Guest article by Arunkumar Deshmukh
(When I mentioned that Arunji is a living encyclopaedia, I was thinking of Hindi, Marathi, and perhaps Telugu films because of his early association with Hyderabad. While I was still struggling if I knew anyone who could write about Kannada, out of the blue, Arunji made an offer to write on similar songs in Hindi and Kannada. Now I know whom to approach for Santhali, Chhatisgarhi, Dogri or Manipuri languages, but I am sure Arunji will never cease to surprise us! After his excellent piece on Hindi-Marathi, please enjoy another highly educative article on the history of Kannada films, and their linkages with Hindi and other languages. – AK)
The First Talkie in 1931 was the beginning of a revolution in Filmdom. As expected even the first talking film was singing too! It had 7 songs. This stressed two points, one – India did not lag behind in technology, and two – music was an integral part of our lives, including entertainment.
From historical and even mythological times all kings – big or small had their “Court-Singers”. With love of common people and the royal patronage, it was not a wonder that ALL talkie films in ALL languages had songs in it.