Educational Media Reviews Online

Except for the last minute or two when girls are shown along with boys in music classes, one might walk away from this film believing that but for "even some wives" of ancient rulers, women have played no part in making "classical" music in India. The script, read by a woman (Nirmala Mathan), is heavily larded with talk of "man and his music" and all of the practicing musicians shown in the film are male, though abundant still pictures put both mortal women and goddesses into the mix.

After a brief illustrated overview of Indian history and an explanation of what is meant by "classical" music, (including some speculation on how "man" began drumming and which Hindu gods and goddesses gave which instruments to India), the film focuses on examples of string (plucked and bowed), wind and percussion instruments, with captions, close-up views, explanations of how they are constructed and played, and short demonstrations of their sounds. Two male vocalists are also briefly shown and heard.

More labeling would have been welcome, for much of the vocabulary of Indian music will be foreign to non-Indian viewers. Because of some historical speculation and the nearly complete obscuring of the role of women in Indian music, I cannot recommend this film to academic libraries. Its succinct text requires some musical knowledge for full comprehension and its didactic tone indicates that it is intended for educational use, perhaps in a performing arts high school world music class, where it could be a useful supplementary source for a teacher who recognizes its nature as a kind of animated, richly-illustrated audio-visual encyclopedia article.