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jhaptal
A Documentary In 10 Beats
Poetic, independent, and deeply resonant, this bold independent film explores the spiritual depth, improvisational mastery, and cultural legacy of Indian Classical Music through rare, intimate footage with legendary artists, disciples, and collaborators across India and the Indian diaspora. Shot over two decades, this documentary invites real listening to a living tradition shaped by devotion, discipline, and divine timing.
If you haven’t watched the Jhaptal preview yet, do so here.
Whether through generous donations, joyful sharing with your circles, kind creative introductions, or valuably contributing your unique skills, your support can help this movie amplify the appreciation of Indian Classical Music and the sacred melodies and rhythms it carries in the world today.
Let’s complete this documentary together.
Ways to Contribute to this film
Donate : every gift brings this film closer to the finish line with one-time or monthly contribution options available below.
Spread the Word : share the preview with friends, musicians, yogis, artists, educators, and music lovers. Word of mouth is powerful.
Make Introductions : introduce the project to a producer, musician, editor, or festival contact who can help the documentary come to fruition and travel.
Host a Podcast Interview or Filmmaker Guest Appearance: offer virtual or in-person conversations with your community to create engagement and buzz for the documentary.
Contribute In-Kind Support : offer to help with editing, color, sound mix, festival strategy, or translations.
Stay in the Loop : sign up for the Aquamarine Yoga newsletter to receive occasional updates on the doc progress and sneak peeks.
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Letter from the Filmmaker
Namaste,
I began filming Jhaptal in 2007 after discovering Indian Classical Music through Kirtan, yoga chanting. I was guided by personal awe and systematic disbelief: how could such profound music (Indian Classical Music) and such a longstanding approach to the performing arts (the Guru-Shishya tradition) remain hidden from my world view all of my life to that point, especially as a recent graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts in New York City where I was suppose to be getting a well-rounded artistic education?
I began studying the Tabla and followed the rhythms of Indian Classical Music across continents, cities, temples, auditoriums, community homes, and classrooms, drawn by curiosity and reverence for the instruments, sounds, and principles that I felt intuitively aligned with, even if I was only just beginning to understand their vocabulary.
Then, in 2009, my plans were “interrupted”. Trauma paused the project. I left filmmaking altogether. However, trauma also redirected me into a deeper level of healing and transformation that I never could have imagined if things had just kept going as they were. In post-traumatic flight and freeze and fawning, yoga found me and flipped me! Over the years, as I have studied and practiced and purified and taught, I have realized: the music and the yoga are really not separate.
Indian Classical Music and Yoga are both expressions of the same sacred intention, the same cultural memory, the same breath, and heartbeat.
Now, I return to Jhaptal with deeper understanding and devotion — not only to finish the documentary as I best can, but to honor everything it has taught me.
This film has been a self-funded and independent endeavor from the beginning. I’ve recorded rare footage and intimate interviews with deep cultural respect.
Your support at this stage directly funds post-production: editing, translations, archival rights, sound design, and distribution.
If you've ever had a dream paused, by life, by loss, by healing, and felt the call to reclaim it, this is for you too.
Let’s bring this movie, and its message, to the world.
Thank you,
Sandi Higgins
“It seems that nature helps to complete the music,
and both work together, for they are one.”
— Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Harmony of Life