Updated On: 18 April, 2024 09:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
A documentary filmmaker returns to her folk roots with an experimental musical set that blends regional languages like Awadhi and Braj with Spanish and Portuguese compositions

Tewari recorded songs and folk music over several trips to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
Once a musician, always a musician. Or so it seems with filmmaker Mrinalini Tewari. Growing up in a family with musical roots, she was familiar with the folk tradition through her mother, a singer. But it was not till she returned to her home state of Uttar Pradesh in 2018 for a documentary, that she truly rediscovered her love for music and languages. This weekend, Tewari will join Nitish Ramabhadran (keyboards) and Manasquam Mahanta (guitar) for a unique set, Echoes du Monde, that blends language, music and memories.
“I learnt classical music as a young girl, even before I joined school,” Tewari shares. It was this early inoculation to the art that kept her curiosity going. “Even as a filmmaker, I remain curious about the many cultures of the world. Languages, after all, are also sounds,” she points out. It was these languages that led her to a return to music. Since 2018, she has travelled across UP, MP and Rajasthan recording folk musicians for various documentaries.