Bigger budgets, experimental sounds made Dhollywood music a hit in 2019

Songs serve as perfect promotional material as they act as a window to the film. Songs give the audience a sneak-peek into what the film would look like. Realising the potential of big-budget, well-made songs, Gujarati filmmakers were open to put in extra effort to make songs bigger and more expensive. “If songs are shot well, they add value to the film,” says filmmaker Neeraj Joshi.
Rangdariyo from

Montu Ni Bittu

was shot exclusively in Diu, the team of G hired an entire resort for two days in Kutch to shoot an item number. The makers of

Chasani

roped in a team of technicians from Mumbai to add heavy VFX to their song Tuj Re, Hellaroinvested in getting Bollywood choreographers and dancers to create beautifully choreographed songs. “If you shoot an expensive song at an exotic location or a vibrant dance number, it attracts a lot of eyeballs and gives publicity to your film,” says filmmaker Mayur Kacchadiya.
And to make the most of good music, Gujarati composers offered something new to the audience. Who would have imagined a garba song with EDM beats, a Gujarati movie number that had a Latin American touch to it or a Gujarati hip-hop rap song? That’s what Gujarati musicians brought to the table this year. Be it adapting new musical genres or adding an international sound to the songs, 2019 was all about a musical mix of desi and global. Songs like Pakki Amdavadi (Latin American music), Shu Thai Che (slowtempo jazz), Kachindo (Gujarati rap) etc. were distinctly different and made their own statements. “Our films are reaching out to global audience now, so our music should reflect similar taste,” says music composer Shuchita Vyas. She adds, “There is a huge Gujarati diaspora that’s exposed to world music, and if our films have similar music, there will be a stronger connect.” Says composer Kushal Chokshi, “International genres like hip-hop and EDM are a huge hit in India and a lot of youngsters listen to that kind of music. So, if you create similar sounding songs, those listeners will also start following Gujarati music.”