I had no idea Bollywood could be this beautiful

That is sung by the greatest Indian singer ever -Lata Mangeshkar OP. That song is one of her most popular songs.

Here is one more song. It's from a period movie set in 1700's I guess. It also has one of has India's traditional dances called KATHAK

SOng - EK Ladki Ko

That actress is fucking fucking gorgeous.

This is one of Bollywood's popular songs- Chaiyya Chaiyya. That actor is Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan

Thanks guys!

R2 - that one's beautiful and just the kind of thing I'm looking for.

R3 - this one's very pleasant, but doesn't really have that lilting, yearning feeling I'm craving.

R4 - yeah, I've actually heard this song somewhere before. The cheese factor is too much for me, though.

I saw this one under related videos for Kabhi Kabhie (from my original post). It's Lata again singing. Not only is the song beautiful and Lata's vocal gorgeous, but EVERYTHING about the clip is pretty exquisite. The production design and cinematography is so painterly, the camera glides so beautifully, the lead actress is so much more subtle and seductive than the awful melodramatic modern day Bollywood actors. Yes, I know that's how they're directed/choreographed, but still. THIS is so much better. I'd love to see/hear more like this....

It's fashionable to make fun of this one, but I love it. Presented here with English subtitles.

Bollywood goes rockabilly:

Indian dance is so captivating.

R7 - that was so fun! Not sure what I'm witnessing with the main actress - is that India's version of Orientalism? Also, your vid made me think of this one made famous in the intro of Ghost World:

Here is one more song the OP will love. Maar Dala.

See "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" a really great movie and believe or not you'll learn how Cricket is played. It's also the only Bollywood movie nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Caterwauling.

Aishwaria Rai is hands down the most beautiful actress in the world. I should know, I'm a gay man.

R12, please kindly go fuck yourself and get out. And come again!

Here's Aishwarya Rai in a number from "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam," which is an incredibly beautiful movie.

Of course Indian cinema is gorgeous, or can be. Egyptian cinema was also gorgeous for decades.

Thoda Resham Lagta Hai by Lata Mangeshkar

Why do all the females sound exactly alike? Are they dubbed by the same person? Does anyone in India sing like Streisand or Aretha?

They sound similar because several of post are about the same singer and there is a style of singing in the Indian sub continent that uses high vocal pitches that isn't really used in the west.

OP, do check out the soundtrack to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. It has some really lovely songs.

Chin Chin Chu at R7 is the great Helen. She had a unique career - only middling successful as an actress, but hugely popular as a dancer. She made special appearances in scores of movies, showing up to do a number or two. Her mixed ancestry make her exotic, and thus it was okay for her to be sexier than a proper Indian heroine.

Despite playing a lot of scantily-dressed vamps, she had a sweetness and palpable love of dance that undercut the exploitation.

[quote]I only came across it because of a random Nelly Furtado interview I heard in which she listed some of her favorite songs from her childhood. Apparently some Indian friends introduced her to the song and the film when she was a kid and she was hooked.

You can tell it influenced her singing style.

Aish in another great song/dance number. Also starring her husband, Abhishek Bachchan and his dad Amitabh. The video and sound quality are excellent in this one.

The choreography and dancing in some of these bigger budget Bollywood musicals rivals anything Hollywood has done.

You guys are great. I certainly wasn't expecting this many informed responses. Are you all Indians or just Bollywood fans? Looking forward to catching up on the additional songs posted this afternoon/evening. And, PLEASE, feel free to especially post any of your favorites from the 50s-80s. Cheers!

Me no but my sister-in-law is OP

More recent than you were looking for, OP, but the Aishwarya posts reminded me of this hypnotic song from the movie Taal.

Anything with that Quantico chick ?

[quote]Anything with that Quantico chick ?

I want to know what her fans think of her doing all the racy stuff. They are very chaste in their films.

Another gay man here who finds Aishwarya Rai just jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Helen (Helen Richardson Khan) is the daughter of a British-Indian father and a Burmese mother, hence her unique look. Her husband is actor Salim Khan.

One of my favorite films is this Bollywood movie from the early 2000s called Dil Chahta Hai, about three friends (one played by sexy Aamir Khan) whose lives change after they get out of college. Most of the songs are pretty good.

Another good film to check out is Bombay, a sort of Indian West Side Story, about a Hindu man who falls in love with a Muslim woman.

Such beautiful costumes and good dancing. Why don't they open a Bollywood themed restaurant with dancers? There'd be big money to be made.

