'Symphony Masala': Bollywood hits get the orchestra treatment
Bollywood goes global!
Symphony Masala is a new project from Juju Productions and Saregama India, reworking nine classic Bollywood songs from the past 70 years for Western orchestras.
The video series drops on Saregama's channel December 14, aiming to introduce these timeless tracks to music lovers worldwide.
Who's behind the music?
The lineup features vocalists Anuradha Juju Palakurthi and Mithilesh Patankar, backed by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra led by Peter Illenyi.
Arrangers like D J Sparr and Bappa Lahiri have transformed these tunes using only Western instruments—no sitars or tablas this time!
Why does it matter?
Symphony Masala isn't just a remix; it's about making Bollywood songs playable by any orchestra around the world.
By turning improvised Indian melodies into formal Western scores, they're opening doors for cross-cultural performances everywhere—a first for Bollywood in this format.