On the music of Yahudi, Bimal Roy’s unexpected Bollywood historical about the persecution of Jews in ancient Rome, the dulcet ring of the oud is impossible to miss. The background score, produced by Shankar and Jaikishan, has a slightly Middle Eastern flavor to it, and the adaptable Arabian stringed instrument is frequently used to express the whirling emotions as the plot twists and turns. The oud sobs, moans, and sings intensify the emotion on film when killings are ordered, betrayals occur, and Dilip Kumar falls in love with Meena Kumari. It could have easily devolved into kitsch. Perhaps the fact that the man plucking the strings, Isaac David, was well-versed in Middle Eastern music was the reason it didn’t.
David was Jewish, and in the early twentieth century, he honed his skills by performing with a Mumbai-based ensemble that produced four discs of Iraqi Jewish music for the Hebrew Record label.
Source: https://www.scroll.in/magazine/842621/iraq-and-roll-the-jewish-sounds-of-bollywood
