First-of-its-kind course will be held over two weekends in April at National Film Archive of India in Pune

Mumbai: The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Saturday said it will be offering a course in Indian film music appreciation, a first in the country. The weekend course will be conducted on April 7-8 and April 14-15 in collaboration with the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). The FTII has been offering a premier film appreciation course since 1967 at its Pune campus, and several other short-term ones across the country; NFAI began collaborating with it on the film appreciation course from 1974.

Right from India’s very first Talkie, Alam Ara released on March 14, 1931, music, in particular song and dance, has always been an integral part of the narrative form of our country’s different cinemas. In fact, many a time, it was music and the songs that were the reason for multiple viewings of a film by audiences or, in industry parlance, ‘repeat value’ of a film. Telling stories using song and dance has given Indian mainstream cinema its own special identity down the years.

Bhupendra Kainthola, director, FTII Pune, said, "The Indian film song has followed a unique journey of its own. From the earliest songs recorded in front of the camera with live orchestras to the development of the playback system, from the simplicity of words to highly poetic songs carrying a world view of their own; from basic tunes mostly taken from Indian folk or semi-classical music to influences from the West and more layered compositions; from untrained singing voices to specialist playback artistes; from functional dance steps to highly evolved choreography; from single static shots to a collage of shots involving complex camera and character movements.”

The course will be conducted by Karan Bali, an FTII alumnus who studied film direction in 1993. Mr. Bali has mostly been making documentaries, apart from being the first assistant director for two feature films, Everybody Says I'm Fine and Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women. He teaches filmmaking and is also co-founder and content-in-charge at upperstall.com, an analytical website on cinema of the sub-continent and its history.

Mr. Bali said, “The aim of the four-day workshop, spread over two weekends, is to take the participant through this magical travelogue from the coming of sound in Indian cinema to its golden age in the 1950s and present-day trends. Even as we trace the evolution of the Indian film song, we would, in parallel, look at the brief history of Indian cinema alongside to be able to put Indian film music in context. Through the workshop, we would also highlight the invaluable contribution of our great composers, lyricists, singers, choreographers and, of course, filmmakers, who were all able to come together to make song picturisation an art form.”

The course will be conducted in the NFAI Auditorium in Kothrud, Pune. Admission will be on a first-come-first-served basis and the deadline for submitting applications is March 27.