Creative freedom in Bollywood music has quietly collapsed. Music directors no longer compose without restrictions. Lyricists no longer write without templates. The undeniable truth is that the overall quality of Hindi film music has sharply declined. Romance must sound Punjabi. Celebration must sound Punjabi. Even sorrow is diluted with Punjabi hooks. Every emotion, every genre, every mood is pushed into the same sonic mould. On top of that comes blind imitation of Western pop—songs reduced to looping phrases, hollow hooks, and overpowered beats with nothing meaningful left to say.
Something fundamentally broke after 2015. Bollywood songs stopped becoming timeless. The ability of music to embed itself into collective memory faded. Decades earlier, songs from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s effortlessly crossed generations. Today, most tracks vanish within weeks. Playback singers emerge and disappear without leaving an imprint. Meanwhile, games like antakshari still pull overwhelmingly from songs that are 15 to 25 years old—because those songs actually lived beyond their release window.
Hindi film music was once inseparable from poetic storytelling. Songs didn’t interrupt narratives; they expanded them. Over time, as filmmaking evolved, Bollywood music began to resemble a vestigial organ—still present, but stripped of purpose and identity.
An entire generation struggles to name even five Bollywood playback singers who debuted in the last decade. The most familiar name still belongs to Arijit Singh—an artist who has been active for nearly 18 years. In contrast, voices like KK, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Mohit Chauhan, and Kumar Sanu remain instantly recognizable decades after their debuts. Their songs are permanently etched into public memory. Their voices became emotions.
The same decline is visible among composers. For nearly half a century, every era of Bollywood music was defined by multiple composers with unmistakable identities. Even within similar genres, styles never overlapped. A song by R.D. Burman could be recognized within seconds. That uniqueness was the result of fearless creativity.
The Golden Age of the 50s and 60s produced legends like S.D. Burman, Shankar–Jaikishan, Naushad, Madan Mohan, and C. Ramchandra. The 70s and 80s Masala era belonged to R.D. Burman, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, Kalyanji–Anandji, and Bappi Lahiri. The 90s Revival era was shaped by Jatin–Lalit, Nadeem–Shravan, Anand–Milind, and Anu Malik. The New Millennium period—from 2000 to roughly 2015—saw A.R. Rahman, Pritam, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and Himesh Reshammiya dominate simultaneously, yet never sound alike.
Today, most songs follow identical formulas. Trends dictate creativity. Only a handful of names dominate public awareness—A.R. Rahman, Pritam, Amit Trivedi, Vishal–Shekhar, Salim–Sulaiman, and occasionally Shashwat Sachdev. The arrival of a truly path-breaking new composer after 2015 remains absent. Instead, the industry witnessed the rise of remake culture, with figures like Tanishk Bagchi repeatedly dismantling iconic songs and repackaging nostalgia as novelty.
There was a time when complete film albums mattered. Love Aaj Kal still feels musically relevant. Dev.D reshaped experimentation. Aashiqui 2 created an emotional blueprint that filmmakers still chase. Albums like Rockstar, Jab We Met, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Haider, Taare Zameen Par, Delhi-6, Dil Chahta Hai, Lagaan, Veer-Zaara, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Lakshya, Jodhaa Akbar, and Bluffmaster became cultural landmarks.
Between 2000 and 2015, entire albums were unforgettable. Songs were powerful enough to define actors and films alike. Music and cinema coexisted as independent identities that elevated each other.
That ecosystem has collapsed. Modern filmmakers treat lip-sync songs with embarrassment. As a result, music is sidelined rather than celebrated. Earlier, even when films faded from memory, their soundtracks endured. That separation no longer exists.
Naming ten films released between 2015 and 2025 with fully iconic albums is nearly impossible. Before 2015, this problem simply didn’t exist.
Bollywood’s addiction to nostalgia has accelerated the decay. Songs from the late 90s and early 2000s are repeatedly recycled and stripped of their soul—Humma Humma, Sheher Ki Ladki, Akhiyon Se Goli Maare, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag, Dus Bahane—each remake erodes the legacy of the original. Punjabi indie hits have suffered the same fate, brutally adapted into Bollywood versions that dilute their cultural essence.
This obsession exists because new composition is no longer prioritized. Producers chase reel trends, commission remakes, and abandon originality. Music is chosen based on algorithmic potential rather than narrative relevance.
Bollywood music is not a single genre—but it is being treated like one. Songs crafted specifically for storytelling are disappearing. Lyrics are collapsing into empty phrases. Meaning has been replaced by noise. Occasional shallow songs are harmless—but when shallowness becomes standard, meaningful music loses space. As Javed Akhtar observed, bad songs aren’t dangerous; society turning them into superhits is.
Strong albums still emerge—Animal, Laapata Ladies, Laal Singh Chaddha, Aap Jaisa Koi, Metro… In Dino. Yet their lifespan is short because visibility now depends on reels, not resonance.
Music consumption has been reduced to virality. TikTok accelerated it. Instagram normalized it. While independent artists gained exposure, Bollywood albums lost relevance. Producers now seek one viral track per film; the rest are filler.
Once, songs were discussed before box office numbers. Today, music is secondary. New voices are ignored. Veterans are sidelined. The industry endlessly recycles the same sounds.
Still, fragments of hope remain. Artists like Rochak Kohli, Amaal Mallik, Jubin Nautiyal, Ajay–Atul, Jasleen Royal, and Vishal Mishra possess the ability to revive musical depth—if freed from the prison of virality.
Good and bad music have always coexisted in Bollywood. But by every measurable standard, the last decade marks a clear decline. Without decisive change, truly great compositions may become exceptions rather than traditions in the years ahead.
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