In bollywood the music plays a vital role. If the music is good in the movie it’s like well begun is half done. Music directors are given the story and the lyrics and are expected to make tunes for each song. Then professional play back singers are hired who sing these songs. Then when the movie is being made the hero and heroine have to lip sync to the music. There are very few stars that sing for their movies and act too. Kishore Kumar was a veteran and now it’s Big B who is the only one to carry it off. In the past the music directors were famous for making songs which were easy to sing and yet so melodious but today it’s a different story. Now a music director is rated on the basis of how many hit dance tracks can he provide. If it’s a slow track then how melodious it is and how many techno sounds has he used. R.D. Burman was a music director whom people still can’t forget and nobody can beat his music. Even today people remix his tracks and are selling it for good money.

Another director whose music is a craze is A.R Rehman. His music is great to listen to and very difficult to sing. He has delivered major hits like Chaiya Chaiya, Hamma hamma, roja etc. But the current heart throb is Himesh Reshammiya. It’s not a coincidence but every track which has been a hit in 2006 has been his track. This director not only makes good music but he is an exceptional singer too. Himesh sings and has a voice which sounds like he is singing from his nose but the beauty is that every word he sings touches the heart. Top directors this year are annoyed with him. Reason being even when Himesh was not signed on for some movies the producers requested him to do a special song. To the woes of many other directors everything that Himesh did turned into a hit.

Play back singing used to be the forte of a select few singers but now a days there are many players. To make it big in bollywood you either need to be star kid or you must have a godfather in the industry. Of late there has been a new way to make it big in bollywood and that is by participating in one of the reality shows. There are many shows like Indian idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which are providing raw talent with a platform to make it big. Some of the recent finds have been Debojit and Abhijeet Sawant. These singers not only sing for movies they also perform in shows.

The words or the lyrics too have undergone a revolution. There was a time when the words of a song were censored very carefully. Nowadays the words are pretty weird at times. Movies like Lage Raho Munna Bhai have brought in a new style of writing. People dance to music which they enjoy and listen to music that they can sing. Gulzar and Javed Akthar are two lyricists who have magic in their pens. Every word they write not only does it touch your heart it will bring a tear in your eye or a smile on your face. The lyrics written by these lyricists on patriotism are often sung in schools and competitions. Songs like Ek Ladki Ko Dekha …, Tu hi re… and Dil se were so beautifully written that lots of Indian lads sing these songs for their loved ones.

Many musicals have been made in India and I don’t think there is any movie in the history of bollywood which doesn’t have music or a song at least. Even horror movies have songs. This is when the hero will see the ghost of a lady walking with a candle in her hands, wearing a white saree and will follow her.

Music is like the life line of a movie. There are many movies which have extraordinary music. If you want to make a collection of some great musicals then it’s a must to have the following movies: