Filmi playback singers' level of success and appeal is tied to their involvement with film soundtracks of cinema releases with the highest box office ratings.
R. C. Boral, Harishchandra Bali, Pankaj Mullick, Anil Biswas, Naushad Ali, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar and S. Rajeswara Rao were noteworthy music directors of the 1940s.
As Indian cinema segued into the 1960s and 1970s, pop artists like R. D. Burman, Bappi Lahiri and duos like Nadeem–Shravan and Jatin–Lalit gave filmi a stronger western flavor with composers Ilaiyaraaja and Raveendran who rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s in Tamil film music.
Major musical forces in the 1990s and 2000s have included A. R. Rahman, Nadeem–Shravan, Pritam, Himesh Reshammiya, Harris Jayaraj, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Vishal–Shekhar, Vidyasagar, Ramesh Narayan, M. Jayachandran, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Deepak Dev, Johnson, Anu Malik, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Salim–Sulaiman, Devi Sri Prasad etc.
In the 1950s and 1960s, lyricists like Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Rajendra Krishan, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Bharat Vyas, Shakeel Badayuni, Qamar Jalalabadi, Anand Bakshi, Jan Nisar Akhtar and S. H. Bihari wrote lyrics of many classic filmi songs.
The south has seen poets like Kannadasan, Vairamuthu and Vaali rise to prominence, in Tamil poetry and literature alongside Vayalar Ramavarma, P. Bhaskaran, O. N. V. Kurup in the Malayalam music industry.
[citation needed] Nowadays, some famous lyricists are Rashmi Virag, Kunaal Vermaa, Manoj Muntashir, Rakesh Kumar, Irshad Kamil, Sayeed Quadri, Armaan Malik etc.
For example, one production number in Dil (1990) is based on Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes, sung with Hindi lyrics.
For example, "Don't Phunk with My Heart" by The Black Eyed Peas was largely based on two 1970s filmi songs: "Ye Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana" from Don (1978) and "Ae Naujawan Hai Sab Kuchh Yahan" from Apradh (1972).
[7] Another example is "Addictive" sung by Truth Hurts, which is lifted from Lata Mangeshkar's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" from Jyoti (1981).
The 2002 song "Addictive", sung by Truth Hurts and produced by DJ Quik and Dr. Dre, was lifted from Lata Mangeshkar's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" from Jyoti (1981).
[12] A. R. Rahman rose to fame from the Kollywood film industry to become one of the most popular international music directors and has had a musicalBombay Dreams, playing in London and New York, and scored several projects outside India.
[13][14][15] Hindi filmi music has reached an even wider global audience due to the success of the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, also composed by Rahman.