Photos: How the Mumbai Police Band beat the pandemic blues

On August 23 this year, a video of members of the Mumbai Police Band performing the James Bond theme by Monty Norman dropped on YouTube, instantly making the video a runaway hit on social media. Dressed in khaki for the first time since the inception of the band in 1936 under the British rule, the band was initially formed to perform for official parades and ceremonial receptions. Over the decades, the band has performed at public places in the city, including Shivaji Park and other city gardens. When the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions came into place in the city, Sanjay Kalyani, bandmaster of the Mumbai Police Band thought of using music as therapy for the general public and the idea of an official YouTube channel was born. The band goes by “Khaki Studio” on YouTube and Kalyani said that the musical repertoire ranges from 17th century western classical music to popular Bollywood numbers.