Impacts and Fruitful uses of Western Musical Elements in Hindustani Light Music: A Review

Abstract

Hindustani Light Music (HLM), including forms such as ghazal, bhajan, geet, thumri-influenced popular genres, and film-based light classical idioms, has historically evolved through interaction with multiple musical traditions. Among the most influential external forces has been the sustained encounter with Western music during the colonial period and in the postcolonial era of broadcasting, recording, cinema, globalization, and digital media. This review synthesizes historical, musicological, and cultural scholarship to examine how Western musical elements, such as harmony, orchestration, instrumentation, formal structure, tonal organization, rhythmic treatment, recording technology, and performance aesthetics have been integrated into HLM. Rather than treating Western influence as a unilateral process of “Westernization,” the review argues that HLM demonstrates selective adaptation, creative hybridization, and contextual indigenization. Western elements have expanded expressive resources, enabled large-scale orchestral textures, facilitated cross-cultural communication, and contributed to the global circulation of Hindustani-derived light music. At the same time, scholars note concerns regarding tonal dilution, simplification of raga grammar, commercialization, and uneven power relations embedded in colonial and global cultural exchanges. By organizing existing research into historical phases, technical domains, genre-specific applications, and contemporary trends, the paper proposes a framework for understanding the “fruitful uses” of Western musical elements as those adaptations that enhance expressive range while preserving identifiable Hindustani aesthetic principles. The review concludes with research gaps and recommendations for future empirical work on performance practice, audience perception, digital production, and pedagogy.