Movie buffs recall combing pavement bookstalls for these small treasures that contained the lyrics of the latest hit film
Movie buffs recall combing pavement bookstalls for these small treasures that contained the lyrics of the latest hit film
A couple of days ago I found an old book, with colourful photographs of Annavru (Dr Rajkumar to the uninitiated) on the cover. It has the lyrics of nearly 500 hit songs from Dr Raj's films. A peek into the book took me back to the time when there was a huge craze for songbooks like this one. 
Be it Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu film songs, one could find them in such small, modestly priced and well-thumbed books.
Movie buffs would compete with each other to snap up the songbook of the latest release. There were little shops more shacks than shops that would cater to this fan base near cinema theatres in the Majestic area. The number of such shops has dwindled but if you persist in your search, you will find a couple of them around KG Road.
Between the 70's and the 80's, the songs were sheer poetry, connecting with listeners instantly. What could not be shown on screen was conveyed through the song sequences.u00a0
Today's movies have no use for poetry and everything, from emotion to expression, is in your face. That explains why the lyrical value of songs has plummeted, making the songbook redundant.
Just download
No one goes looking for songbooks today. Where one picked up these little treasures with songs from films starring Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Rajesh Khanna or Amitabh Bachchan near theatres that screened their movies, there are now swanky showrooms that sell gadgets and gizmos. And thanks to technology, which has changed even the ritual of movie going, we download songs when the mood strikes us.u00a0
Use a search engine, take printouts of lyrics of the film song of your choice from any of the umpteen sites that pop up on your computer screen and you're ready to roll.
But if you still want to go treasure hunting, try your luck in the bustling bylanes of Gandhibazar, Chamarajpet and Jayanagar. You never know when you'll get lucky!
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