Director: Kumar Shahani; Writer: Kumar Shahani; Producer: Bombay Cinematograph; Cinematographer: K.K. Mahajan; Editor: Paresh Kamdar; Cast: Mita Vasisht, Birju Maharaj, Alaknanda Samarth, Rajat Kapoor, Navjot Hansra, Mangal Dhillon
Duration: 01:40:01; Aspect Ratio: 1.352:1; Hue: 90.242; Saturation: 0.068; Lightness: 0.310; Volume: 0.170; Cuts per Minute: 3.539
Summary: Rather than imbuing stories about
contemporary conditions with epic dimensions
(cf. Maya Darpan, 1972; Tarang, 1984),
Shahani here addresses the epic forms directly
in a film about the Khayal, a form of classical
music established in the 18th C., based on the
earlier Dhrupad which it then adapted,
mobilising elements of other classical and folk
literatures and music. For Shahani, the crucial
relevance of this music to the cinema resides in
its theory of the shruti, the subdivisions
between given notes in a raga which eventually
yield a continuous scale and prove that ‘you
can only name approximations, never
absolutes’ (1986). By emphasising sequence
rather than discrete notes or the rhythmic cycle,
musical elaboration could be based on
improvisation so that, like jazz or other musical
forms emerging from oppression, it was able to
resist all efforts at encoding while remaining
free to assimilate the widest range of musical
elements from as far as Central Asia, Turkey
and Persia. The film merges the history of the
Khayal form with several legends associated
with it: e.g. the legends of Rani Rupmati
(Vasisht) and Baaz Bahadur (Dhillon), Heer-
Ranjha, Nala-Damayanti and others (some
invented for the film). These legends are then
worked into some of the key figurations
determining the Khayal narrative, such as the
nayika and the object of the address, and the
sakhi. A music student (Kapoor) moves
through these epochs and legends. The result
is a visually stunning narration condensing
legend, history and poetry, emphasising
hybridity in all cultural practices. The key
musical contributions are by some of the
foremost musicians from the Gwalior gharana,
the oldest of the several that exist, including
Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Sharatchandra
Arolkar, Jal Balaporia and Neela Bhagwat.
Shahani also uses the dance of Birju Maharaj,
India’s top Kathak dancer.
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