A royal affair with Bollywood
Who would have imagined bagpipes playing Bollywood hits for the King of the United Kingdom? Well, it did happen and that too, not just once. International Indian band, Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa Pipe Band London blended Scottish bagpipes and Bollywood, to regale King Charles III and Queen Camilla at a royal ceremony. The beats of ‘Dhoom Machale’ from the film, ‘Dhoom’ reverberated at Westminster Abbey during the Commonwealth Day ceremony.
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Dressed in full Scottish regalia, the band switched to ‘Teri Meri Prem Kahani’ when Prince William and Princess Catherine entered for the service and went on to play other well-known Hindi songs.
Marvel loves Bollywood tunes
With many Indian actors playing different roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s no surprise that Indian music will play an important part. After all, India has its own Spider-Man, Pavitr Prabhakar in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’. ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’, a song from the 1951 film ‘Awaara’ was heard playing over the radio in ‘Deadpool’ when Dopinder (Karan Soni), a cab driver picks up Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds. Kamala Khan or Ms Marvel in ‘Ms Marvel’ has Indian roots and Hindi songs like ‘Jhoote do, paise lo’ and ‘Dil Bole Haddipa’ and many other sings are sprinkled throughout the six-episode series. More recently, in the TV series, ‘What If…?’ season 3, Marvel Studios recreated the iconic Bollywood song ‘Malhari’ from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Bajirao Mastani’, with Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo leading a dance performance, showcasing a fusion of Bollywood and Marvel’s storytelling.
Tesla lights dance to Naatu Naatu
‘Naatu Naatu’, a peppy four-and-a-half-minute dance number from the Telugu blockbuster ‘RRR’, waltzed into the record books when it became the first song from India to win a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and then an Oscar for Best Original Score at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023. A large group of Tesla owners in New Jersey, USA, gathered at a parking lot to celebrate the Oscar with a custom light show.
The video clip shows a bunch of Teslas arranged in the form of RRR, the name of the movie and flashing their lights in a synchronised fashion.
The video was also shared by the official account of Tesla. “Schedule your light show on multiple vehicles simultaneously to create an epic festival of lights,” the company tweeted.
Hollywood can’t get enough of A R Rahman
Long before A R Rahman grabbed the Oscar for his score in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, his songs were already making waves in Hollywood. From the ‘Bombay Theme’ in Lord of War, ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ in ‘Inside Man’, ‘Rang De’ in ‘The Accidental Husband’, and more recently ‘Take It Easy, Urvasi’ in ‘Lion’, the Mozart of Chennai has captivated Hollywood.
Conan O’Brien becomes first Oscar host
to speak Hindi
American TV host and comedian Conan O’Brien, while hosting the 97th Academy Awards, gave an unexpected shoutout to Indian fans, watching the programme at home in India. During his monologue highlighting the films that are nominated for the award, he switched from English to Hindi to say, “Namashkar. Nashte ke saath Oscar kar rahe hai aap log,” he said for Hindi OTT viewers, which translates to, “Greetings to the people of India, It’s morning there, so I hope you enjoy your breakfast with the Oscars.”
