The Baghdadi Jews of India had their record labels in the cosmopolitan society of the 1930s, and the Iraqi-Jewish tunes performed by oud player Isaac David even found their way into Bollywood musicals. Sara Manasseh, a Mumbai-born ethnomusicologist, released Shir Hodu, a collection of 15 pieces in 2009. The following is an excerpt from a fascinating interview published in Scroll magazine (thanks to Dominique):
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.
Source: https://www.jewishrefugees.org.uk/2017/08/recalling-baghdadi-music-of-india.html
