Melodies, Movies & Memories

This past decade has witnessed a veritable deluge of books based on the muse that is Hindi cinema and the music that holds these movies together. Most of these books are run of the mill; packed with second, third or even zillionth hand information...The earliest epoch constituting the first two decades of film music, suffers massively from this mist of neglect and an acute lack of documentation. And therein lies the problem. The act of writing on vintage Hindi music is akin to documenting the Ganga without having any idea about its Gangotri.

There have been a few honourable exceptions though. Amongst this elite peer group, the eminently readable Nalin Shah, with his research and analytical based approach has occupied an almost unique position. Shah’s series on the forgotten music maestros of the forties, as well as his pieces touching various aspects of film music from the thirties to the fifties in Filmfare and varied English-Hindi publications of yore is a seminal contribution to this body of work. It would not be out of place to suggest that this wonderful man’s enterprise has been profoundly instrumental in helping the new generation reconnect not just with the roots of classic Hindi film music but also in keeping them absorbed with the sonorous gems of a gentler era. (Excerpt from preface)

Size : 8.5″ X 5.5″ Pages : 248 Price : INR 300 (Shipping Free)