'Raga' Available on DVD?

gvdv

Hi,
Does anyone know if the Howard Worth directed documentary about Ravi Shankar - 'Raga' - is, or will be available on DVD?

My VHS copy is wearing out, and I don't seem to be able to find it listed any more on the mystic fire webpage (distributors, some years ago).

Thanks,

Trippy Monkey

Hi from the UK
RAGA has never been available on DVD. I got my copy from Mystic Fire as I presume YOU did too. They don't have the rights now as I found out when I was invited to RIMPA, the Pt Ravi Shankar school in south Delhi earlier this year. I was invited because I'd originally put clips of a Brit TV concert of Ravi-ji & his late son, Shubho, on Youtube & got a message back from his wife asking for a copy as they didn't have one.
I met Pandit-ji & his lovely wife Sukanya & had a very interesting chat about this fascinating movie.
I had the vinyl soundtrack for many years before I managed to locate a Video copy. We can play NTSC videos here in England.

Sukanya-Ji told me the rights have been returned to them now. I asked about all those tiny clips we see of various concerts & press meetings etc in the movie & how great it would be to locate them. She said ALL the people involved in making RAGA are still alive & they still keep in contact. They are also looking to find all the complete clips they used.
What a fantastic piece of detective work that would be!!

Nick

theyyamdancer

It sounds like a very interesting documentary.

__________________
"Wandering seemed no more than the happiness of an anxious man." - Albert Camus

Trippy Monkey

It's a marvellous look at the Pandit's life up to The Monterey Pop Festival featured in the opening scenes.
I still find it utterly fascinating to also see all the 'hippy furor' around him in the 60s although my sitar style is gayaki & quite different from the Pandit's Maihar Gharana based style or school. Best know exponents of this style are the late Ustad Vilayat Khan & his family
My teacher's guru is Ustad Shahid Parvez, one of the most brilliant sitar players around.

Nick

gvdv

Thanks for this T.M.,
Amazing that you got to meet Raviji and Sukanya (what about Anoushka? ).

I'm confused about the rights because, as you'll remember 'Raga' was an Apple (Beatles) production, and Apple sold the rights to Panditji for one dollar! Obviously George's doing and I'm sure that that was the intention from the start.

Maybe we should clarify what 'rights' means. It sounds like you are referring to ownership (please correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm thinking that the rights that, say, Mystic Fire had, were distributor rights (as I said in my original post).

Does Panditji have the original, master copy of the movie, and if so, do you know if they plan to release it on DVD?

The makers of the BBC documentary 'In Portrait', used large, good quality chunks of 'Raga', so I'm guessing that the Shankars have this, but would love to know for sure.

Trippy Monkey

Anoushka was in the States I recall.

Rights would mean distribution & copyrights, I presume although it did sound like the ownership rights. Maybe they DID sell all rights to Mystic Fire but for a limited time for the VHS video.

As I said the Shankars are looking for all the little clips of Pandit-ji shown all too briefly in the movie. I believe they WILL release a DVD when they're satisfied they have all they can get. Something like a special Anniversary issue, especially as Ravi-ji is 90 next year & it seems appropriate to release this to coincide.
Ironically they don't have any claims to the Uday Shankar clip you may recall on the 'In Portrait' excellent DVD. Nothing is commercially available, visually, of the eldest Shankar due to family wranglings. Shame!!!!

gvdv

I went to a preview of 'In Portrait' at which one of the producers was present. Can't remember her name.

Among other interesting tidbits, she said that they found the Uday clip in Devon - can't remember exactly where. It's a great clip, and I would love to see more of that film.

I also really like the way they filmed Raviji, Sukanya, Anoushka and Norah Jones watching the clip and laughing at Raviji as a boy (then laughing more as they looked at his autobiography).

I'm glad to hear that you think that they're going to release 'Raga'. I would love to see more clips of Allaudin Khansahib. Howard Worth did an amazing job with that film. I think that it's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It just seems to go on and on; almost 4 or 5 films in one. It also seems to reflect its time and transcend it.

Trippy Monkey

re Ustad Allauddin Khan.
There are several clips from an Indian documentary on youtube. There's also footage of his house & mausoleum I took when I went to Maihar to see my teacher's guru, Ustad Shahid Parvez, play at the anuual U Allauddin Khan Festival there.

The room where Pt Ravi Shankar is singing along with his guru is the very small bedroom. At the back is the courtyard where they all first reunite in 'RAGA'.

Nick

gvdv

Hi Nick,
I think that I saw your clips on youtube a while back.

I, too, took some lessons from Ustadji here in Toronto during the years that my former teacher was his disciple. I've seen Ustadji perform many, many times - both in 'private' and in public performances. A fine sitarist, who encourages an awareness of ICM which transcends gharanas. I really admire him for that.

When is the annual Baba festival in Maihar? Is it at the same time every year?

Trippy Monkey

Was your former teacher Anwar at Ustadji's school?
Do you know Adam Duncan or Paul Barrette in Canada?

The Ustad Allauddin Fest seems to be around his birthday, I think. It's 2 days long. I'll get the right date for you later.

Nick

gvdv

Hi Nick,
Yes, Anwar was my former teacher.

Took a refresher lesson with him a few weeks ago (after several years of not really playing sitar), but am up to my neck in some significant stuff at the moment which has taken up most of the last two years. (He has some online lessons now, which sound like they are quite comprehensive).

I think that I've met Adam once or twice (can't picture him, and I don't think he'd know me, either). I definitely know the name, but he entered Anwar/Ustadji's circle after I had left to take lessons from a Senia/Maihar perspective. I know a lot of the other 'old timers', and they all know Adam. I have a friend Dhanraj knows Adam.

I was in email contact with Paul Barrette about a sitar recently, but have not met him.

Take care, Nick,