There are two weekly TV shows that cover Bollywood movies: "Showbiz India" and "Asian Variety Show (AVS)". If you live in the NYC metro area, you can see them Saturday mornings on WMBC.

Here's the "Showbiz India" website:

And here's a crazy Hrithik Roshan number:

If these films were around in the 60s and 70s, I'm surprised that they never caught on here as head movies for stoners. They are intoxicating. I want to see "Lagaan" if just to see more of some of the hot guys in the video posted above.

They never caught on because the stories are stupid. India has to let go of completely fake representations of life intended to fool the lower classes that the upper classes are not like them. It is easily the most self-censoring unfree society in the world.

Believe it or not, this is probably the Bollywood number best known by Americans:

Have a look at the film Jodhaa Akbar, one of the best of Indian cinema starring two of the most gorgeous humans on earth, Aishwayra Rai and Hrithik Roshan.

I love all things Indian but Bollywood has eluded me over the years. I shall keep trying. Thanks for the posts.

OP here. I don't want to troll my own thread here or insult the taste of those who "get" Bollywood, but I'm actually with R38. I started the thread to discover more beautiful songs from classic Bollywood films like Kabhie Kabhie, not because I love the films themselves. I've tried to sit through a few Bollywood films over the years with friends and family and it remains a struggle. My parents are from India and even they can't get through them - everything is heightened to the point of histrionics. It's like silent film acting, but with sound. That said, I'm still looking forward to discovering more beautiful Bollywood music - especially from the 60s-80s.

Also, it makes me a touch sad that India's independent film movement, or Parallel Cinema, largely disappeared after the 80s. Many of the films of Satyajit Ray and Bimal Roy are absolute masterpieces. Shame there isn't a hunger for more of this independent cinema in India. I guess with US and European films opening almost simultaneously across the globe now and prestige cable dramas from the US and UK airing sometimes just weeks after their original broadcasts, the need for more sophisticated cinematic works is met by imported films and tv shows. Maybe a younger generation of independent Indian filmmakers will emerge.

So many great clips, people!

I'm used to the bubblegum/technicolor Bollywood. But these, these things look like Douglas Sirk directed pop videos. Amazing.

I'm bookmarking this so I can continue coming back to learn more. Thanks, posters.

"Dostana" starring Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham as two Indian guys who pretend to be gay to move into a Miami apartment.

Baywatch's Brande Roderick went Bollywood in "Out of Control" in 2003

When I was in college, my roommate visited India. He came back singing a certain hit song from a Hindi movie. He played it constantly (he's not even Indianl he's white); It drove me mad until I learned to love it too.

It's Ek Do Teen.

I dare you to listen to it and not start humming it.

I think of myself as somebody that is open to kinds of music but I am having a hard time enjoying much of what is in this thread. I love Jai Ho from Slumdog but some of this is just too high pitched to handle.

[quote]I dare you to listen to it and not start humming it.

Thank you R43 half way thru my eyeglasses shattered and my dog died.

R45 LOL!

I think this kind of music is more of an acquired taste. If you like something different, then this is for you. I listen to Spanish and Arabic music, and my husband wants to slit his wrists.

R43 - I see your dare and raise you this disco Bollywood gem....

That style of singing is definitely an acquired taste but it's a million times easier to listen to than Chinese opera.

How much plastic surgery has that Aishwayra chick had?

Also---I agree with r35. I used to date an Indian guy, and always wanted to watch Indian movies. We would go through dozens of titles, all love and marriage song and dance pap. He'd ask "What is it that you want to watch again?" I would say "Anything, as long as it good. Think Iranian films," and he would say "India has nothing like that, it's ALL just like _____ Bollywood film."

Deepa Mehta has made several non-musical films, including the lesbian-themed "Fire," which caused riots at cinemas in India due to its subject. Mira Nair is another Indian director who has made many non-musical films, including "Monsoon Wedding."

Yes, R50, but a lot (if not all) of Mira Nair and Deep Mehta's films are produced by US/UK/Canadian companies outside of India. And they are the RARE exception of serious, independent cinema set in India. It's such a shame, as India's parallel cinema produced some of the 20th C's greatest independent filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Bimal Roy.

Because the world of entertainment has gotten flat in recent years, Indians coming of age now are growing up with all the best Western film and prestige cable dramas from the US and UK at virtually the same time we're experiencing it here. In fact, my friends in India watch more American and European programming than they do Indian. I hope that this will inspire a younger generation in India to move beyond Bollywood musicals and broad Indian tv soap operas to create more sophisticated, adult works for their contemporaries.

