Abstract
Narendra Sharma was for long associated with All India Radio, headed its Vividh Bharti station, was a well known literary figure, and contributed as a writer to the Bombay film industry. The piece reproduced here, published in Madhuri, Filmfare’s sister publication, captures the ambivalent relationship Hindi literati had to film music and dialogue. Poised at a key moment of transition in national radio, on the anvil of commercial development, the article displays awareness of the great popularity of the film song, and of its value as repository of folk and classical traditions. It also shows an attempt to think about distinctions between the audiences of radio and cinema. In its overall tone, the article showcases the instincts of a Hindi literati, ironically often retailed with great wit and literary verve, to discipline and even censor film songs for their culturally deracinating effects.
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