Serendipity:Indian Music on Film (1)

Curated by Dharmesh Rajput

Presented in association with Birmingham Indian Film Festival

Tuning 2 You: Lost Musicians of India

Virtuoso sarod player Soumik Datta and his brother Souvid, an award-winning photojournalist, visit six Indian states to investigate and celebrate the country's rich folk music heritage.  A unique documentary film series, tracking down the last torch bearers of traditional arts.

The films will run continuously and audiences are free to join and rejoin the journey at any point.

• West Bengal. Soumik arrives in the city of joy Kolkata in search of his musical roots and puts together his team. They head into the villages in search of travelling minstrels known as Bauls.

• Rajasthan. In Ajmer, Soumik meets a Qawwali group who invite him to play inside the spectacular Ajmer Sharif Darga. He crashes a wedding, jams with tribal drummers, escapes from the police and discovers a group of women singers who have never left their village but who would like to travel and sing in the cities.

• Nagaland. High in the eastern mountains in a remote corner of India, Soumik encounters the Naga tribes. They teach him about their mysterious customs, chicken dances and head-hunting traditions, part of a unique identity at the brink of extinction. The Nagas wish to preserve their regional identity and they also want to be part of the national map of India.

• Goa On Christmas eve, Soumik arrives in the ex-Portuguese colony of Goa. A global party hub and Orthodox coastal state in one, Goa is a state in flux. An ambitious, young Fado singer, and a wise, old violinist, bring to life the struggle that many Goans feel between a colonial past and modern future, a laid-back lifestyle challenged by tourist and consumer culture.

• Karnataka In the tropical climes of verdant Karnataka, Soumik meets powerful dancers. They explain how India's archaic caste system has hurt their lives as performers. Yet here, atop mountains and forests, music and dance are one in the same - an enduring and ancient way of life.

• Varanasi In the world's oldest city of Varanasi, Soumik explores a neighbourhood that has produced five generations of Indian classical masters. He meets widowed women singers who have committed their lives to the Hindu God, Shiva, and a young drummer with the talent to make it big. Dedication to fading classical arts is formidable in this timeless city of religion, tradition and rising commercial interests.