A short film on one of the live legends of north-east Indian music - Guru Rewben Mashangva is often associated with a form of music known as the Naga Blues. Listen on...
Holding on to your roots, while you travel around the world, showcasing the vibrant colours of your land to a wide audience is Rewben Mashangva's idea of a blissful life. To not let the age old melodies of his people die out has become the goal in his life.
Guru Rewben Mashangva, has been given many titles including the respected 'Guru', which was conferred upon him by the Ministry of Culture. He is also referred to as the King of Naga Folk Blues. It is a completely new genre that the Guru has given birth to and he calls it 'Hao' music.
Rewben Mashangva is a Tangkhul Naga from Ukhrul district of Manipur. He strongly disagrees with the term 'Tangkhul' as he states that they are originally 'Hao'. The name 'Tangkhul' was purely a result of miscommunication between the British and the Nagas. He says the word 'Tangkhul' just means a plain yes and that is how they got their name.
As the sole and the principal exponent of Hao music, Mashangva has taken the tribal music from his remote native land, fused it with the sounds that are internationally understood and liked, and has come out with completely new music. His fans have started calling it 'Naga Folk Blues'.
Guru Rewben Mashangva has worked hard to reach where he stands today. His love for his land and his music pushed him to roam the remotest hills and valleys of Ukhrul in search of tribal Hao songs. It took him years to find out what he was searching for as the current generation had completely lost touch with their native music and only a few older people remembered it. Then, not only playing the western guitar with these songs, but also crafting and tuning local instruments like the 'Yangkahuii' - a bamboo flute and the one stringed violin like 'Tingtelia' to western tonal perfection took a lot more time and effort.
Today, Mashangva is loved by the young and the old alike. Awarded with numerous honours by the state as well as Centre, he stands tall as the sole exponent of a form of music that would have been dead by now, if Guru Rewben Mashangva had not taken it upon himself to save the dying traditions of his tribe.
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
