Music is often said to be the soul of a film. When we talk about Indian cinema, singing and dancing are an integral part. It is impossible to imagine an Indian film without songs. While Hollywood has its own genre called musical, all Indian films are essentially musicals. Some Bollywood films like A Wednesday and Black do not have songs (but they do have background music), there is one film that holds the record for having the most songs in a film. It is the 1932 film Indrasabha, which had a total of 71 songs. The film was based on an Urdu play called Inder Sabha, written by Agha Hasan Amanat and first performed in 1853. Indrasabha was directed by Jamahedji Jehangirji Madan and starred Nissar, Jehanara Kajjan, Abdul Rehman Kabuli and Mukhtar Begum in the lead roles. The 71 songs were composed by music director Nagardas Nayak.

The film is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in the category of ‘Most songs in a film musical’. The description states, “Madan Theatres’ Hindi film Indra Sabha (The Court of Lord Indra) (Ind 1932), the first Indian musical in verse form, had 71 songs during its run.”

The opera is set in the celestial court of Indra, the king of the gods (devas) in Hindu mythology. The play is written entirely in verse, and the central theme is a romance between a prince and a fairy. The performance of the play makes use of operatic devices such as fireworks and masks. Although the play was originally intended for performance in the royal court, the songs from the play influenced the Geet tradition in Urdu and quickly passed into folk culture, where for at least two generations, actors and musicians from Oudh sang the songs of Inder Sabha. The play contained “31 ghazals, 9 thumri from the Gaya and Banaras gharana, 4 holis, 15 songs and two chaubolas and five chhands with enough space for dances.”

Other Indian films with more than ten songs include the film Hum Aapke Hain Koun, starring Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit. The music of the film, directed by Sooraj Barjatya, was composed by Raamlaxman. The film Rockstar, directed by Imtiaz Ali and starring Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri, featured 14 songs composed by AR Rahman.

AR Rahman also composed 12 tracks for Subhash Ghai’s Taal, which starred Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles.