Part of the 2017/2018 Season in Paris | On Septembre 10th, 2017 | Théâtre de la Ville, Espace Cardin
With Pelva Naik, vocals | Pratap Awad, pakhāwaj | Céline Wadier et Véronique Dupont, tānpūrā
A production by ECHO Collective !
Interview pour la radio France Bleu [Fr]
Entretien avec l'enthousiaste Pia Clemens, chroniqueuse de l'émission "Femmes de Paname" sur France Bleu Île-de-France.
Ethnopholia TV Series, a collaboration with a Lebanese crew
Ethnopholia is a TV series designed by Abeer Nehme, a well known Lebanese singer, and her relatives. Each episode consists in discovering a musical tradition somewhere on the world map.
Here are several episodes filmed in India in 2014 and broadcasted on Al Mayadeen in 2016 and 2017 to which I contributed as a music advisor, a local project manager and even as a little character.
Thanks to my friends Soumik Datta (Baul-Fakir gaan field work) & Sougata Roy Chowdhury (classical music in Kolkata).
Portraits from the vaults of the Films Division of India
SELECTION GATHERED ON 'SARKARI SHORTS' BLOG.
1. "AMIR KHAN" by S.N.S Sastry, 1970 - 18:26
A remarkably intimate portrait of Ustad Amir Khan (1912-74) by the Films Division experimentalist stalwart S.N.S. Sastry (1930-78). Khansaheb was emblematic of the profound changes in 20th century Hindustani music as the gharana system gave way to media-saturated propagation and public concerts.
2. "HANS AKELA" by Jabbar Patel, 2005 - 1:17:34
A sympathetic, insider’s take on the iconoclast Wunderkind Kumar Gandharva (1924-1992) from Jabbar Patel, veteran Marathi stage and film director. Patel nicely frames the tale as the journey of Kumarji’s grandson Bhuvanesh Komkali, himself a practicing vocalist, to discover and understand further the life and music of his ancestor.
3. "RASAYATRA" (The Travelling Song), by Nandan Kudhyadi, 1994 - 48:03
This luminous tribute to Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur (1910-92), who died during its making, was filmed by the Film and Television Institute of India graduate and acute documentarian Nandan Kudhyadi. It was inspired by Mansur’s autobiography. Even now, it’s baffling how even the highest echelon of sarkari bureaucracy via the Ministry of External Affairs would sponsor this level of abstraction. This film that won the National Award for the best short film in 1995.
4. "BABA", by N.D. Keluskar, 1969 - 14:56
Ustad Allauddin Khan (1862?-1972), reverentially and affectionately called Baba, is one of the most profoundly influential figures of 20th century Hindustani music. He was a master multi-instrumentalist and the founder and propagator of the Senia-Maihar Gharana, the juggernaut by which most non-South Asian folk got turned on to ragas.
5. "SANGE MEEL SE MULAQAT" (Meeting A Milestone), by Goutam Ghose, 1989 - 1:28:36
Onto this 1989 Goutam Ghose (b. 1950) beauty produced by Films Division’s powerful sister branch, the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC). Ghose, like his mentor Satyajit Ray, is another Bengali autodidact who is adept in film, photography, music and theater. Indeed, the cinematography shot by Ghose himself is the eye to the soul of this brilliant documentary on Ustad Bismillah Khan.
6. "PANDIT BHIMSEN JOSHI", BY Gulzhar, 1992 - 1:13:48
Looking for that most touching of moods, pathos, on film? Then check Gulzar’s (the multi-awarded poet, lyricist, script writer and director) sarkari approach in this bio-documentary treatment of the troubled genius of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011). This was Gulzar’s third Films Division foray after “Ek Akar” and “Ustad Amjad Ali Khan” (1990). Gulzar not only presents a window into Joshi’s life story but also a history of his lineage within the Kirana gharana.
7. "THE SHRUTI AND GRACE OF INDIAN MUSIC", by Shyam Benegal, 1972 - 13:04
It’s a juicy one, this little gem, with Shyam Benegal getting inside the ragas in his representation of the ineffable shruti (“that which can be heard”) and the graces (gamak, meend, murki), ornamental techniques which transport the adept there. Benegal manifests this through extreme close-ups of the face and hands, and above all the breathing tones of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, maestro of that most sensuous of instruments, the bansuri bamboo flute, Lord Krishna’s own.
1001 thanks to Phong Tran, cataloger of South Indian materials for the Library of Congress.
A concert in Paris ✴︎ Shankar Brothers, shehnaï [Fr]
On June 30, 2015 | at Patronage Laïque Jules Vallès, 15e arr.
With Sanjeev Shankar & Ashwani Shankar, shehnaï | Anand Shankar, tabla
A production of ECHO Collective ! With the cooperation of Alain Lutic
Ceux qui grandissent dans l’amour de l’instrument et l’ardeur qu’il exige peuvent prétendre lui donner un second souffle. Le chemin a été montré jour après jour à Sanjeev et Ashwani par leur légendaire grand-père Pandit Anant Lal, puis par leur père Pandit Daya Shankar. Dans ce clan de la gharana (école) de Bénarès, la musique est une affaire de passation familiale depuis plus de 450 ans. Les berges limoneuses du Gange ont bel et bien constitué un terroir des plus fertiles.
A concert in Paris ✴︎ Pt. Kushal Das, sitar [Fr]
Part of the "NIGHT OF RAGA" | On January 31th, 2015 | Philharmonie of Paris
With Pt. Kushal Das, sitar | Satyajit Tawalkar, tabla | Tulika Srivastava, tampura
The 1st production of ECHO Collective !
Pandit Kushal Das, natif de Calcutta, est considéré aujourd’hui comme un représentant majeur de la Maihar Gharana, l’école fondée au Madya Pradesh par l’honorable Ustad Allauddin Khan disparu à l’âge de 110 ans en 1972. Il s’emploie ainsi à développer son propre style, dans la foulée de ses prolifiques prédécesseurs, qui ne sont autres que Pandit Ravi Shankar (sitar), Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod), Maa Annapurna Devi (surbahar), Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (sitar), Pandit Pannalal Ghosh (flute) ou encore Pandit VG Jog (violon).
A few words by Khansahib
"Music is for Universe.
(...) Like a fresh air you feel. An air doesn't need any language, or sun doesn't need any language. "
— Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
"These songs are NOT for entertainment, you see... These songs are like if you are collecting power, knowledge, sound. You're purifying your inner soul and knowledge... and the music. And through this, you are almost making a road to reach God. And that's the purpose of our lives. Because we did not bring anything with us when we came, and we are not taking something better when we die. And what we are getting here, we have to give Him back, so what's left? What are you taking with you? The soul! And soul has to be purified and only God knows how to take care about that! (...)"
— Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
