakbeats, traditional instrumentation, and that weird electronic "beww!" that was so popular in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. DJ Me DJ You follows the course with "Bionic Kahann," a tripped-out number full of cool samples. "Theme from Twin Sheiks" is the most traditional-sounding track here, but even it is full of electronic weirdness. It's the sort of music that plays when the mysterious fez-wearing killer in sunglasses and a tight black suit shows up in a Eurospy film.
The rest of the album is just as good. The remixing is more evident on this volume, cranking up the bass, adding scratching, and stuff like that, but it's all good. Goofy but clever song titles are a bit much sometimes, but I’m also not that put out by titles like "Sexy Mother Fakir" and "Chakra Khan." If you're a fan of the first release, or of any of the great Bollywood remixes that showed up in the early 2000s, then this one is going to keep you happy and prepared to bust out your fists—or dance moves—on any street thug who dares wave a pistol in your face.
BOLLYWOOD FUNK
In the wake of the success of Bombay the Hard Way, there were several albums that dug up ultra-cool action film music from the Bollywood masala films of the 1960s and ‘70s. The music from those movies kicked almost as much ass as Amitabh Bachchan. Compiled by DJ Harv and Suni, Bollywood Funk (2000, Outcaste Records) is one of the best of the bunch since it seeks out original, full-length songs in their original form rather than bits and pieces remixed and pasted together (which Outcaste Records would do on the sequel disc to this one, Bollywood Breaks).
The album wastes no time letting you know that you're in the land of slick killers, gamblers, and hustlers in flared slacks. "Theme from Hum Kisise" is great for the kicking of ass. "Shalimar" is an impossibly funky theme that ranks up there alongside the greatest action film funk pieces ever recorded. "Qurbani" follows suit with a powerful, hard-hitting mix of exotica orchestration and double-fisted funk. There's plenty of other great stuff here, some of the best and funkiest tunes from some of the best and funkiest Bollywood films.
The styles here vary more than on the two Bombay the Hard Way discs, and you're just as likely to hear more traditional singing and instruments as you are furious wah-wah guitars, strings, and brass. "Pyar Zindaghi Hai" deliver the funk, while songs like the theme from the Dev Anand classic Jewel Thief deliver lush 1960s spy music, and "Chura Liya" allow you to slow things down for a make-out session in your secret underground lair. If you dig action film music from the 1960s and 1970s, from black action to Bruce Lee to stuff like you get on Italian cop movie music compilations such as Beretta 70, then Bollywood Funk is an absolute must.
A Bit More Bollywood
Music is Screaming: Exploring the Music of Bollywood Horror Cinema (Diabolique Magazine)
Bruce in Bollywood: Dharmendra Meets Bruce Le in Katilon Ke Kaatil (Diabolique Magazine)
The Old Dark Haveli: The Mad Dancing, Murder, and Mystery of Gumnaam (Diabolique Magazine)
Main Hoon Dracula (Diabolique Magazine)
Mumbai Spy: Farz, Aankhen, and the Influence of James Bond on Indian Cinema (Suburban Pagans)
Fantomas in Bollywood: Saazish (Suburban Pagans)