Roshan at 100: The ultimate playlist, plus the story of the three lives of a single song

The legendary music composer had a golden run during the 1960s, but the foundation was set in the previous decade.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Jul 15, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Even in the darkness, he dreamed of lights: A tribute to renowned cinematographer KK Mahajan

On the death anniversary of Kewal Krishan Mahajan, or KK as his friends called him, a look back at his unmatched legacy.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Jul 13, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Now that Saregama Carvaan is here, move over, FM radio?

Despite its flaws and limitations, the digital audio player is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Jun 26, 2017 · 04:45 pm

Sajjad Hussain, the composer whose music has endured ‘with a tenacity that defies reason’

Thursday marks the birth centenary of the multi-instrumentalist and legendary composer of the movies ‘Sangdil’ and ‘Rustam Sohrab’.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Jun 15, 2017 · 04:15 pm

Films that are 50: Uttam Kumar is at the top of his game as a folk singer in ‘Antony Firingee’

Sunil Banerjee’s 1967 movie draws from Madan Bandopadhyay’s serialised novel ‘Kobiyal Antony Firingee’.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· May 12, 2017 · 03:00 pm

Picture the song: The eyes have it in ‘Achcha Ji Main Haari’ from ‘Kalapani’

The song from Raj Khosla’s ‘Kalapani’ works on playful looks and sighs.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Mar 05, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Audio master: ‘Kismet’ laid the foundation of the Hindi film song as we know it

In the 1943 blockbuster, the essential elements and conventions of the movie tune were codified, including the mukhda-antara form.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Feb 11, 2017 · 03:00 pm

Between music composer Jaidev and the big league stood that thing called fate

Success proved elusive for the brilliant but underrated composer, whose death anniversary was on January 6.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Jan 07, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Art over revolution? Also, is ‘La Dolce Vita’ appropriate for the Cuban working class?

Filmmakers and curators navigated through choppy ideological waters in the early years of Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Nov 30, 2016 · 01:30 pm

52 years, 5,000 songs: With musician Kersi Lord’s death, we have lost a vital part of film history

The percussionist, accordionist and arranger worked with every composer of note from the 1940s to the ’90s.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Oct 17, 2016 · 05:45 pm

From Orson Welles to Terry Gilliam, the many quixotic efforts to film the Miguel de Cervantes novel

It’s almost fitting that attempts to adapt the Spanish classic about the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza have frequently run aground.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Oct 11, 2016 · 01:30 pm

Background notes: Menezes, Narvekar, and the untold history of violinists in Hindi film music

In our continuing series on the making of background film scores, we look at the stellar contributions of Joe Menezes and Harishchandra Narvekar.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Sep 10, 2016 · 01:30 pm