In Memoriam

made by her daughter Radhika Backliwal Narain,36,when Rani was ailing from cancer in 2007. “I was attempting to talk to her and capture an illustrious journey by having her reminisce about her glory days. I made this film without knowing anything about filmmaking. Preserving these last interviews was a daughter’s tribute to her mother. I shot this film in some traumatic times; everytime I spoke to her,I wondered if it was the last time we were talking,” says Narain,who will organise screenings of the 26-minute film,Sharan Rani—The Divine Sarod Player soon. The maestro passed away on April 8,a day before her 80th birthday.

As a series of archival photos pass through the screen,Rani recalls her early days when she stumbled upon her brother’s sarod. She speaks about the instant love with the masculine instrument,and about her days in Maihar in Madhya Pradesh where she later learned music from Ustad Allauddin Khan. “It’s touching when she talks about Baba (Khan). In one of her interviews in the documentary,she says that when she reached Maihar,Baba told his wife ‘I have brought your daughter’,” says the filmmaker.

This film includes never-before seen interviews,rare music clippings and clips of doyens of classical music talking about her. “She opened the doors of Hindustani instrumental music for women a time when women in her family lived in purdah,” says Narain,adding that Rani had had three miscarriages. “Sarod presses the stomach but she didn’t give up. I was born when she was 45,” says Narain.