Reading this In Conversation, this morning in Hindu, with Mahesh Dattani, the director of Morning Raga, I started to expect the film. For it promised a intact movie on a carnatic musician, played by Shabana Azmi. Most important, it had Nasser, the cinematographer was our own Rajeev Menon and edited by Shreekar Prasad. A dream team. You and me think. Here’s a little from the talk with Mahesh Dattani.

How does a convent educated Gujarati, writing and directing English plays, choose a Carnatic musician as protagonist in an English film he calls “Morning Raga”?

I’ve grown up in Bangalore. I’m more comfortable in the south Indian Kannadiga milieu. I got acquainted with Carnatic music when I learnt Bharatanatyam. These classical arts had a deep impact on me. Not that my gurus or I had any illusions about my becoming a great dancer! But I understood in some inexplicable way that when you work not just with your body and mind, but also with your spiritual self, art becomes a transformational experience.

Then eventually when I went off to rediff, I did read the Morning Raga review. I’m throughly disappointed after that. I’m still planning to take a spin to see atleast what went wrong in this dream team knowing the dream is becoming a nightmare.