Prior to the film there will be a traditional Indian music performance by internationally acclaimed sitarist Jonathan Mayer & gifted tabla player Dhanraj Persaud. The film will be introduced by guest curator Anupma Shanker.

A silent spectacle featuring an all-Indian cast of thousands, lavish costumes and gorgeous settings, Shiraz: A Romance of India is based on the true story -or a romanticized version- of the 17th-century Mughal ruler Shah Jahan and the events leading to the construction of the world’s most beautiful monument to love, the Taj Mahal, in memory of his dead queen, Mumtaz Mahal.

The brainchild of star and producer Himanshu Rai, regarded as one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, this ambitious Indian/British/German co-production was directed by the Bavarian filmmaker Franz Osten, and was the second of three silent films, shot on location in Jaipur, India. Rai plays the lead role of the humble potter Shiraz who follows his childhood sweetheart Selima (Enakshi Rama Rau) when she is sold by slave traders to the future emperor. Shiraz is ultimately fated to design the queen’s iconic mausoleum.

Restored from original film elements by the BFI National Archive in 2017, the film also features a new score by the Grammy Award-winning sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar.

Looking back at this iconic historical saga ninety six years later, Shiraz is not just one of the few silent Indian films to survive, it is an aide-mémoire of India’s flourishing film industry in the 1920s, and a shining jewel of silent world cinema classics.

More Info: https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/shiraz-a-romance-of-india-live-music/