The 2021 documentary The Beatles and India, a film that explores the impact of the South Asian country and its culture on The Beatles‘ lives and music, as well as how the Fab Four helped introduce Indian music to the world, will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 21.
The Beatles and India was co-directed by Ajoy Bose, author of the book Across the Universe — The Beatles in India, which served as the inspiration for the movie. The film includes rare archival footage, recordings and photographs; expert commentary; eyewitness accounts; and new segments filmed across India.
According to the film’s official website, the documentary “is the first serious exploration of how India shaped the development of the greatest-ever rock band and their own pioneering role bridging two vastly different cultures across the universe.”
The Beatles’ interest in Indian music was sparked after guitarist George Harrison bought a sitar and began to take lessons from Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar. The band first featured sitar on their classic 1965 tune “Norwegian Wood,” and Indian influences were subsequently included on such songs as “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Love You To,” “Within You Without You” and “The Inner Light.”
The Beatles and India also looks at the band’s 1968 trip to Transcendental Meditation guru the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi‘s ashram in Rishikesh, during which many of the songs that appeared on The White Album were written.
You can pre-order the DVD and Blu-ray versions of The Beatles and India now at MVDShop.com.
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