Jalsaghar

A homage to Bengali music as well as a swan song to the Indian aristocracy. A lonely old aristocrat lives in a seemingly unreal palace that combines the splendor of the Indian maharajas and that of Victorian era of the British Empire. He uses what remains of his fortune for house concerts and dance performances. He organizes one last concert to prove to a nouveau riche man that he cannot simply appropriate the enjoyment of art that has been reserved for the aristocracy for centuries. For the first time, Ravi Shankar did not compose the music for a film by Ray, but another sitar virtuoso, Vilayat Khan. (gv)