Podcast: How Ganesh Festival Adds a Twist to the Bollywood Plot

Tune in to the Ganpati special episode of our entertainment podcast, Reel Deal.

‘Agneepath’ & ‘Bajirao Mastani’ have given us some of the best Ganpati scenes in films.

(Photo: The Quint)

Bollywood filmmakers have often used the Ganesh Festival as a crucial device in film plots. Sometime o depict an auspicious and celebratory mood and on other ocassions as the “remover of obstacles”.

The celebratory mood often comes alive in the form of catchy dance numbers that can be played at Ganpati pandals, used either as the hero’s entry track like in Judwaa 2’s ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ or ‘Bappa Morya’ from Shah Rukh Khan’s Don or an on-stage performances like in Remo D'Souza’s dance films, ABCD and ABCD 2.

Films like Bajirao Mastani and Agneepath, on the other hand, have used the Ganpati arti (a worship ritual) and puja songs to further the plot of the film, juxtaposing it with conflict and violence.

In today’s episode of Reel Deal, I talk about some of my favourite songs and sequences to come out of Bollywood in the last decade that make the most of the Ganesh Festival.

Tune in to the podcast here.