Which are the old songs?

The other day I got to hear a song from the film ‘Aashiqui’ (released in 1990) from somewhere. Someone said, “Ah! It’s so nice to hear the old classic songs again.” Aashiqui songs are old songs? I wondered. (Clarification – I am well aware that there has been Aashiqui – 2 also recently; but this article was written before release of Aashiqui 2. Only, reference to current year has been changed to 2014.) These relate to memories of my early college days. Have I grown old then? I looked at myself in the mirror.

Leave my case, there are some diehard fans of Dilip, Dev and Raj who like to be lost in the memories of the golden era of 1950’s when legends like Shankar-Jaikishen, S. D. Burman, Naushad, Madan Mohan, etc. were at their best. These fans don’t even accept songs of the next generation stars like Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt as old songs. I believe this nostalgia for 1950’s songs has as much to do with connection with some memories in one’s life as with fondness of the melody of 1950’s. Otherwise songs of 1960’s and even of the next generation had their own beauty and rhythm, if not the melody of 1950’s. And let me tell you, such fans are active (in life) even today.

In one of our family get-togethers during my college days, someone started praising Rajesh Khanna (RK) songs as old classic songs. In the crowd, there was a diehard fan of 1950’s songs. He started laughing at the RK fan and said, “If you think Rajesh Khanna songs are old songs, what will you say about songs of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand? If you compare the quality of songs that time, Rajesh Khanna songs stand nowhere near them.” The RK fan felt so beaten that he didn’t open his mouth for a long time after that.

Coming to the main point, all these discussions that time created an impression in my mind that all songs before the Rajesh Khanna regime are old songs and those from RK regime onwards are new songs. Honestly, in many years after that, I did not get time to pursue my liking for Hindi songs while focusing on my curriculum and then career. Suddenly one day, when someone said Aashiqui songs are old songs, it put me count the number of years that have passed since then.

I made some analysis myself on this and arrived at these conclusions:

v   Without denying the basic fact that old songs are evergreen and long lasting as compared to new songs, I wish to point out that good songs have been composed in all the times. Songs of each generation have their own character and beauty and a true music lover would appreciate quality of songs composed in all the times and not just in olden times. Many of the compositions of A. R. Rahman, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, etc. have been appreciated well.

v   It’s not that all the old songs are evergreen and long lasting. Some of them which were not so good, have been forgotten with passage of time.

v   While my earlier generations were nostalgic about the old songs, I have started becoming nostalgic about Amitabh Bachchan songs nowadays (it’s age factor again, you know).

v   Lastly but most importantly, fondness for old songs is not necessarily the same as love for music. While there are appreciators of old songs for their quality, many times, it is observed that this is due to one’s connection of these songs with some dearly cherished memories of life.

While I am on the verge of accepting that Aashiqui songs may really have become old by now, I only hope that at least in 2014, no one terms songs from the movies like Kal Ho Na Ho, Dhoom, Bunty Aur Babli as old songs.