Following The Beatles 1965's film Help!, there was a clear cultural influence that helped revolutionize their music. The band was introduced to Indian music while filming Help! and would draw from the country's rich musical history. Most impassioned by this music was George Harrison: “When I first heard Indian music, I just couldn’t really believe that it was so great, and the more I heard of it, the more I liked it," the late guitarist said. "It just got bigger and bigger, like a snowball."
Many fans are aware of this inspiration that first revealed itself on 1965's Rubber Soul and subsequent projects. Harrison would take up the sitar, learning from Ravi Shankar. In July of the following year, the quartet stopped in New Delhi for the first time and returned two years later for a course in Transcendental Meditation at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India.
If you were wanting to dive deeper into understanding the impact Indian music had on The Beatles, you're in luck! There's a new documentary coming to BritBox that "examines how Indian music and culture shaped the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo and in turn, explores how The Beatles served as ambassadors of this pioneering World music sound and cultural movement," per the film's press release.
The documentary, titled The Beatles and India, was directed by Ajoy Bose, author of Across the Universe: The Beatles in India, and cultural researcher Pete Compton. It was produced by British Indian music entrepreneur Reynold D’Silva, and it arrives February 15.
