Showing posts with label Gingger Shankar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gingger Shankar. Show all posts
Film from Shankar diaries opens at TIFF
7:45 AM
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 15, 2015)
When Gingger Shankar, grandniece of the late composer, singer and sitar virtuoso, Pandit Ravi Shankar, first met Dave Liang, a Chinese-American producer, a partnership was quickly cemented. Dave is also the founder of a popular, contemporary, electronic music group, The Shanghai Restoration Project, and the two are collaborating on a film.
While working on their first co-production, Himalaya Song, with filmmaker Mridu Chandra, Gingger began narrating stories from diaries and scrapbooks that her grandmother, Lakshmi Shankar, Ravi Shankar's sister, had passed on to her after his death in 2012 and before hers, a year later. "I was telling Dave about these fascinating music sessions in the wee hours that I had read about and he immediately insisted that the story needed to be told. And that is how Nari, a full-length feature film about my family, began," Gingger told Mirror from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where Nari had its world premiere on September 11.
The film focuses on the journey of two incredible woman artistes who constantly collaborated with the maestro. "What my mother, Viji, and my grandmother, Lakshmi went through being women, the sacrifices they made for their music and just how strong and talented they were, comes to light in the film," asserts the singer.
She added that the most crucial aspect of the film is the focus on Ravi Shankar's collaboration with Beatles singer and multi-instrumentalist, George Harrison. The two composed a four-disc set of songs together in India. "We wanted to showcase not just the pivotal but seldom-recognised role these two women played in the musical revolution that bridged the East with the West for the first time, with Raviji's sitar lessons to George Harrison," Gingger reminisced.
Gingger, who is known as the 'only girl in the world' to wield a 10-string double violin, says that the film's album comprises 13 songs, with unreleased recordings of Viji Shankar from 1972. "Dave, who is also my musical collaborator, has turned these recordings into modern, electronic songs featuring vocals, the double violin, a santoor, guitars, pianos, the mandolin and percussion," she pointed out.
She brought a visual director, Yunfan Sun, on board to create animations from old family photographs, portraits and videos. "We also created a live performance, music and animation together," she informed, pointing out that animation is only a part of the film, which also has archival footage and fresh shots of Chennai, where her family lived. "Growing up, the trio were the most important people in my life. It's quite emotional to bring their diaries to life," Gingger signs off.
Ravi Shankar's grand-niece Gingger on working with Katy Perry & a lot more
7:36 AM
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 15, 2014)
Gingger Shankar, the eldest
daughter of renowned violinist L Subramaniam and the grand-niece of
Pandit Ravi Shankar, is making a documentary on the women who influenced
the sitar maestro's music. The film will focus on her
mother-classical singer Viji Subramaniam --and grandmother-Lakshmi
Shankar.“My grandmother left behind a scrapbook full of intriguing details about how she, along with my mother, would accompany my grandfather (Ravi Shankar) to his concerts. There are also several unreleased compositions of the duo, which will be a part of the film,“ says Gingger, one of the few artistes in the world who plays the double violin.
The LA-based musician, who has composed music for films like Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ and also sung for Jackie Chan's The Forbidden Kingdom, says she is remixing some of the unreleased songs crooned by her late mother. “It's an experimental project. The narrative will blend a whole new album with historic details and the legacy of my family,“ says Gingger, adding, “I didn't know that when my mother was 19, she won a contest conducted by the All India Radio-a big thing back then.“
Coming from a family of such stalwarts, does she ever feel the pressure to live up to the legacy? “Oh yes, all the time!“ she admits. “It's difficult, but I'm also extremely proud of all of them. Anoushka (Shankar) is doing such inspiring work! I don't get to meet her often but we keep in touch. Same with Norah (Jones), who's an incredible talent!“ She recently collaborated with Katy Perry on her album, Legendary Lovers, in which she played the double violin.
She has also composed the music for the thriller, Monsoon Shootout which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. How different were these experiences? “Very contrasting. With Katy, the stress was on making a two-and-a-half minute segment as commercial as possible, with catchy tunes and words. But with a indie film like Monsoon Shootout, there is scope for plenty of experiment,“ she points out.
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