I first met Rafiq Ali Khan in Jaipur in March 1997. He is the younger brother of the excellent sarangi player Ustad Liaqat Ali Khan who by that time had moved to Bombay. So he is also identified with the Sikar gharana and its robust playing style. Some years after I filmed him in Jaipur he also moved to Bombay and became a disciple of Arvin Parikh.
The videos here were filmed in April 1997. In the first session, due to a freak thunder storm, there was no electricity, so I filmed entirely with a two-watt video light.
The first piece was rag Vachaspati:
This was followed by some atonal experimentation and then rag Rageshri:
