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Friday, February 20, 2026
TopicClassical music

Topic: classical music

Ali Akbar Khan’s father disowned him for composing film music. This movie changed his mind

After stints at All India Radio and the Jodhpur court, where he was bestowed the title Ustad, Khan entered cinema. His father initially disowned him for composing film music.

How Delhi HC defined ‘originality’, holding AR Rahman & ‘PS-2’ makers guilty of copyright infringement

The court found a song in Mani Ratnam’s film identical to a classical composition by late musician duo Junior Dagar Brothers, directing the composer & Madras Talkies to pay up over Rs 2 cr.

SPIC MACAY is on a new mission after 4 decades. Mental health

Flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia says this about SPIC MACAY founder Kiran Seth: ‘If I were prime minister of India, I would have already honoured him with Bharat Ratna.'

Brahmin meltdown over Madras Music Academy award to TM Krishna shows fear of change

TM Krishna being conferred with Sangita Kalanidhi title has led Carnatic musicians to boycott the academy's annual conference. Hurt Brahmin sentiments are now playing the victim card.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘guru’ defence doesn’t cut it. End this parampara of shishya abuse

'Gurus' like Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan have been exploiting the unbridled power over their students for long—all in the name of 'parampara'. This has to change.

Music maestro Rashid Khan dies of prostate cancer, he was 55

Khan, who had been admitted in a hospital in Kolkata since last month, had been out on ventilator support Monday night.

Did AR Rahman ‘lift’ Dagar’s Shiva Stuti for PS2 Veera Raja? A new music ownership battle

Dhrupad maestro Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar has alleged that AR Rahman's song Veera Raja Veera in Ponniyin Selvan 2 'lifted' materials from 'Shiva Stuti' that his father and uncle had composed.

An English professor and a musical genius: What made Pt. Rajshekhar Mansur special

Mansur couldn’t pursue music until he was 16 because his father didn’t want him to suffer economic hardships. So he chose the next best thing: English literature.

EDM singer-songwriter Ritviz’s story shows what ‘creative courage’ means—life as a canvas

In 'Unstoppable', Manthan Shah carries out analyses of what makes champions tick—grit, courage, determination, creativity & empathy.

Poet Kaka Hathrasi’s music magazine, Sangeet, struggling, not in tune with times

Started in 1935 by poet Prabhu Lal Garg, Sangeet is the first music magazine of its kind in India. But from a monthly print of a few thousand copies, subscriptions are down to 650 today.

On Camera

India can sell its vision, but it can’t spectacle its way to AI power

The challenge of translating the AI wave into livelihoods is a bigger governing test for PM Modi than collecting selfies with Silicon Valley’s elite.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

US military commander, envoy Sergio Gor visit Indian Army Western Command, Bengaluru next

At the Western Army Command, the American delegation was briefed on the capabilities of the formation, past operations and the path ahead.

The new Great Game—Trump’s playing for time, China for leverage & India for wiggle room

This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.