'The Last Music Store' takes you back to Mumbai's Rhythm House

Mumbai's popular iconic music store Rhythm House has shut shop but fans and regulars of the store can now recount their fond memories by watching the documentary, 'The Last Music Store' by filmmaker Megha Ramaswamy. The documentary first premiered at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) in New York in November 2016.
In the 38-minute documentary, employees of Rhythm House share some memories while they worked at the iconic store.In one scene, an employee sitting inside the store without lights says he didn't know much about music when he joined, he didn't know if Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi were singers or instrumentalists. Another employee shares an experience that touched his heart ' he says he knows a customer who, for 27 years, used to drop by on birthdays of various artists like Lata Mangeshkar to just distribute sweets to the entire staff.

Aliya Curmally, daughter of Amir Curmally, chairperson of Rhythm House asked her friend, screenwriter and filmmaker Megha Ramaswamy to make a documentary on the iconic music store. Megha, who is a music lover herself and was a regular visitor at Rhythm House, jumped at the offer and made 'The Last Music Store'. She told the Times Of India, 'I met Aliya at a writers' workshop years ago and since then, we have been friends. She approached me and I was delighted to work on this since I, myself, am not just a music lover but I loved Rhythm House and visited there whenever I could. There was no structure in mind that this is how I will make it, the 38-minute video that you see seemed just right. And I have had people tell me how they were moved to tears as they could relate to the concept of their favourite stores shutting down.'
This documentary will be screened at Bombay Art Society in Mumbai on February 24 at 7pm.