Toto Funds the Arts and the Bangalore International Centre have organised an online screening of Phir Se Samm Pe Aana (Returning to the First Beat) till June 28. The film has been directed by filmmaker and academic Surabhi Sharma, whose feature-length documentaries, short fiction films and video installations engage with cities in transition using the lens of labour, music, and migration.
With the decline of the princely states, traditional systems of patronage for Hindustani classical music began to unravel. Musicians, like other artists, began to gravitate to the rapidly growing colonial city of Bombay, in search of new sponsors. This led, in turn, to the formation of a distinctive audience for Hindustani sangeet in the city – one not limited to princely courts and the exclusive homes of the aristocracy. Girgaon was a part of the native town of the colonial city and a key neighbourhood where the singers, the patrons and the audiences lived.
Phir Se Samm Pe Aana revisits the sites clustered in and around Girgaon where music was taught and performed. It seeks to understand the musical legacy of this neighbourhood, even as it reimagines the documentary mode. The film ‘listens’ to architectural structures to reflect on the deep history of this practice.
This film emerged from a research project aimed at understanding Hindustani classical music as part of the intangible urban history of the metropolis of Bombay/Mumbai. The project is a collaboration between author and academic Tejaswini Niranjana and Surabhi. Through the research phase, a series of interviews were produced that are available on the online archive, pad.ma.
The film can be viewed anytime till June 28 by clicking on this link .
There will also be a panel discussion between Surabhi, Tejaswini, and musician, actor and graphic designer Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy on June 28 at 6 pm.
Register by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2015928498851/WN_2BgySPpYSjSvV1pdMl3IIA
