MUMBAI: The India International Centre will screen ‘Films on Music from India and Abroad’ featuring stalwarts of Indian classical music.

Commencing from today, the annual event will feature short film screenings from the archives of Doordarshan on Indian classical music greats like Pt Bhimsen Joshi, M S Subbulakshmi, M L Vasanthakumari, Gangubai Hangal and Pt Jasraj amongst others.

The screening will kick-start with a short film ‘Swara Ganga: M S Subbulakshmi’. The 58 min English film will contain recordings of devotional songs sung by Subbulakshmi in different Indian languages and will be introduced by Lakshmi Vishwanathan.

The event has earlier screened films on music, opera and ballet from abroad, in order to familiarize Indian audiences with the different art forms. But for the first time, the centre has shifted focus to the legends of India with the help of Doordarshan. Doordarshan has a very rich and vast repertoire of recordings of some of the best artists in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music and has now digitised many of these concerts into DVD formats.

The event will also showcase ‘Jewel of Kirana: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’ featuring a collection of khayals, thumris and bhajans rendered by the legend. Other films like ‘Sangeeta Kokila: M L Vasanthakumari’ and ‘Dharwar Jyoti: Gangubai Hangal’ will also be screened.

The visual treat will culminate on 26 June with a film on the renowned Hindustani vocalist Pandit Jasraj. Titled Sangeet Martand: Pandit Jasraj, this is a 122 min film made by his daughter Durga Jasraj. The film includes renditions of Raga Jog, Malkauns, Kalavati and Miyan Malhar.

Aiming to attract the younger audiences to classical music, the centre plans to continue with this series next year and focus on other artistes like the legendary instrumentalists of Indian music.