We like to remember the 86th birthday: Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar (2/2/1927 – 7/27/2011)

Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar (2 February 1927 – 27 July 2011) was an exponent of Dagar vani Dhrupad of Indian classical music. He represented the 19th generation of Dagar Tradition along with his brothers Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, known as Senior Dagar Brothers, Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar, known as Junior Dagar Brothers, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Fariduddin Dagar, and Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar.

Re-Listen the IMC show (premiere on 15th August 2011):
19 Generation Contract – 600 years in Dhrupad… A tribute to Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar (1927-2011)

(pls listen the fully show (58 minutes) with part 2 & part 3 and get the playlist here)

Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar has been honoured with various awards among which are Sangeet Ratan (1956), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1993–94), Dhrupad Ratan(1993–94), Sahitya Kala Parishad (1996), Indra Gandhi Fellowship (1997), Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award (1997), Mewar Foundation Award (2002), Maharaja Sawai Ishwari Singh Award (2002), Kalidas Award (2002), Bihar Dhrupad Ratan (2002), Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2003), Sangeet Bhusan (2003), Shama Indian Cultural Society Award (2004), Lifetime Achievement Award (2005) by North American Dhrupad Association, Lifetime Achievement Award, by Govt. of Delhi (2007), Padma Bhusan Award (2008), Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Purashkar (Fellowship)(2010), Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan Lifetime Achievement Award (2011).

(Source: 01/2013 – Wikipedia.org)

Dhrupad the Call of the Deep – Documentary Film on Dhrupad

Dhrupad the Call of the Deep is a documentary film on Dhrupad – the ancient classical court and temple music genre of North India, featuring as its main protagonists Dagar family patriarch Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar and Dhrupad singer Ashish Sankrityayan. The film documents the process of oral transmission of traditional knowledge and focuses on the complex linkages between Dhrupad and Indian spiritual and philosophical thought, literature, art and history and also on the relevance of Dhrupad in the context of the vast globalizing influences sweeping through India now.

The film documents in the first person, the interaction and the complex relation between a traditional Dhrupad maestro and his young student, with one of the two main protagonists – the student also wielding the camera, focusing mainly on his master and sometimes turning it on himself. The close physical distance between the two characters necessitates a cinematic language where the camera constantly moves around, following the movements of the protagonists and ranging over parts of the body or small objects or whatever is interesting, since only a small part of the whole picture can be accommodated in the frame at that close distance. Hand gestures or mudras are used as a voice and melodic technique in Dhrupad singing, and the film uses the complex gestures and hand movements of the singers as a metaphor for the art.

There is nothing in the film that is preplanned or scripted. The things to talk about or sing were never decided beforehand. The interaction was shot as it occured over a period of about fives years. While the use of the camera by one of the protagonists would have undoubtedly influenced the interaction in subtle ways – the unobstrusive use of a very small palm sized camera and the fact that the protagonists get used to its constant presence after some time, ensured that this influence remained minimal.

In its phrasing, camera movements, micro and macro structure, the film mimics a typical performence of Dhrupad -the music it tells about.The film has several threads running through it, and through these parallel and sometimes intertwined threads shows how the story of Dhrupad is the story of Indian civilization itself, with its centuries of the meeting, assimilation and mutual enrichment of cultures and religions.

(Source: 01/2013 – www.dhrupad-film.de)

The following three excerpts constitute approximately 60 percent of the film.

Excerpt 1…

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Excerpt 2…

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 Excerpt 3…

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