Barso Re Megha: Monsoons, Music and the Quintessential 2000s Aesthetics of Indian Cinema

"Main Delhi bol raha hoon, Maddy se," precisely encapsulates what rain does to lovers. There's no denying that there's something really magical about it. Haruki Murakami, the acclaimed Japanese writer aptly describes this feeling as, "Look at the rain long enough, with no thoughts in your head, and you gradually feel your body falling loose, shaking free of the world of reality. Rain has the power to hypnotize."

Indeed this hypnotising effect of rain has been captivated and capitalised on by Bollywood Cinema all these years! Monsoons possess a rare phenomenon of merging different emotions and elements together and this is perhaps why Bollywood keeps visiting this archetype again and again. Rain is more than a season, it's the perfect natural or sometimes human made setting to express longing, memory, sensuality and sometimes all at once. The 2000s are quietly remarkable in this regard because of the aesthetics it produced. The rain soaked chiffon sarees, the breezy atmosphere, misty hills, temple corridors, railway stations, overflowing streets, everything could be elevated and made unforgettable in cinema. These songs continue to define romance and nostalgia for generations.

Every year during monsoons "Barso Re" from Guru (2007) resurfaces and goes viral across social media. Dance reels, shorts and edits revive the song as if rain itself demands its presence. There can be various reasons behind why this happens but I like to think that it's not merely the beautiful lyrical composition or the magical voice of Shreya Ghosal that makes the song enchanting, it's the atmosphere of freedom and the sheer joy of drenching in the rain, the village landscapes, it show, that together make the song timeless. A comment on YouTube reads, "Only Indian people know the importance of the letter 'N' while playing antakshari." Because they begin with the raag portion of the song while singing it, Nanna na re na re.

Pause here for a minute and go watch the video and let me know what you feel about it in the comment section. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan dancing uninhibitedly through temple spaces, village roads, paddy fields, waterfalls in the background and misty greens, deeply resonates with the Indian audience. It's the joy of freedom, the joy of dancing in public spaces so openly that creates a point of view that cannot bear to be only a mere moment. The location where the song was recorded also plays an interesting role. The temple motifs of Karnataka and traditional architecture are intentionally placed aesthetics that connect rain to something ancient, almost like a culturally intimate ritual. In the Indian context, rain has long symbolised fertility, abundance and divine blessings. The visuals of Barso Re then become more than a spectacle of aesthetics, they transform into cultural icons.

The most striking thing about this song is in its ability to capture a completely distinct yet familiar fascination of 2000s Bollywood with rain. The song is earthy, rooted in tradition while remaining dreamy and peaceful. Unlike today's hyper filtered shots with proper artificial lighting and perfectly curated steps, these older rain sequences carried spontaneity and warmth.

In Bollywood, rain is often employed as the perfect threshold between the beginning of romance or separation. There's either love or despair in the air of monsoons. It disrupts ordinary life, forcing characters to confront their emotions they can no longer hide.

While in Hum Tum, Rani Mukherjee observes couples around her and unconsciously imagines herself and Saif Ali Khan in those couples within those fleeting moments, Shahrukh Khan's character in Om Shanti Om's Jag Soona Soona walks through a rainy sequence within the production house itself after finally coming to know the devastating truth that his Dreamgirl, Shantipriya, played by Deepika Padukone, is already married and expecting a child. On one hand, rain can act as a tender conduit to confess love and affection. On the other hand, the artificial storm shows emotional turmoil, amplifies a collapse too heavy to describe in words.

The rain songs don't just hint at possible beginnings of romance as is the case in "Dekho Na" from Fanaa (2006), depictions of yearning and separation in "Aaoge Jab Tum" from Jab We Met (2007) but also act as sites of subversion. Since the 1940s, dance sequences in the rainy weather have been exploited to portray sensuality and eroticism, sometimes with sexualized imagery of Bollywood heroines without any censor interference.

Yash Chopra agrees that in his films, he tries to bring out the sensuality of the heroines through rain song and dance, but he asserts that he in no way tries to exploit their sexuality (Dwyer, 2002). The cinematic tradition in iconic songs like Dhak Dhak karne laga from "Beta" and Tip Tip Barsa Paani from "Mohra" left a lasting impression on the industry.

While the scores transformed rain into spectacle, the complicated gender politics embedded in them can't be ignored. Rain songs simultaneously offered women visibility, glamour, and expressive freedom while also subjecting them to the male gaze, thus becoming a site of commodification. The objectified woman is what man is not, but also what he is forbidden! The recent concern raised by Jhanvi Kapoor stresses the same.

The 2000s Bollywood monsoon aesthetics still continue to make us feel nostalgic because it attempted to capture emotions with a sincerity that's rarely felt nowadays. The actors and actresses have equal contribution to make them a success. Be it Madhuri Dixit in Koi Ladki hai from "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" or Shraddha Kapoor in Cham Cham from "Baaghi", they contribute to the saawan nostalgic that keeps us hooked and feeds our emotions!