New Delhi, July 23: Pandit Ravi Shankar is not just a role model for upcoming Indian musicians, he has also inspired many foreign artists like George Harrison of Beatles fame and violinist Yehudi Menuhin, to take up Indian classical music, according to a new documentary on the celebrated maestro.
'Ravi Shankar: Between two worlds' profiles the life and
work of the sitar maestro, featuring rare footage spanning
five decades of his performing life.
He is largely credited with popularising Indian music in
the west. Shankar says he was really lucky to meet violinist
Yehudi Menuhin, whom he taught the nuances of Indian classical
music and they played together at many concerts.
Shankar also recalls his meeting with jazz saxophonist
John Coltrane whom he initially found very "strange" and a
"tormented soul" for the shrieking kind of sounds which came
out in his music.
But on coming into contact with Shankar, Coltrane gave up
smoking, drinking and drugs. Influenced by the sitar player,
even his music began to adopt an Indian style.
They became such good friends thereafter that Coltrane
named his son Ravi, after the sitar maestro.
"The documentary is unique in the sense that it has no
narration and Shankar, along with the important people in his
wife, speak themselves", says Pankaj Saxena, director
(programming), Discovery Communications India.
Bureau Report
