Producer: Raghavendra Rao K 
Director: Mahesh Dattani 
Cast: Perizaad Zorabian, Prakash Rao, Shabana Azmi 
Music: Mani Sharma 

Music doesn’t have languages and it transcends cultures, traditions and languages. All kinds of music like Carnatic, Hindustani, Western and many others serve the same purpose except for the difference in their presentations. Director Mahesh Dattani has succeeded in his attempt to blend rural and urban cultures, young and old and Carnatic and Western music through this film titled ‘Raagam’.

Swarnalata (Shabana Azmi) is a classical Carnatic singer from a village and her friend Vaishnavi (Ranjani Ramakrishnan) is always with her as violinist. Swarnalata has a dream to perform in the city. So, she and Vaishnavi set out with their children on a bus to perform in the city. However, the bus meets an accident, resulting in the death of Vaishnavi and Swarnalata's son. This incident cripples Swarnalata’s life. Vaishnavi's son Abhinay (Prakash Rao), who wants to prove the real artiste in him, meets Swarnalata but she is scared if he would blame her for his mother’s death.

Abhi then meets Priyanka alias Pinky (Perizaad Zorabian). They start a musical troupe along with a drums player and a guitarist but without much success. This makes Abhi request Swarnalatha to sing for the band. She agrees with much reluctance. But then, she could not make it to the program for fear of crossing the particular bridge where the accident took place years ago. Now, she decides to train Pinky. The three share something common, and that is the accident that still haunts Swarnalatha. It was Pinky's drunken father’s car that caused the accident.

The group is set to perform, as Pinky is now trained in Carnatic music. Swarnalata refuses to sing for the group in spite of Abhi and Pinky’s request. Taking a complete turn-around, Swarnalata attends the program and sings at the request of Pinky. The show is a complete blend of Carnatic and western music. Now, Swarnalata fulfills her dream of performing in the city and Abhi achieves his dream of blending classical and western music.

The director’s choice of artistes like Shabana Azmi, debutante Prakash Rao, Perizaad Zorabian and versatile artiste Nassar has made all the difference to the film. They all have performed very well. Lillete Dubey plays the role of Perizaad Zorabian’s mother Mrs. Kapoor in the film. There is neither a single duet nor love scenes between the lead pair though it is based on love theme. It is indeed a contemporary story, where music blends past and present, traditional and modern, and young and old. Mani Sharma’s melodious compositions have lived up to the expectations of the people.

On the whole, ‘Raagam’ is a good film worth giving your full attention.