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There is a lot of craze for songs in Indian films. This has been happening not just from today but from decades ago. Take Mughal-e-Azam only. Its song Jab Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya was made at that time by spending lakhs of rupees. That era, when films used to be made for a few lakhs.
Even today, just look at the films made under the banner of Karan Johar to Yash Chopra. They celebrate each song like a festival. Shoot the songs in the most beautiful valleys of the world. They spend lakhs and crores of rupees and prepare the best tracks.
But do you know about the film which had the maximum number of songs? If the name of any film like Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Rockstar, DDLJ, Taal, Mohabbatein is coming in your mind then stop. Because the film which holds the record for most songs was released in the year 1932. In which there were 72 songs.
This film was produced by JF Madan and Jahanara Kajjanbai and Master Nisar played the lead roles. Jahanara was born in the house of famous courtesan Suggan Begum. Who was an excellent singer and was famous in the film Indrasabha.
The name of this film is ‘Indra Sabha’. The film ‘Indra Sabha’, released in 1932, initially had 72 songs. While some reports claim 69 songs, some say 71 songs. The Guinea Book of World Records named the film ‘Indra Sabha’ as the film with the highest number of songs. It was released exactly one year after the country’s first talking film ‘Alam Ara’.
‘Indra Sabha’ was directed by Manilal Joshi. It was a huge film of that time, with a running time of 211 minutes. The reason for the length of the film was the songs within it. This film was based on Agha Hasan Amanat’s play in which the introduction of the character was also given in musical style. Like it used to happen in the drama earlier.
In The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre, James R. Brandon states that the play consisted of 31 ghazals, 9 thumris, 4 holi, 15 songs, two chabolas and five verses. It is also mentioned in Limca Book of Records that there was one special song for every character in the film.
Talking about Indra Sabha play, it was an Urdu play. Which was first performed on stage in 1853. It is considered to be the first complete Urdu stage play. Which was also translated into German.
If we talk about the songs of the films of the last few years, then Sooraj Barjatya’s musical film ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ had 14 songs and Subhash Ghai’s ‘Taal’ had 12 songs. Whereas today’s Rockstar had 14 songs. Accordingly, till date no one has been able to break the record of this film even after 93 years.