Why do some songs become global hits even when millions of listeners don’t understand a word of the lyrics?

In Lost in Translation, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi explores the extraordinary power of music to cross borders, cultures and languages. From Gangnam Style and Despacito to Chaiyya Chaiyya, Jai Ho, Volare, Pata Pata and Why This Kolaveri Di, she looks at the songs that made the whole world sing along, often without knowing what they were actually singing.

What exactly is a gharana, and how did these extraordinary musical lineages come to define Hindustani classical music?

From Mughal courts and royal patronage to the great musical houses of Gwalior, Kirana, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Patiala and Rampur-Sahaswan, this episode traces the history, traditions and distinctive styles of the gharana system.

We explore the guru-shishya tradition, how musical knowledge was preserved across generations, and why different gharanas developed their own approaches to raga, rhythm and expression.

And in an age of digital learning, global influences and cross-gharana collaboration, we ask: are gharanas disappearing, or simply evolving?

A journey through lineage, legacy and the musical houses that shaped Hindustani classical music.

Artificial intelligence is changing music at breathtaking speed. But is it giving artists extraordinary new creative tools, or quietly making them obsolete?

In this episode, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi explores the rapidly evolving relationship between AI and music, from AI-generated songs, cloned voices and automated mixing and mastering to recommendation algorithms and entirely machine-generated compositions. She looks at artists experimenting with AI, the opportunities it creates for independent musicians, and the uncomfortable questions around copyright, compensation, authenticity and the future of human creativity.

If an algorithm can create a convincing song in seconds, what happens to the musician? And perhaps more importantly: what is it about human creativity that a machine still can't replace?

A provocative look at where music is headed, and whether the future belongs to AI, artists, or the strange new partnership between them.