Jaipur:
It was a trip down the melody lane as three of Bollywood's finest lyricists - Gulzar, Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi - discussed the tradition and emerging trends of Hindi film songs at the Jaipur Literature festival. People were reminded of songs that have regaled generations.
For years, songs were integral to the narrative of Hindi films and a continuation of India's strong oral tradition.
"In no other country are there popular songs written by poets of such high calibre as Sahir Ludhiyanvi. We are really fortunate that some of the finest poets of our country have given their talents to writing popular songs in films," said Prasoon Joshi.
But when the year's biggest hits are Munni Badnam Hui and Sheila ki Jawani, much of the discussion was inevitably focussed on item songs that now seem to dominate Bollywood music.
"In songs like Munni Badnam hui there is really little pretension about the quality or type of song that it is. But the problem today is that even when you need a soft romantic song or a lullaby, Item songs are unnecessarily being inserted," said Javed Akhtar.
But if Javed Akhtar attacked Item songs, Gulzar came down heavily on another threat - the remix of Golden songs of an earlier era.
"All fine arts are an invaluable aspect of our generation, they are an integral part of our heritage. If our finest songs are to be re-mixed then you might as well start painting the old frescoes in Ajanta-Ellora," Gulzar said.
The three luminaries ended the session with a plea to film buffs to support good cinema and better quality of film songs to ensure that crudity is kept at bay.