Remember Shah Rukh Khan serenading Kajol in the mustard fields of DDLJ or Zeenat Aman listening to Italian verses on a Venetian canal alongside Amitabh Bachchan? Both moments were underscored by the plinks of the mandolin. Rare in India, it is one of the key figures in several iconic songs in Indian cinema. For Pradipto Sengupta, the instrument has been a lifelong love and mission. His upcoming concert with the Mandolin Wonders Group at Bhavan’s College in Andheri will introduce the audience to the magic of the instrument.

“I have been playing the mandolin for almost 50 years,” says Sengupta, who started learning the instrument as a 10-year-old in Kolkata. “I was introduced to it by a maternal uncle. It was so hard to find a teacher for mandolin back then,” he shares, adding that his teacher was Saroj Barua. He later decided to pursue his career as a musician and moved to erstwhile Bombay.