How global warming is changing movie songs

As far as I can remember, nature has been an integral part of movie songs. Be it Saira Banu prancing around in Ruk Ja Ae Hawa or Dharmendra singing Aaj Mausam Bada Beiman Hain, nature and its components have been part and parcel of expressing oneself. Not only that, phool, jheel, pahad and patton ki sarsarahat gave the characters the backdrop to celebrate, pine for a lover or wallow in the pangs of a heartbreak.

“Chand phir nikla, magar tum na aaye”

Strangely, as days go by, we don't find many songs picturised amid nature anymore. Javed Akhtar was right when he wrote “In dinon phool aur taare koi bhi dekhta nahin.” In the internet generation, we are connected to the grid always. Admiring nature and writing songs about it called for a free space in mind which is filled with (mostly useless) information now. Internet connectivity has made it possible for corporates to make their employees work beyond office hours. The office laptops are nothing but umbilical chords to our organisations. In case one does have free time, doomscrolling will make it sure that one cannot enjoy that. 

There is truly "no time to stand and stare."

However, there is another factor which is preventing us from writing songs about flowers, gardens, butterflies and rivers - global warming.

Gardens and a sky full of stars have been the settings of many a Hindi songs, but nowadays, more and more songs are shot in enclosed spaces. The winters are very short at even hill stations, and concrete jungles don't inspire. High temperature and pollution make even an half-an-hour stroll a laborious task. Many heroes have romanced heroines in gardens comparing their beauty with nature's resplendence around, but now, heat (which is there almost all year) has made being outside a very uncomfortable experience.

Thus spaces with air-conditioning become the preferred locations for recreation and romance.

Of course, the Karan Johars and Aditya Chopras of the world can always jet off to Switzerland and Canada for the perfect mausam, the lesser mortals have to make do with malls, smoke-filled pubs (which usually play bad music), indoor adventure set-ups and VR sets. The heat makes it difficult to watch the moon in her "silver shoon", or sing a self-discovery song while taking a walk in the woods (ala Suhana safar aur ye mausam hansi).

It's just that motivation feels so much more genuine when it comes from flowers, rather than Instagram quotes, which have most probably been copied from somewhere.

Canopied promenades, silvery rivers and wild flowers are disappearing from our songs and movies. They are just reflecting the reality.