An hour long interview based documentary about the dying visibility of Indian classical music will premiere at the upcoming Kala Ghoda Arts Festival
Directed by National Award winning actor, Shweta Basu Prasad who used to learn Sitar, an Indian classical instrument and grew up in a family that appreciates art. Be it, cinema, poetry, literature or music was exposed to classical music quite early in life, she says.
Adding, she mentions, “I heard it at home and we went to see concerts. I also learnt Kathak and later Sitar. It’s a tradition at home to learn one sport and one art form (I played tennis and practiced archery in teenage)”.
“My curiosity for the visibility of classical music grew as I was growing up. I didn’t have enough friends who were interested in classical music. Like most youngsters, they thought it’s not “cool”. I wondered why so? I was the same age as my friends and I had been a listener. I realised it was the lack of exposure. Be it television, films, radio – classical music is not the first genre one would tune into. And it shouldn’t be. One should be open to all kinds of music – Bollywood, pop, rock, jazz, folk and classical.”
She came with the idea of making a small Q&A documentary about classical music when she was graduating in Mass Media & Journalism.  She wanted to understand the slow death of classical music in the youth of the country.
“Call it fate or blessing or my intention to make this documentary, things fell in place like a miracle. It took me over 4 years after that to research, construct, make a team, interview, edit and finish this project. A project I consider a blessing and a great journey!” she tells in excitement.
ROOTS has interviews of the musical legends of India including the following:
  • A R Rahman,
  • Vishal bhardwaj,
  • Gulzar,
  • Amit Trivedi,
  • Pandit ShivKumar Sharma,
  • Pandit jasraj,
  • Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia,
  • Birju Maharaj,
  • Imtiaz Ali,
  • Shubha Mudgal,
  • Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,
  • Dr. L Subramaniam

among the many other eminent personalities of music, film and media world.

The interviews explores that Shweta is not the only one concerned about the eventual oblivion of Classical music, they too were as concerned about the promotion of classical arts amongst youth.
 
Art cannot be forced, but can be introduced and that’s what ROOTS traces in its 61 minutes. The documentary film also has a 10 minute animation sequence featuring the 5000 years of Indian music history.
The aim is to strike a balance!
ROOTS will premiere at the KALA GHODA arts festival on the 10th of February at 3 PM at the Coomaraswamy hall, Mumbai.
It is a very special and emotional moment for Shweta. While she feels like she is about to share a part of her with the world. She is also looking forward to a good screening and would love to screen it at many other music festivals, film festivals, art festivals, schools and colleges, etc.
Shweta was last seen in a short film Int. Cafe night., will also be seen in the next month’s big Dharma Release Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya alongside Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan.