Harini Calamur's Writings
After a long time i am writing about music again. Classical Music. And, i am loving it. This is a series for ‘Splainer – a platform i quite enjoy reading. The idea was to create a series that will get people into…
A decade ago ago – i had blogged the bulk of this post. written on her birtdhay it was my listing of her favourites. Today, as i hear news of her passing on, i just look at the treasure trove of work…
Gender and Indian Classical Music : An edited version of this appeared in the Indian Express as the “Songs they Sang, and the Songs they Didn’t” Jalsaghar is the National Award winning Satyajit Ray film, that tells the story of one man…
It began as one of those really lovely twitter chats. A conversation about music. About love. About friendship. And, before i know it, i was looking at music that is about an all consuming/consuming love for Agents of Ishq There is lust….
From today’s dna, my tribute to Kishori Amonkar When I first heard Kishori Amonkar sing, I must have been in my early teens. I had grown up listening to more conventional classical singers, Bhimsen Joshi, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Amir…
A lovely little documentary (about an hour), on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, by Gulzar. One lovely bit, where Panditji says, just call me Bhimsen. Mujhe Pandit se nafrat hai, aaj koi bhi pandit ban jaata hai. He is referring to the tradition, where a…
Most mass media practitioners will tell you that classical music is elitist. that it is mean to be enjoyed in rarified atmospheres, with others in their social class. There is a general perception that mass audiences will not enjoy classical music. And, that,…
Bhimsen Joshi having a lot of fun, signing this very famous composition in Raga Yaman. It is a drut bandish – drut (fast tempo), and bandish (literally a composition that is relatively fixed). I have, in my collection somewhere, the same bandish sung by…
The Last of the Great Playback singers of Indian Cinema has passed on today, marking the end of a glorious era of Film Music. Manna De is no more. His music however, lives on. Compared to Mohd. Rafi or Kishore Kumar –…
There was something about the way Rajesh Khanna smiled that made your heart lurch. It wasn’t a perfect smile by any stretch of imagination. It was slightly crooked. But there was a twinkle in the eye that went with the smile –…