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Joseph M. Getter Working Title:
Abstract: This is a study of contemporary popular film music from the metropolis Chennai, India. The goals of this dissertation are to elucidate this music's creation and circulation, to examine its relationship to the visual medium of film, and to interpret its meaning and significance. The thesis of this study is that recent film music of South India clearly embodies the immense changes occurring over the past decade in India's society, politics, economy, and music, so that this genre represents an Indian identity resonating with the issues of today's world. The conclusions of this study aim to provide fresh insights into the music and life of today's India. Film music has largely been neglected by academic studies of music and musical cultures, yet the genre has an enormous impact on musicians and audiences. Examination of the musical, historical, social, political, and economic conditions for this music's production, distribution, and consumption provide a unique and fascinating means of comprehending recent changes occurring in India. Finally, a look at this musical culture leads to new views of the cultural life of contemporary India. To reflect the range of contexts for contemporary South Indian film music, this dissertation employs several methodologies: multi-sited ethnography of South Indian film music production and consumption; historical research; textual analysis of song lyrics; musicological analysis of the sounds of musical pieces; and contextualization of the music as a crucial component of the medium of film. These approaches are unified by a shared concern with connecting this music to recent and significant culture change, as shaped by forces (that are often entangled in debate or conflict) including: globalization, the internet, diaspora, Indian and Tamil identity, nationalism, changes in lifestyle, postcoloniality, modernity, and notions of tradition. The dissertation's data is a selection of films produced in Chennai from the early 1990s to 2000. Chennai, India's forth-largest city, has long been an important center of culture, commerce, and film production, similar to the Hindi cinema's Bollywood of Mumbai. The time span corresponds to major shifts in Indian society, including governmental policies of economic liberalization and globalization, the formation of a new middle class of consumers as well as that of a youth culture, and a rapid increase in urbanization and the use of computer technology. The films, each with songs and background musical accompaniment, are representative of several major genres of commercial cinema, and were primarily noteworthy or hit films. They are analyzed in tandem with ethnographic fieldwork data from Chennai and elsewhere including North America, and interviews with several key figures in the South Indian cinema industry, such as music directors, film directors, art directors, musicians, journalists, academics and others. Moreover, the analysis seeks to understand the films within India's history and material conditions, and in particular will engage with the issues of postcolonialism, tradition, and the formation of Indian identity. Thus the theoretical model for this study integrates analysis of artistic works, ethnography of the society that produces and consumes them, and a material and historical understanding.
Contents: Introduction The Fabric of Life in
Today's India 1. Development and Characteristics of South Indian Film Music Historical Outline: Origins
and Development 2. Profiles of Contemporary Film Music Directors M.S. Viswanathan, the
Master 3. Case Studies from Contemporary Films Patriotic and Political
Films: Mudhalvan, Bombay and Indian 4. Contexts of South Indian Film Music Performances of Film Music:
Cinema Halls, Stage Shows, and Recording Playback 5. Film Music Culture Opinions of Listeners,
Critics, and Arbiters of Indian Culture: Disdain to
Delight Conclusions Portrayal of Contemporary
Life in Today's Films Filmography
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