Bollywood Retrospect: From 'Pather Panchali' to 'Gandhi', 5 spellbinding albums of Pandit Ravi Shankar

Pandit Ravi Shankar’s music defies categorisation and I write a post on him in a “Bollywood” series with more than a sense of trepidation. In an illustrious career that spanned over half a century, he produced about one hundred albums of music across various genres, including classical, fusion and film scores. Only six of these albums were for Hindi language films. He inspired musicians the world over and perhaps no one did as much as him to bring Indian classical music to the international stage. The Beatles’ George Harrison, who learnt to play the sitar from Pandit Ravi Shankar, rightly called the great man the godfather of World Music. Keeping in mind his greatness and my limitations, in my top 5 picks this week, I’ll go beyond his work in Hindi films in this post but stay away from his classical albums.

Pather Panchali (1955)

Pandit Ravi Shankar made his film debut when he was only 26 for Chetan Anand’s first film as director, Neecha Nagar (1946). Neecha Nagar is the only Indian film ever to win the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Palme d’Or (it was called the Grand Prix du Festival at the time). He also composed music for KA Abbas’ Dharti Ke Lal (1946) before he was consumed by his job at All India Radio, where he founded the Indian National Orchestra, and a gruelling concert schedule. It was during this period that he set 'Saare Jahan Se Achha' to the tune we commonly hear these days. Before Ravi Shankar, the song was sung to a much slower beat. Ravi Shankar’s composition was so stirring that it was chosen for the official quick march of the Indian Armed Forces. His next opportunity to make music for a film came when another debutant, Satyajit Ray, asked him to compose the score for Pather Panchali. Adapting classical music for a folk setting, Ravi Shankar created a simple but invigorating score, which is counted amongst the best film scores of all time. In interviews, Ravi Shankar attributed to the score a spontaneity that came from him being moved while watching the film’s rushes and said that he composed most of the score in less than a day. Due to his schedule constraints, he could not take the score to completion and the film’s cinematographer Subrata Mitra pitched in with some of the cues. The film’s haunting flute theme and the Pandit Ravi Shankar’s sitar were critical elements in Ray’s storytelling and will remain imprinted on film lovers’ hearts and souls for eternity.

Anuradha (1960)

With Anuradha, Pandit Ravi Shankar created his first mainstream Hindi film score. Anuradha is a gem of an album. On first listen, it may not strike as a score by a maestro like Ravi Shankar but if one pays attention to the brilliant sitar play in the songs and artistry behind three compositions in particular — 'Kaise Din Beete Kaise Beeteen Ratiyan', 'Haye Re Woh Din Kyun Na Aaye' and 'Saanware Kaahe Mose Karo Jora Jor' — Ravi Shankar’s genius is revealed. His choice of artists for the music of Anuradha was impeccable. He picked Pandit Ram Narayan to play the sarangi, prominent in not just the songs but in the film’s background score as well, Shailendra for lyrics and the indomitable Lata Mangeshkar for singing. Lata’s singing for Anuradha is as flawless as it can possibly get. My pick from the film is the delectable 'Haye Re Woh Din Kyun Na Aaye'. (The song is worth watching for Leela Naidu as much as it’s worth listening to for the music.)

Meera (1979)

Pandit Ravi Shankar did another film score in 1963 for Godaan. Lukewarm response to the film and his rapidly rising international stature — thanks to his association with the Beatles and his performances at Monterey (1967) and Woodstock (1969) — led him to focus on classical music. He travelled extensively and began spending most of his time outside India. It was in these circumstances that Gulzar travelled to America to get Pandit Ravi Shankar to compose for Meera. Why did Gulzar seek out a wildly successful classical musician who had not composed music for films in over a decade? Desperation. Lata Mangeshkar was the obvious choice for Meera’s voice but she turned down the offer since she had recently released a Meera bhajan album composed by her brother Hridayanath Mangeshkar. With Lata backing out, Gulzar’s first choice, composer duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal also backed out. Gulzar’s friend RD Burman also declined to pitch in. It was then that the film’s art director Desh Mukherjee suggested Ravi Shankar. The thinking was that given his stature and being an outsider, he would not be worried about the possible blowback resulting from working with a singer other than Lata. Gulzar spent two weeks in New York in the summer of 1976 and by the end of his trip he had Ravi Shankar on board, worked out recording dates and finalised the voice of Meera— Vani Jayaram! In the end, Gulzar’s trial and tribulations were worth it and Ravi Shankar’s Meera bhajans offered a brilliant new perspective to age-old songs. My pick from the film is the song that won Vani Jayaram her only Filmfare Award— 'Mere Toh Giridhar Gopal'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMdvoMJG6h4

Pandit Ravi Shankar’s next major score was for Richard Attenborough’s biopic Gandhi which he co-scored with relative newcomer George Fenton. While George Fenton’s subtle cues filled the film’s canvas, Ravi Shankar’s vibrant music provided texture and character. The film’s score was nominated for the 1983 Oscars, it lost out to John Williams’ ET. My pick from the film’s score is 'Discovery Of India', a cue set to a train-like rhythm. The cue, with its joyous sitar play accentuated by a sarangi, is used in a scene that shows Gandhi’s train journey across India after he returned from South Africa.

Passages (1990)

It was while scoring for a film called Chappaqua (1966) that Ravi Shankar met Philip Glass, who was called in to notate his music. Philip Glass learnt about Indian classical music from Ravi Shankar and later from Ustad Allah Rakha and applied his learning to push the boundaries of contemporary Western Classical music. In 1979, he composed an opera called 'Satyagraha' based on Mahatma Gandhi’s life in South Africa. With lyrics in Sanskrit drawn from the Bhagavad Gita, 'Satyagraha' was nothing like anything the Western audiences had heard. Years later, Glass and Ravi Shankar put together a divine album called Passages, one of the most tasteful coming together of Indian and Western Classical music. This is an album that is best savoured in its entirety in one sitting. Every track is sublime and offers something different. However, if I had to pick one song, it would be 'Prashanti', a masterpiece of a composition that is almost 14 minutes long. It is perhaps the most Indian of compositions in the album and one of the three tracks composed by Ravi Shankar. 'Prashanti' tells a story with its music. It starts with a Bengali folk tune reflecting simplicity and innocence. It moves on to Ravi Shankar’s sparkling sitar play and a superb orchestral movement denoting happiness and harmony. The track becomes darker as the sitar becomes frenetic and the orchestra turns strident till a tillana-fortified crescendo is reached to depict chaos. What follows is my favourite part of the composition — Pandit Ravi Shankar himself singing a prayer for peace — 'Hey nath hum par kripa keejiye / Door kar andhkar gyan ka aalok deejiye / Hinsa, dwesh, lobh, krodh humse chheen leejiye / Man mein prem shanti bhar deejiye / Hey nath hum par kripa keejiye'! The composition ends with SP Balasubrahmanyam’s rich vocals elaborating the prayer.