Film festival on Ravi Shankar begins in Kolkata

Kolkata: A four-day film festival cum photo exhibition began here Sunday to pay tribute to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar on his 93rd birth anniversary.

During the festival seven movies - including Satyajit Ray`s masterpiece ‘Pather Panchali’ and Richard Attenborough`s ‘Gandhi’ - to which Ravi Shankar had given music will be screened at the city`s Nandan Theatre. Inaugurating the fest, percussionist and tabla player Tanmoy Bose recalled his association with the music legend. "Panditji believed that music has its own language and all his music, be it in films or otherwise, has stories in them. His music would tell tales which the film director could not put into words," said Bose. The festival also showcases an exhibition displaying the rarest pictures, record covers, film booklets, posters and paintings of the virtuoso. "Guruji`s dedication to music was unparalleled and unmatched, and he tried inculcating the same into his disciples. He used to say that the more we dedicated ourselves to music the more we will be closure to him," said Jaya Biswas, Ravi Shankar`s disciple and leading sitar player. A documentary on the Bharat Ratna awardee will also be shown during the fiesta. IANS