Miss Use
A Survey of Raunchy Bhojpuri Music Album Covers
Bewitching portrayals: ‘Chhappan Chhuri’ to ‘Miss Use’
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#53. CHHAPPAN CHHURI |
#54. CHHAPPAN CHHURI
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#55. CHHAMMAK CHHALLO |
#56. CHHAMIYA |
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# 53, 54: According to legend, the infamous courtesan Janki Bai (died 1926) of Allahabad, renowned for her beauty and singing, once survived 56 stabbings by a disgruntled lover. She was then accorded the epithet of ‘Chappan Churi’ (56 knives). Since, this title has come to signify a treacherous woman who can drive lovers to insanity.
# 55, 56: These titles refer to irresistible women - dressed in traditional finery and decked with ornaments - set out to enrapture male attention.
Also see # 01: “Miss Use” - Updated to English, this title also bears the same bewitching connotation attributed to the titles above.
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6. The rise of the “Star Singer”
Guddu Rangeela is one of the first major stars of the Bhojpuri recording industry. Before him, many singers such as Tara Bano Faizabadi and Saira Bano Faizabadi recorded prolifically and slowly became known names, but never achieved a star status. Guddu Rangeela is a singer cum performer. Guddu Rangeela rose to massive fame first through his hit stage programs and later his VCD albums that featured him prominently in all videos. He is a colourful character known as much for his antics as his evocative singing. His sense of drama and stage presentation drove crowds to raptures. In contrast, Tara Bano Faizabadi is a humble looking woman with no pretences. Only very short obligatory clips of her would be shown in the videos that accompanied her albums. Her photographs have perhaps never made it to any album cover.
Guddu Rangeela became the darling of the recording industry and was dubbed ‘The Diamond Star’. However Guddu Rangeela also has a big part to play in the aesthetic deterioration of Bhojpuri music. Traditional music became pop music, thanks largely to Guddu Rangeela. His troupe propagated electronic synthesizers and drum-pads instead of traditional instruments and converted the ‘nautanki’ into an orchestra.
Guddu Rangeela also unleashed a range of new vulgar songs and thus broke away from traditional tunes. He hypocritically also sang a number of staid numbers with hackneyed social message themes as a cover for his bawdy image. But all he touched turned to gold.
Guddu Rangeela introduced the pop-star phenomenon into the Bhojpuri music industry. Before him most of the raunchy singers were women. However since then many male stars have taken over the scene. Manoj Tiwari and Dinesh Lal Yadav are the other male names to have made it big in the recording business and have subsequently moved on to films. Now every other Bhojpuri singer is attempting the same route to success. The new women singers have also started featuring prominently on the album covers and music videos. However floating underneath all the glitz, the mellifluously rustic voice of Tara Bano Faizabadi still lingers even as she slowly fades away from the scene.
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#57. JEANS DHILA KARA |
#58. CHADDAR MEIN GADAR |
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The vulgar connotations of these album titles indicate the hallmark of Guddu Rangeela’s repertoire.
# 57: The female model prominently displayed here is Kim Sharma – a well known “item girl”. Lurking behind her is the image of Guddu Rangeela (in his old get up). The inset photos feature the now plump and clean-shaven Guddu Rangeela.
# 58: Guddu Rangeela is prominently splashed all over the album cover, unlike previous singers who if featured, only appeared as a small inset amongst images of models and actors. |
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#59. MAHUA TAPKE CHUNARIYA MEIN |
#60. YAARA - REMIX |
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These are albums by two women “star singers”, Kalpana and Devi respectively.
# 61: Devi’s face looms in the background in faded colours as she is not of generalized sexy proportions and cannot be the cover girl for her own album. A sexy model in hot pants is use as the cover girl. Village men can be seen chasing after city chicks in the small image in the foreground. This in itself is a recurring theme depicted on several album covers. |
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Concluding Note
In this examination of the migration of a rural folk culture from the hinterland to the city, we can see the various complex transformations and transmogrifications that it has undergone. Most of these transitions seem to be for the worse. First, a rich and varied culture has been reduced to a unidimensional raunchy genre. Then, the slow merger of this media with the mainstream culture has stripped it of its unique flavour. However these are not the final nails in the coffin.
On a positive note, Bhojpuri media now has a firm space in the media market. This space can become a platform for more talent to flow into this cultural sphere and perhaps become an enriching influence. The increased media presence has given this culture not only national but also international exposure. This could possibly result in global collaborations and exchanges with other Bhojpuri cultures around the world and interesting new expressive forms could emerge as a result. Even at a national level we may see a fragmentation of the Bhojpuri media into subcategories according to region or stylistic differences between musical groups as they try to distinguish themselves from the pack. As Bhojpuri culture has always been a dynamic entity, it is bound to evolve into a more complex and engaging form of expression. Perhaps this is just the beginning of a whole new evolutionary track.
Bhojpuri culture has also had a positive influence on city culture in subtle ways. Its tunes, rhythms and themes have enriched a depleting and regurgitating cultural space of the city and urban media. New Bhojpuri remixes in nightclubs and Bhojpuri events in public spaces shall perhaps weaken the homogenizing effect of globalised urban culture. Empowered and assertive regional media are perhaps the only hope against an increasingly technocratic and utilitarian society devoid of cultural identities.
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