Beyond Bygone

PV Narasimha Rao — the visionary, the innovator and the architect of modern India — remembered by Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao and VJM Divakar, in commemoration of his upcoming birth centenary

An account of the writer’s journey through Leh — a land of extraordinary natural beauty and dense cultural history — with the mission of organising the native tribal artisans

A reminiscence written in fond memory of the works of Indian film maestro Basu Chatterjee, reflecting on how his simple yet grounded body of work holds great relevance in today’s ‘dark-edgy-gritty’ times

With a career of about fourteen years, Dasgupta have approximately 8,000 songs under his belt including 80 Bengali movies – his unique contribution was the invention of a shorthand method for swaralipi

A celebrity of sub-continental cinema whose name stands out with distinction among two generations of composers for the lilt and cadence of his compositions, mixed with an exuberant folk style, Chishti was apt at weaving complementary influences into Punjabi music with almost 5,000 tunes credited to his name

A man of varied musical talents and dispositions, Rasheed Attre sang, performed and composed his way through 25 years of film music to reach cultural immortality, in India and Pakistan

Often confused with the maestro Naushad Ali, Nashad nevertheless made a name for himself in the industry, being involved in 29 films over 16 years before migrating to Pakistan where his legacy still endures

Almost lost to the obscurity of the early film music industry, the legacy of Ustad Jhande Khan lives on, in memories of his contemporaries and those touched by the greatness of his work and his demeanour

Dominant in the early days of the ‘Talkies’ in the Indian film industry, Ghaznavi was a performer without equal, juggling careers as an actor, singer and composer, all rolled into a larger than life persona, both on and off screen

A musical stalwart surrounded by traditional scions of musical lineage, Khawaja gained tremendous popularity both in India and Pakistan, gaining undying fame as a classical composer

An early pioneer of the fledging film music industry, Pandit Amarnath was a master musician belonging to the Punjab School of music, who, through ups and downs, led with innovations and created back to back evergreen hit scores until his untimely death

Shyam Banerji in Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty: Seeker of the Music Within details an in-depth account of the life and work of one of most eminent classical vocalists of our times; Excerpts: