Bollywood

Bollywood on vinyl: film music from Indian cinema

In short: Bollywood is the name for the Hindi film industry in Bombay, today’s Mumbai – and for its music. Songs are a fixed part of the films: composers and lyricists write them, playback singers usually record them, and the actors lip-sync on screen. The Vinyl Room currently has 11 Bollywood records.

What is Bollywood music?

The great composers: Naushad with “Dil Diya Dard Liya” and “Ram Aur Shyam”, the duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal with “Badaltey Rishtey”, R. D. Burman with “Main Awara Hoon” and Khayyam with “Dard”. The sleeves usually name composer and lyricist side by side – Anand Bakshi, Naqsh Lyallpuri or Shakeel Badayuni, for example.

Voices and strings: Noor Jehan, celebrated as the “Queen of Melody”, is here with a collection of her songs, and Batuk Nandy plays film hits on the Hawaiian guitar.

What to look for

Our Bollywood records are mostly from the seventies and eighties; label, catalogue number and year of release help you tell which edition you have – it’s noted with each copy.

From our stock

First pressings

New in

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FAQ

What is Bollywood music? The songs and music of Hindi films from Bombay/Mumbai.

Who sings the songs in the films? Usually playback singers take over the vocals; the actors lip-sync on screen.

What do double names like Laxmikant-Pyarelal mean? Many film composers worked as a duo and appeared under both names.

Which Bollywood records do you have? Here, for example, Naushad’s “Dil Diya Dard Liya” and Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s “Badaltey Rishtey”.