Belly up for more Arabian nights

Mumbai filmwallahs have been flying down Lebanese, Iranian, Arabic and Moroccan belly-dancers for the item numbers in their cinematic oeuvres off and on, but lately, the predilection for a Middle-Eastern touch has rocketed. Most recent Hindi chartbusters seem influenced by Arabic tunes - songs from ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’ (most of them) and ‘Bluffmaster’ (Boro Boro) being prime examples.

Not that anyone is complaining - most of them have met with remarkable success and now even songs in upcoming movies like ‘Aksar’ (Jhalak Dikhlaja) and ‘Gangster’ seem to have taken a cue. Interestingly, this trend came into being just in the last couple of years when songs from ‘Murder’ and ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’ captured the market.

Composer Himesh Reshammiya says that the origin of Arabic music happened in India. “Rather than we being inspired by them, they are influenced by us. Arabic music is successful because it breaks the monotonous rut,” he says.

Music marketers agree that the success of desert melodies could be attributed to the fact that the listeners are saturated with jazz, retro and the sort - and this also explains the rising popularity of Sufi music.

The last time Arabic music did so well was in the 70s - remember ‘Sholay’ hits like ‘Mehbooba Oh Mehbooba’ and ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ (inspired from Iranian singer Googoosh’s ‘The Prelude of Jomeh’) or even ‘Yamma Yamma’ in ‘Shaan’? Even the legendary R D Burman drew inspiration from Arabic music - as do new-age musicians like Anu Malik and even A R Rahman. Filmmakers like Feroz Khan, Mahesh Bhatt and Firoz Nadiadwala’s have always incorporated a bit of it in their movies.

Explains Shekhar of the Vishal-Shekhar duo, “At the end of the day, people want to listen to good melodies - they don’t dwell too much on which part of the world it comes from.”

Sounding a note of caution, Mukesh Desai, CEO, T-Series Music, says that musical trends have a tendency of coming and going. “This trend too shall not be taken seriously. Of course, music companies have made money on such tunes, but then, music has no language and anything that sounds melodious sells.”