Bollywood’s golden age was when the best Hindi movies and songs were made. The music taste of this generation was shaped by composers such as Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, S.D. Burman, and R.D. Burman, mixed different kinds of music, like Indian classical, folk, and Western, and made songs that were sweet, romantic, and patriotic. Singers, like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, and Asha Bhosle sang for the famous actors and actresses, who were the stars of Bollywood.

The music of this generation showed how they felt happy, nostalgic, and proud of their country after getting freedom.

Bollywood’s masala era was when the movies had a mix of action, comedy, and drama. The angry young man was the hero who fought against the bad guys. Music composers such as Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, and Jatin-Lalit, experimented with new kinds of music, like disco, rock, and pop, and made songs that were fun, lively, and made you audience dance. Singers, like Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Rekha, and Sridevi, sang and acted with their charm, style, and energy.

The music of this generation showed how they felt angry, hopeful, and happy about the socio-economic changes in their society.

Bollywood’s romantic era saw a revival of the musical genre and the emergence of the NRI and the multiplex audiences. Movies began to have a lot of songs and music. Music composers such as Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, A.R. Rahman, and Javed Akhtar, used different kinds of music, like ghazal, qawwali, and Sufi, and made songs that were touching, emotional, and spiritual. The music taste of this generation was also influenced by singers such as Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, and Shreya Ghoshal, who sang for the actors and actresses, who were the heart of Bollywood – Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, and Rani Mukerji.

The music of this generation showed how they felt love, romance, and nostalgia for their country in the modern world.

Bollywood’s remix era was when the movies had different kinds of genres, and people watched them online and on their phones. Music composers Vishal-Shekhar, Pritam, Amit Trivedi, and Tanishk Bagchi, took the old songs and added new music, like EDM, rap, and reggaeton, and made songs that were cool, catchy, and viral. Singers, like Arijit Singh, Neha Kakkar, Badshah, and Honey Singh, sang for versatile and dynamic stars on the screen, such as Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, and Alia Bhatt.

The music of this generation showed how they were diverse, creative, and innovative in digital and streaming India.

However, in this remix, the essence of originality was lost. It shows a lack of creativity and also ruins the original songs.

We love Madhuri Dixit in “Ek Do Teen” (Tezaab, 1988) and it has been etched in our memories forever. We haven’t forgotten this great number. But a remake of it in Baaghi 2 has ruined it for us.

The remake of Masakali referred to as “Masakali 2.0” came in 2020 featuring Siddharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria was an absolute bummer.

“Leja Leja Re” from the album Ustad & The Divas is an all-time favorite of many people. Tanishk Bagchi recreated this song which was sung by Dhvani Bhanushali and titled it “Leja Re”. The magic of the original song couldn’t be recreated.

Nevertheless, some remixes became popular. Famous lyricists like Javed Akhtar, Sameer, Gulzar, etc, all have performed greatly in the industry and have given many evergreen masterpieces. However, considering the taste of today’s audience, people are finding those old songs with a mist of remixes and DJ’s work more trending.

Songs like “Gal Ban Gayi”, “Kala Chasma”, “Sara Zamaana”, “Enna Sona”, and “Laila Main Laila”, have all been heard before and also appreciated as well. So, getting into the lyrics and with the flow is easy for us. Remixes provide opportunities for cross-genre collaboration, blending different musical styles and bringing diverse audiences together.

Music taste is not only a matter of personal preference but a reflection of generational identity and experience in Bollywood. It keeps changing over time, as new genres emerge, old genres fade, and existing genres mix and merge. Music taste is thus a dynamic and diverse phenomenon that reveals the similarities and differences among generations and the continuity and change of Bollywood music itself.

How Music Taste has changed through Generations in Bollywood

You sit in your room after a long, hectic day at work with your laptop and have your dinner by deciding which new show to watch. And you didn’t even notice when the clock struck 2, and you’ve already binge-watched half of a season and are tempted to watch just one more, even though you know you’ll have to pay for it the following morning.

Even the best of us experience it. We have access to hundreds of show alternatives that we can watch all at once for a monthly subscription that works out to be less than a week’s worth of snacks, thanks to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The term “binge-watching” refers to a new behavioral pattern in which viewers watch two to six TV episodes in a single session. The rise in popularity of various on-demand streaming platforms, including 

, can be attributed to this behavior. Netflix introduced new television consumption methods in 2013, allowing users to select from a wide variety of content and watch as many episodes of TV shows as they’d like. Moreover, a TV show’s entire season is accessible at once, unlike regular television, which broadcasts every episode at a particular time every day, leading the viewers to wait for each episode daily.

Between 2011 and 2015, binge-watching gained popularity and eventually became the norm for mainstream audiences to watch TV shows. According to Netflix’s most recent figures from the third quarter of 2019, the streaming service has over 167 million paying customers. From 5 million in 2012 to over 167 million in 2020, this number grew quickly. The fact that Netflix is accessible in 190 countries is noteworthy. In fact, on the first day of the show’s release, 361,000 viewers watched all nine episodes of season 2 of “

Watching a show from start to finish feels so good, and there is a scientific reason behind that. It’s because our brain releases certain chemicals. The body naturally experiences pleasure when it engages in that activity, which is reinforced by this chemical. The signal that tells the body, “This feels good,” comes from the brain. Your body feels like it’s high on drugs when you binge-watch your favourite show, as your brain is constantly releasing dopamine. Because of your dopamine cravings, you become addicted to the show.

The brain processes that cause heroin and sex addictions are the same as an addiction to binge-watching. Your body doesn’t distinguish between reasons for pleasure. Any activity or substance that consistently releases dopamine has the potential to cause addiction. Our binge-watching experience is also fueled by devoting a significant amount of time to the lives of the characters we watch on television.

Binge-watching provides us with a brief diversion from our daily routine and can be an effective way to manage stress. Tuning out the stress and pressure and closing our minds is difficult. A binge can function as a steel door, keeping our minds from returning to the persistent stressors that push their way into our consciousness. One excellent boundary that can be set up to forget our problem for a while and be on that temporary high is binge-watching.

It is crucial for binge-watchers to finish the show before anyone reveals plot twists and insights. Binge-watching can be determined by skipping credits and recaps, quickly selecting the “next episode” button, and eliminating breaks between episodes. Using these features allows viewers to shave off a few minutes, but they also improve the immersion and “flow” that come with binge-watching a TV show. These features were developed by the different streaming platforms. An uninterrupted, prolonged, and profound immersion contributes to a “more complete escape from everyday life than a person obtains from watching only one episode.”

A study found that 142 out of 408 participants said they binge-watched. Compared to people who did not binge-watch, this group reported higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. However, when we look at the habits associated with binge-watching, it becomes clear why it might begin to affect our mental health. First of all, binge-watching can easily turn into an isolating activity if you’re not doing it with another person.

We are wired to connect, and when we disconnect from humans and over-connect to screens at the cost of human connection, eventually we will ‘starve to death’ emotionally. Although real relationships and life’s work are more challenging, they are ultimately more fulfilling, growth-promoting, and connecting.

Setting boundaries for how much time you spend watching a show can help you avoid the negative effects of binge-watching, but this can be difficult when you’re faced with cliffhanger scenes that could be resolved if you stay up for one more episode. In addition to pleasure, we often binge-watch to obtain psychological closure from the previous episode. But since every new episode raises more questions, you can binge-watch in a healthy way if you give yourself a set time limit to finish.

Articles by Saba Parveen Ansari

How Music Taste has changed through Generations in Bollywood

Binge-Watching: An Escape from Reality

How Music Taste has changed through Generations in Bollywood

Binge-Watching: An Escape from Reality