A project that finds harmony with AR Rahman

National Award-winning documentary filmmaker Sruti Harihara Subramanian has shot a five-part non-fiction series that features music composer AR Rahman as the show host. Titled Harmony, this series will introduce the audience to four musicians from different parts of the country. In a candid chat with us, the filmmaker opens up about Harmony and how AR Rahman came on board for the project.

Sruti is known for her documentary titled A Far Afternoon — A Painted Saga, based on the life and works of the 90-year-old artist, Krishen Khanna. It fetched her two National Awards. “Kavithalayaa Productions were planning to venture into digital series and they approached me to do a project for them. They suggested the idea of doing a non-fiction film on rare musical instruments and traditions. It looked challenging to me and I took up the project in June 2017. We formed a team and did a year-long research,” says Sruti.

Though it was a non-fiction, the filmmaker wanted to tell a beautiful story about music. She wanted to showcase the diversity of Indian music and cultural geography. “We wanted to include a variety of unique musical instruments that can tell an interesting story. We had to do some extensive research before finalising the musicians and instruments. We were also particular that each musician should have personal stories to share with the audience for 45 minutes,” she says.

The four indie musicians are Kalamandalam Sajith Vijayan (Thrissur, Kerala), Ustad Mohi Baha’uddin Dagar (Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra), Lourembam Bedabati (Imphal, Manipur) and Mickma Tshering Lepcha (Gangtok, Sikkim). Mohi Baha’uddin Dagar specialises in rudra veena dhrupad style, a rare string instrument, Sajith in mizhavu (a percussion instrument), Mickma in panthong palith (wooden flute) and Bedabati is a vocal practitioner of Khuilang Eshei, a vanishing folk song tradition from Manipur. “Once we finalised the musicians we approached Rahman sir and pitched our idea with the research materials. He was highly excited and immediately agreed to be part of this project. We also had to do research on Rahman sir to understand him more,” smiles Sruti.

Talking about the shooting schedule that began in January 2018, the filmmaker says that it was a learning experience for the entire team. “In the first four episodes, we can see Rahman sir visiting these musicians at their houses and having a casual, organic conversation. He also jams with them (Rahman sir brings different kinds of modern-day instruments as well) and in the final series, all of them come together to do an ensemble music piece. It’s probably the longest song that he has composed — this would be the highlight and a good end to all the four episodes,” assures Sruti, adding, “We didn’t follow a documentary format but depended on a human story that touches upon emotions. You’ll get to know the life of struggling musicians and certain traditions. Also, the audience would get to see the humourous side of the Oscar-winning composer. He was extremely supportive and completely trusted my intuition.”

Harmony will stream on Amazon Prime from August 15.