ABSTRACT
The song “Kariye na” (“Don’t do it”) opens the film Taal (Ghai 1999) with a visual montage that sets the stage for the meeting between the hero Manav (Akshay Khanna), son of a wealthy plains-based industrialist, and the heroine Mansi (Aishwarya Rai), daughter of the renowned Himalayan folk singer Tarababu (Alok Nath). At the beginning of the song, Mansi is shown performing yoga poses in silhouette, representing both her spiritual purity and erotic allure. Her father Tarababu performs for a group of politicians and radio recordists, as youthful accompanists exuberantly bang away on “folk”- inspired instruments, including a large, hourglass-shaped pressure drum (resembling an oversized hurka, which is played in parts of Garhwal and Kumaon, in Uttarakhand), a tabla bass drum played on its side, and a clay pot (the South Indian ghatam). The composer A.R. Rahman leaves the pressure drum out of the soundtrack, but he includes a tabla, ankle bells, a Jew’s harp (morsing), a clay pot-none of which are indigenous to Himachal Pradesh where the scene was filmed-and a number of electronic percussion samples. The “folksiness” of the song might be located in the sparse, percussion-heavy arrangement, the emphasis on acoustic instruments with unusual timbres, and the short and simple melodic hook juxtaposed against elaborate vocal runs. These sonic elements work together with a range of visual signs-long hair, bandana around the forehead, mountain-style dress, excessive bodily movement, and facial expressions of the performers-to produce the general icon of a folk music performance.
