6 –A Akash Ganga
(80 mins; 2023; Hindi with English subtitles)
Directed by Nirmal Chander who will introduce the film
 
Screening will be followed by a discussion
 
Can a musician exist without an audience? To find an answer, the film enters 6-A Akash Ganga, a flat overlooking the Arabian Sea in Mumbai. Here resides one of India’s most renowned classical musicians, a matchless guru—Annapurna Devi.
 
Maestros have waited for years for her to accept them as disciples. George Harrison, of the Beatles fame, had to seek special permission to listen to her musical practice. But in the mid-1950s, she vowed not to perform for anyone in an effort to save her crumbling marriage to the world-renowned Indian musician, Pandit Ravi Shankar, who had grown insecure with the acclaim she was receiving. Her disciple, Pt. Nityanand Haldipur, cuts through the myths to tell her story. The film has been produced by the Annapurna Devi Foundation.