Richard

Osborne, ‘Musical Instruments of India’ (1944)

In 1943 the Film Advisory Board (FAB), the body that had been created to

oversee the production of wartime documentaries in India, was dissolved and

Information Films of India (IFI) was created in its stead. Under this new

organisation the Government of India assumed full responsibility for propaganda

films. In addition, the government implemented the Defence of India Rule 44A,

effective from September 1943, which required that every cinema in India show

at least 2000 feet of government ‘approved’ film at each performance. To ensure

that the IFI’s films reached as wide an audience as possible they were issued in

separate English, Hindustani, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu versions (‘Note for Cut

Motion’). This closer governmental control of film production was the response

to two main threats: the unrest in the sub-continent caused by the nationalist

Quit India movement, and the growing seriousness of the war in South-East Asia

(Garga, 2007, 97).

Musical Instruments of India was produced by the head of the IFI, the Indian

director Ezra Mir. During his period in charge, Mir increasingly steered the IFI

documentary output away from military propaganda towards films that reflected
the socio-economic and cultural life of Indian people (Garga, 2007, 108-09). It

was his belief that as Indians approached independence – which by 1943 was

generally acknowledged as being ‘inevitable’ (Brown, 1994, 328) – they needed

to be made aware of their heritage and of their arts (Garga, 2007, 108-09). The

Indian government supported Mir’s aims. In March 1944, the Hon. Sir Syed

Sultan Ahmed stated that ‘I believe this is the right line and this is why people

are beginning to look forward to our films instead of groaning when the title is

screened’ (Ahmed). Indian audiences had shunned IFI’s military films and

industry critics had condemned them; in contrast Mir’s documentaries of

national life gained greater popularity and acclaim (Garga, 2007, 110-11;

Holmes, 1946, 44).

The constitution of IFI began to reflect these national interests. Winifred Holmes,

a British filmmaker who at times worked for the organisation, noted that it

‘became more and more all-Indian during its years of growth’ (Holmes, 1946,

43). Musical Instruments of India is indicative of this change: all of its credited

production team are Indian. It is edited by Pratap Parmar, one of the ‘mainstays’

of FAB and IFI (Garga, 2007, 43), and it is directed by Modhu Bose, who enjoyed

a long career in Indian cinema as an actor and director, and who was married to

the famous actress Sadhona Bose. An uncredited Englishman speaks the English-

language commentary, however.

Mir’s productions received interest from abroad. Musical Instruments of India

was one of IFI films about Indian arts and culture that were sent to America and

shown at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Walt Disney
remarked that ‘These films are tremendously interesting . . . it is films like these

that create a better understanding and stimulate interest in other cultures’

(Garga, 2007, 110). Nevertheless, the IFI’s films of this period were primarily

aimed at Indian audiences: by 1944 only a handful of IFI’s films were being

distributed non-theatrically in Britain, and none were receiving a commercial

release (Brock).

Various factors work together to make Musical Instruments of India a markedly

different and more successful film than earlier FAB and IFI productions. Most of

the earlier films had complicated propaganda aims, addressing both the War and

(less overtly) India’s political situation; they were further complicated by being

aimed at diverse audiences in India, Britain, the USA and other Allied countries

(Woods, 2001, 298).

With its direct ambition of outlining some of the most widely used musical

instruments in India, this film has none of the confusion of the earlier

productions. The filmmakers make the most of their opportunity: this is a simple

but elegant film. It is consistent in approach: the various instruments are all

filmed in the same studio; they are all lit in the same way, with hard lighting that

casts bold shadows on the studio wall behind them; and they are all treated in

the same manner, with a general introduction to the instrument followed by a

well-recorded musical performance. It is notable that this film gives more

detailed and specific credits than earlier FAB or IFI productions, with K.

Prabhakar being responsible for photography and Balkrishna Shah being

responsible for sound.

The filmmakers provide a setting in which the instruments and the musicians

can be treated with great respect. The film evolves at a measured pace, each

instrument is filmed in great detail and from a number of angles. The

commentary is provided with the appropriate images and the appropriate

amount of time in which to explore the history of each instrument as well as

their construction. There is regard here for India’s culture (we learn that the

sitar has evolved over a period of 700 years, and that the drumhead of the tabla

is made with goatskin) and for its craftsmanship (the saraswati veena and the

sitar are both ‘beautifully carved’). Each instrument is highlighted with the

performance of a short piece of music. Here the commentary respectfully

withdraws, having made clear that we are hearing skilled exponents (the sanai is

‘an extremely difficult instrument to play’; the sursagar is ‘played by an expert’;

the sitar is played with the ‘delicate fingers of a master’). These performances

begin with camerawork that focuses on the featured instrument, before moving

to medium shots that reveal the master players.

Musical Instruments of India appears to be primarily concerned with fulfilling

Ezra Mir’s aim of informing Indians about their traditions and their arts. It begins

with a rolling title, which boasts that a ‘rich variety’ of instruments is part of the

‘heritage of India’, and the film informs Indians from around the country about

their different musical heritages (the commentary states that the saraswati

veena is the principal stringed instrument of southern India, while the sitar

fulfils this role in the north). However, the English-language commentary of the

film at times gives the impression of being addressed to audiences beyond the
sub-continent. The music is explained in relation to the western scale (‘Indian

music is the music of tones smaller than half tones, so called micro-tones’); and

the viewer is informed of the fame and regard that the musicians have within

India (‘best-known exponent’; ‘one of the most famous tabla players’),

information that would presumably not have been necessary for the home

audience. Nevertheless, one of the factors that differentiates films such as

Musical Instruments of India from the FAB and IFI films that address the War or

contemporary political events, is that they are not concerned with fulfilling

different propaganda aims for different audiences. Rather, with independence

approaching, these films began to explore the sub-continent’s rich cultural

heritage.

Works cited

Ahmed, Hon. Sir Syed Sultan, ‘Speech at the Meeting of the Publicity Advisory

Committee, Delhi, 11 March 1944’, in Extract from “Indian Information”, Vol. 14,

No. 134, April 1st 1944. [document in India Office materials held at the British

Library: File: L/I/1/692 ‘Films – India’].

Brock, R.W. (India Section, Far East Division), letter to A.H. Joyce (India Office,

Whitehall, 26 February 1945) [document in India Office materials held at the

British Library. File: L/I/1/692 ‘Films-India’].

Brown, Judith M., Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy, 2nd edn

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994).

Garga, B.D., From Raj to Swaraj: The Non-fiction Film in India (New Delhi:

Penguin, 2007).
Holmes, Winifred, ‘Postscript to India. An account of the work of Information

Films of India’, Sight and Sound, 15/58 (1 July 1946), 43-45.

‘Note for Cut Motion on 15th March 1944: Defence of India Rule 44A’ [document

in India Office materials held at the British Library. File: L/I/1/686 ‘Films for

Publicity’].

Woods, Philip, ‘From Shaw to Shantaram’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and

Television, 21/3 (August 2001), 293-308.