Flautist Rakesh Chaurasia on his love for Bollywood and keeping Indian classical music alive on screen

Rakesh Chaurasia, one of India's finest flautists and a torchbearer of the Chaurasia musical legacy, has declared his deep and abiding love for playing for Bollywood — positioning film music not as a commercial detour but as a genuine creative calling.

In an interview with The Times of India, Chaurasia spoke about what draws him to Hindi film music despite his stature as a classical musician. The bansuri, which he plays at the highest concert level, finds a different but equally meaningful expression in film compositions, he suggested — reaching listeners who might never attend a classical recital.

Chaurasia is the nephew of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, whose flute has defined the sonic texture of Indian classical and film music for decades. Rakesh has built a substantial career of his own, contributing to numerous film soundtracks while maintaining a rigorous classical performance schedule. His presence in Bollywood studios has helped ensure that the flute retains a voice in an industry increasingly drawn to synthesised and electronic sounds.

His comments arrive at a moment when Indian film music is undergoing rapid transformation, with fewer orchestral recordings and a growing reliance on digital production. In that context, a master instrumentalist's enthusiasm for Bollywood carries a significance beyond personal preference — it is, in a quiet way, a case for preserving the living craft of acoustic music in Indian cinema.