It doesn't matter that there is often a disconnect between the song and the movie. Under the all-embracing term 'item number' the digressions into another terrain, the forays into raunchiness, the taunting tonality of the songs, the rhyming patterns that would make even a country bumpkin do a jig, all this allowed a familiarity with Indian-English to be displayed.
The forest or fountain or the park was not usually where the English was tried out. The disco was always there and if not there could always be the party where Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) was served. Indian Made English Language (IMEL) was the right choice too.
So 'Rock and roll baby,' 'You are my love,' 'Dance with me baby,' and 'I wanna go dancing' were all unquestioningly accepted. These lines did not mock at the non-English speaker. They were all reminders to the public that another language was at their door and they better start swaying to its tune.
Image: In Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3, a realistic look at Mumbai's Page 3 social culture, all the actors -- from those playing socialites to those playing their drivers -- switched comfortably from Hindi to English and back again.
Also read: Untold stories of contemporary India
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