The Best of Jugalbandi, Music Today, Rs 330

Jugalbandis can end up in a disaster if that chemistry is missing. “In jugalbandis, you are no longer “I” but “we”, so each one has to surrender a bit of one’s individuality and have intuitive anticipation. It is team work. Each one has to inspire the other,” says Pandit Ronu Mojumdar, flute maestro. The organisers are also to be blamed for holding too many jugalbandis due to which their quality has deteriorated over the years. The ordinary listener is lured by big names and often the marketing triumphs over music.

PICTURE SPEAK

Chaurasia with Shiv Kumar Sharma (left)

Not so with “The Best of Jugalbandis” (Music Today), an excellent compilation with a rich array of musicians, which includes renditions by Ustad Bismillah Khan (shehnai), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (sarod), Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma (santoor), Pandit Chaurasia (flute), Ustad Sultan Khan (sarangi), U. Shrinivas (mandolin), Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (mohan veena) and Ronu Mojumdar (flute) among others.

Add to this the live-recorded album, “Milan: Melting Boundaries (Ninaad)” featuring Chaurasia and M. Balamuralikrishna (Carnatic vocal). The album is a perfect blend of their creative genius. The rhythm by percussionists Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (tabla) and Vidwan Vikku Vinayakram (ghatam) adds to the overall performance making it more appealing. The maestros conclude with a bhajan bhajare guru dauvam manas in raga Bhairavi, known for depicting the Bhakti rasa. Soak in the musical power of the duo.

-by S. Sahaya Ranjit

PICTURE SPEAK

A work by Syed Haider Raza

-By Swagata Sen

PICTURE SPEAK

A still from Le Dernier Metro

-By Gaurav Rajkhowa

PICTURE SPEAK

Zain Khan (R) in the film

CHAIN KULI KI MAIN KULI
Starring: Zain Khan, Rahul Bose
Directed by: Kituu Salooja

In principle, making an inspirational cricket film is a good idea, especially at a time when the Indian child’s faith in our World Cup heroes is at an all-time low. But when the film tries too desperately to ape Nagesh Kukunoor’s luminous Iqbal, yet another rags-to-riches story of a cricketing minnow becoming a mega-hero, then warning bells begin to ring. That’s what happens with Chain Kuli ki Main Kuli. It’s one of those movies which seem to push all the right buttons—orphaned child living in a home with a Fagin-like master discovers a magic bat among some discarded toys and becomes an overnight saviour of the Indian team, preventing them from being thrashed by, who else, but Pakistan. Child (Zain Khan) teaches captain (Rahul Bose) the essence of happiness while captain instructs him on how to tie shoelaces—cue to audience to weep. What saves the film from being trite is the magnificent Zain Khan. Here’s a boy who can act, wispy little moustache and adolescent crackle, notwithstanding. It’s a film that children will coast through for its uncomplicated values, and in Khan, they at least have a 13-year-old who is neither precociously cute nor preachily unreal.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

PICTURE SPEAK

Ranjith, Naresh and Devan (Left to Right) (Top) Prerna Shrimali

SRINAGAR Mystic goes pop. It is Sufi time in Srinagar right now. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations presents a three-day festival from July 2-4. The line-up is a mix of dance and music. On the opening day listen to Sufiana kalam by Chand Afzal qawwal followed by Adil Barki from Pakistan. Begum Fareeda Khanum will sing some memorable ghazals followed by folk dance by Tannoura Sufi from Egypt. The festival closes with Sufi Kathak by Prerna Shrimali and semi-classical songs by Rita Ganguly, a disciple of Begum Akhtar. For a change listen to some soulful music than gun shots.

Ganesh and Kumaresh (R)

Ustad Asad Ali Khan

DELHI Organised by the Sopori Academy of Music and Perfor-ming Arts, Sangeet Vibhuti believes in being different. Spear- headed by santoor maestro, Pandit Bhajan Sopori, it does not feature oft-repeated musicians in the concert circuit. The festival will see Shanno Dagar (veena) and Ustad Asad Ali Khan’s performance on July 3. Khan will play the rudra veena, which does not find many takers today. Enjoy Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar (dhrupad), Ustad Faiyaz Khan (tabla) and Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas’s (vocal) music on July 4. At the India Habitat Centre.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

Index