INDIA New England News
BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY
Chaitanya Tamhane’s new film intricately weaves diverse threads. It talks of the state of Hindustani Classical music and its ‘Guru-Shishya parampara’. There is adequate reference to the blatant commercialising of music, as well as how myths are created around icons in the world of art. Importantly, in a sublime final scene, the film leaves a lingering question. What really is the mark of purity in art — does it lie in rigorous learning, or is it about simplistic rendition that communicates to all with sincerity?
Tamhane’s new film, which boasts of Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuaron as an executive producer, is exceptional for the way it reiterates the value of the musical as a cinematic genre. Richly laced with remarkable classical recitals, the narrative uses its music quotient to do more than merely move the story forward. Here, music is a character in the plot.