To his mind, Indian film songs were straying from their responsibility of instilling national pride in people. In 1952, the Indian National Congress party had just had a landslide victory in the first general election and Keskar-a staunch Brahmin and a classical Indian music purist-was given charge of the I&B ministry. “We must make (ourselves) familiar with our traditional music," he declared. The onus of making his countrymen “intimate with (classical music)", therefore, was bestowed on AIR. In an article in The Hindu (19 July 1953), Keskar argued that the country’s appreciation for classical music had “fallen" and was “on the point of extinction"-particularly in north India. Instead, he proposed, the country could lend its ears to highbrow classical music. ![]() ![]() He believed they would hinder the cultural growth of a young nation on the cusp of a bright future. Keskar, decided that All India Radio (AIR)-the information and entertainment lifeline of the nation-would not air film songs as they were degenerate and far too “Westernized". ![]() It was in 1952 that the minister of information and broadcasting (I&B) of newly independent India, B.V.
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