has anyone thought about the diegesis of music in bollywood/south asian masala movies? there's no doubt that it functions differently than in western musicals... but HOW exactly? in most western musical theatre the music seems to non-diegetic (as in, the characters and those around them are unaware that they are singing) unless it is a performance, then it is diegetic/source music (they are singing in the story- everyone knows they're singing).
perhaps the difference comes from the fact that masala movies are movies first and (to my knowledge) are often not adapted from musical stage productions (though the movies CAN be adapted into musicals in the case of mughal-e-azam, hum aapke hain koun, and dilwale dulhania le jayenge). but in masala movies the line between "this is a performance in the story" and "i am singing to express my feelings" seems somewhat blurred. Señorita from ZNMD is a performance, they are singing, everyone knows it. Bum Bum Bole from Taare Zameen Par, they're singing, Aamir Khan is a funny little dude singing a funky clown song. But then what about Kashmiri Main Tu Kanyakumari from Chennai Express? Singing in a car... okay, that's a performance! But the choreographed dance number? Is that happening or is it symbolizing their journey across India? Mere Khwabon Mein from DDLJ is definitely (probably?) Simran expressing her dreams and such, and she's not singing in universe. But then what about Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna? Raj singing at Simran would make sense as a performance at a mehndi, but what about Simran singing back?
OH and since the popularity of film/musical songs works differently in South Asia than it does in the States... how does continuity work in that? Such as the medley from Mujhse Dosti Karoge, in which Hrithik's character sings Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Rani's character... does this mean that KKHH exists in this universe?? Does Rani Mukherjee the actress then exist in this universe and her character in this movie have a doppleganger?? What about all of Shahrukh Khan's movies... especially with the antakshari scenes in Chennai Express? Does Om Shanti Om exist in that universe? Does SRK the actor exist? If not then how did these songs come about? Is it similar to the NSU (Nickelodeon Sitcom Universe) in which there are gray parts of one's mind when it comes to crossover events? This FASCINATES me to no end you don't understand.
side note. i want to see someone that has directed a masala movie tackle one of these american musical to movie adaptations. no more tom hooper. i want farah khan or karan johar or ss rajamouli to direct cats and see how THAT looks. if tom hooper had directed k3g it would not have been as fantastical (such as the "my son is here" super sense) as it was.
let american movie musicals have as much fun as south asian masala films do.
there seem to be some (paywalled) academic papers on the matter but it'd be interesting to hear anyone's thoughts on it!
