Retraced steps: How Bollywood songwriters found inspiration in Urdu poets (IANS Column: Bookends)

Several cultures postulate a cyclical construct of time, instead of linear. This may or may not be valid for history but it manifests itself prominently in human culture. Literature, for one, given how motifs, plots, and expressions crop up again and again over time, or are repeated even in its most popular form film lyrics. Bollywood is an apt example.

Do you remember the phrase "Awaaz ki duniya ke doston..."? Most film aficionados would instantly place it as the catchphrase of Rajesh Khanna in the superhit musical drama "Anurodh"