Don't hate me for loving Benny Lava. I'll go stand in the corner now.

I was obsessed with this song, sung by Shweta Shetty and danced by Raveena Tandon and Sonny Deol. 'Dhak Dhak' is the sound their beating hearts are making. Nice chemistry between the leads, weird sound effects and choreography choices, and those background dancers are selling it hard. Its kind of lovely and a lot hilarious.

This thread is largely about beautiful, moving or pretty Bollywood songs, but could anyone recommend other 'classic' Bollywood songs from the 60s and 70s that have this 60s swinging rock sound like Jaan Pehechaan Ho, the song that became well known to American audiences when it was played almost in its entirety during the opening sequence of Ghost World with Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch. Would love to hear some other unabashedly silly, fun, swinging 60s (or even 50s era) Bollywood songs like this.

And following up on that, any other 70s-era disco-tinged Bollywood numbers like this song, 'Jimmy'? Like most Americans, I imagine, I first heard this song in the form of MIA's cover version on her second album.

Such a lovely thread. This is one of my absolute favorites from 1964. Very well known, I think. Lata Mangeshkar singing "Lag Jaa Gale" from WOH KAUN THI....

i too love the music but don't like the films. one of my favorite's...very hypnotic.

BEAUTIFUL, r56! Lata and 'Khabi Khabi' are what got me to start this thread in the first place. Also love the way those older Bollywood films used their cameras - the way they romantically swooped in and out and around is quite seductive.

OP here. It's been a minute. Let's see some more clips of beautiful Bollywood songs, please!

From Saawariya

"That is sung by the greatest Indian singer ever -Lata Mangeshkar OP"

She's awful. Ugly, harsh... and she must have dubbed everyone for 70 years.

Ok, OP, here's one from me, I will add more as I think of them. This is one I heard as a teenager and I was like, damn.

Here's another. Sorry, these are all male singers because I too think Lata is screechy most of the time. Although, some of her songs have nice tunes...

Oh wait, she does have a part o the above song. I meant another, will have to find it. But the above is a duet.

Here's what I meant, and there's more. Can't believe I am youtubing Bollywood, but hey.

Here for you R54

A sad one, bonus is a very young Amitabh Bacchan towards the end.

I have one for r54 also

Ok, so this is not one of the peppy numbers, but I absolutely love old school Geeta Dutt numbers. This one even has subtitles:

Singing in the rain is always beautiful

For fans of Britney Spears’ Toxic.

A CLASSIC. So much eye candy cinematography! No subtitles required, basically. The acting does the job.

I remember watching Madhubala in 'Tarana' and being absolutely mesmerized. Bless my little baby oblivious lesbian heart!

So pretty.

I think this is about a ghost haunting her ex. I’m not sure.

Madhubala >> Aishwarya. Madhubala could act.

Kind of mellow.

Gorgeous actors! Perfect eyeliner! Gold lame jackets! This song has everything.

Last one. Check out the couch.

I'm noticing a trend in my video posts..,they all have the same actor. Is that YouTube 's doing, how do I even look for other films if I don't know what they are?

"Come, let us become strangers once again"

And the rest of the song explains itself.

There are some nice numbers in Bollywood films, but overall they are to "dramatic" to take seriously.

R54 a straight rip off of "I want to hold your hand" with added Bollywood-ness

From 2008, not like any of the above

Fun to see this thread bumped. I share R54's fondness for 1960's Western-influenced Bollywood...the heyday of Shammi Kapoor and the incomparable Helen. This number is from Teesri Manzil, which boasts an all-around great soundtrack, and is the namesake for a useful website y'all should check out, Music From the Third Floor (stream or download their sampler albums for starters.)

And here's Helen dancing for, uh, Indian Little Richard. Sadly the subtitled version of this one has been deleted. I seem to recall it contains the line "Everyone looks at me, I am so fabulous!"

Forgot the link.

Sorry I don't know many songs like OP is looking for. Do you like qawwali?

No matter how I try, all I hear from these Bollywood flicks is the high-pitched female voices that hurt my ears. Then, I chuckle at the cheesy dance routines, and how just about every film is from the male gaze - the camera focuses on the beautiful female as through the eyes of the lustful man/men.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Trailer

Dil To Pagal Hai - Trailer

My Name Is Khan Trailer

:P