Mohanlal Aima, 1964

Mohanlal Aima singing to a group of tourists on a houseboat on Nagin Lake in 1964.
Found this photograph by James Burke at Life Magazine archive

James Burke has caught this prolific Kashmiri musician at a delightful moment. It the classic stance of a Kashmiri singer. As the backing artists pick up the refrain, as the tempo picks up, the lead singer spreads out his arms like an eagle, doesn’t close his eyes, looks his audience, his patron for the night, straight in the eye, and trying to keep his neck unmoving, moves his head left-right-left-right even as his shoulders blades shove the arms, right-left-right-left. And then the arms drop.

3 Replies to “Mohanlal Aima, 1964”

  1. vinayak saeb . great work. i always look fwd for ur updates.
    mohan lal aima was the lead actor in mainz raat . if i am nt wrong ?

  2. Thanks for reading! Omkar Nath Aima was the lead in Mainz Raat. His brother Mohan Lal Aima gave music in the film. More about the film here.

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