A true meeting of East and West, combining vintage film and contemporary music.

The 1969 Indian arthouse film Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen, by Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray, is set to a new live soundtrack. Soumik Datta on the sarod is joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Resident at Southbank Centre, for this London premiere.

The story follows two village musicians with special powers (bestowed upon them by the benevolent King of Ghosts) as they travel through time and space, against the backdrop of a monochrome rural India. Scenes from the film are projected above the stage and accompanied by the new score.

Filled with adventure and powerful new music, King of Ghosts transforms the classic fairytale by one of India’s greatest film makers.

King of Ghosts was originally commissioned and toured by the Edinburgh Mela. It is composed by Soumik Datta and co-composed by Johannes Berauer and percussionist Cormac Byrne. Datta has collaborated with Beyonce, Jay Z, Nitin Sawhney, Anoushka Shankar, Joss Stone, Akram Khan, Javed Akhtar and Shankar Mahadevan, and is a former Artist in Residence at Alchemy.

For more information go to the Southbank Centre Website