Advertisers here have always had a fascination for old Bollywood songs with songs like Yeh Jawaani, Hai Deewani and Mere Jeevan Saathi helping pep up various commercials. Now, the Western world is turning to Bollywood and featuring popular Hindi songs in their commercials.
Heineken beer, one of the wackiest advertisers internationally, has brought out a new ad featuring Bollywood song Jaan Pehchaan Ho, Jeena Aasaan Ho playing in the background. Recently, a dance crew surprised passengers on board a Finnair flight by dancing to popular Bollywood numbers to celebrate India’s Republic Day. Clearly, the West has begun to lap up things Indian.
“Bollywood is certainly crossing borders. Bollywood songs are now popular among the Whites too. They are showing great interest in the kind of music and movies that we make. Songs like Chikni Chameli and Chammak Challo are now a rage among the youth in the West,” says film director Rensil D’Silva.
According to Prahlad Kakkar, it’s not just Aishwarya Rai that they associate Bollywood with anymore. “Now they know about more of the Bollywood stars. When a star goes abroad, the Indian community there goes crazy, getting on to the streets and even disrupting the traffic. I think that’s how everyone knows more about Indian stars. There is a large chunk of Indians settled around the world, like the Chinese, and it’s high time they consider us as the target audience,” Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar says.
Music director Sandeep Chowta is of the opinion that the original Bollywood consists, in essence, of the Hindi movies before the 90s and this is why the West is attracted to songs of that period. “The Hindi songs that came post 90’s are corrupted by the West. So, one has to listen to Bollywood songs before the 90s to understand the original Bollywood. Now, with Akon singing Chammak Challo, Bollywood has got an increased presence in the West,” he says.
