The First Sound Film by Riddhima Sen
Bollywood films hardly had music, at least until 1931. It is hard to imagine how films were, without background music and songs for each and every situation—heartbreak, confession, or anything else.
Alam Ara was more like a fresh take at all those fairy tales about Kings and Queens. The princess is born after her mother gets banished from the kingdom. The narrative borrows certain elements from the bedtime stories that we grow up listening to.
“Once upon a time there was a king. He had a wife, or two or many wives as you like it. They didn’t have any children so they decided to approach a saint ……..”
Old Bollywood films had this particular charm. The themes were not that much innovative in nature. But the way they were presented changes the game eventually. The music was added because it was an essential element of the film. It was not added like salt, to each and every dish.
Compare films to dishes; now each requires a certain amount of each spice, be it sugar or salt. Salt adds flavour to the food. But desserts need more sugar in comparison to salt. The new trend of adding music to define characters and situations, regardless of exactly what is going on, makes music lose its value to a certain extent. Even salt, if used too much, spoils the taste of the food.
Music, costume and screenplay all contribute to the finer quality of the film. One such example is the flop film Adipurush. Who could ever imagine an adaptation of Ramayana with modern-day-like music? It just ruined the ambience.
The element of magic realism is pretty strong in the film. A prince coming to life when a particular necklace is removed, and dying the next day as soon as it is put on—sounds like a fairytale.
The arc of infidelity between the queen and the general becomes a moral for the society in the future. An adaptation of a play with the same title, the film has its own distinctive style which remains its own because of the unique way of representation.
The plot is all about a royal family. How they decide to do things which are apparently unimaginable for any normal person in the 21st century makes it watchable after decades. The element of awe is pretty prominent.