A NAVARASA BASED ANALYSIS OF SONGS FROM THE MOVIE LAGAAN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v6.i2s.2025.6689Keywords:
Bollywood, Hindi Cinema, Navarasa Theory, Indian Classical Music, Hindustani, Carnatic, RagasAbstract [English]
The necessity for sound in a film is undebatable. Music, as sound, can be diegetic and non-diegetic depending on the demands of the story. Music also plays a pivotal role in Indian films as it happens to be an integral part of our culture and audience. It enhances the emotions and adds magic to the overall output of the scene. Despite holding tremendous importance, film music has not been studied adequately. This paper seeks to analyse how music enhances the scenes in films. This analysis will be carried out through the Navarasa Theory from the Natya Shastra. This theory seeks to facilitate our understanding of the emotions that the songs convey to the scene. Every Rasa has got certain Ragas or tunes that convey its appropriate mood. The study shall also draw parallels between these Ragas, their pertaining Rasas and the scenes in the film to understand the correlation between the three. Songs from the movie Lagaan – Once Upon a Time In India, have been selected for the study.
References
Arya, K. K., and Verma, M. (2021). A Navarasa-Based Analysis of Love (Śṛṅgāra) in Middle Cinema’s Chitchor versus domestic drama’s Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon. 10(2), 310–327.
Bhateja, R. (2015). Western Influence on Bollywood music (6).
Bhattacharjee, A., and Srinivasan, N. (2011). Hindustani Raga Representation and Identification: A Transition Probability-Based Approach. International Journal of Mind, Brain and Cognition, 2, 71–99.
Dhole, V. (2017). Music and the Metropolis in Hindi Cinema: Negotiating the Modern City Through Songs. Media Watch, 8(2, Special Issue), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.15655/mw/2017/v8i1A/48938
Gayathri, E. (n.d.). Ragas, Navarasas and Emotions. Blogspot.
Jasmine Strings. (2009, August 5). Ragas/Navarasas/Emotions.
Kaimal, V., and Barde, S. (2018). Introduction to Identification of Raga in Carnatic Music and its Corresponding Hindustani Music. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 6(6), 955–958. https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v6i6.955958 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v6i6.955958
Kaur, A. (1936). Indian Cinema and Music: A Historical Journey (1–3).
Kaur, B. (2021). Evolution and Cultural Impact of Hindi Film Music from the 1940s. 9(12), 1–6.
Koduri, G. (2018, July 15). Indian ragas: Introduction to Raag Bhimpalasi. Riyaz – Practice, Learn to Sing.
Koduri, G. (2022, January 28). Embrace the spirit of Raag Desh: An introductory singing course. Riyaz – Practice, Learn to Sing.
Lal, R. (2019). Everyday Life, Everyday Songs: A Re-Evaluation of Song Sequences in Popular Hindi Films of the 1950s (Doctoral dissertation, Boston University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.
Nandan, M. R., and Rele, U. (2022). Gap Bodhi Taru Classicism in Indian Dance Styles: Natya, Nṛtta and Nṛtya. III, 46–50.
Raga.hu. (n.d.). Raga Jog.
Riyaz App. (n.d.). Introduction to Raag Bhimpalasi.
Riyaz App. (n.d.). Introduction to Raag Desh.
Roy, P. (2012). Filming a Metaphor: Cinematic Liberties, Navarasa Influences and Digressions in Adaptation in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas. The South Asianist, 1(1), 31–49.
Saadhakam. (n.d.). Nattakurinji. Blogspot.
Sharma, A. K., Aggarwal, G., Bhardwaj, S., Chakrabarti, P., Chakrabarti, T., Abawajy, J. H., Bhattacharyya, S., Mishra, R., Das, A., and Mahdin, H. (2021). Classification of Indian Classical Music With Time-Series Matching Deep Learning Approach. IEEE Access, 9, 102041–102052. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3093911 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3093911
Tanarang. (n.d.). Raag Tilak Kamod.
The Times of India. (2016, September 27). Tansen: The Master of Raag Deepak and Raag Megh Malhar.
Toth, Szabi. (n.d.). Raga Jog. raga.hu. Retrieved December 19, 2025, from
Unknown. (2012, December 16). Nattakurinji. World of Music And Culture.
Vijayakar, R. (2013). The Role of a Song in a Hindi Film. The South Asianist, 2(3), 48–73.
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, December 31). Megh Malhar. In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 19, 2025, from
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, December 18). Abheri. In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 19, 2025, from
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, December 19). Megh (raga). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 19, 2025, from
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ms. R Sailaxmy, Dr. Prabakaran V
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
