Suanshu Khurana is an award-winning journalist and music critic currently serving as a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is best known for her nuanced writing on Indian culture, with a specific focus on classical music, cinema, and the arts.
Expertise & Focus Areas Khurana specializes in the intersection of culture and society. Her beat involves deep-dive reporting on:
Indian Classical Music: She is regarded as a definitive voice in documenting the lineages (Gharanas) and evolution of Hindustani classical music.
Cinema & Theatre: Her critiques extend beyond reviews to analyze the socio-political narratives within Indian cinema and theater.
Cultural Heritage: She frequently profiles legendary artists and unearths stories about India’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Professional Experience At The Indian Express, Khurana is responsible for curating and writing features for the Arts and Culture pages. Her work is characterized by long-form journalism that offers intimate portraits of artists and rigorous analysis of cultural trends. She has been instrumental in bringing the stories of both stalwarts and upcoming artistes to the forefront of mainstream media.
Find all stories by Suanshu Khurana here

August 06, 2025 18:09 IST
The National Award for an easy-to-forget song by Shilpa Rao should be seen as a representative, catch-up award for many previous significant others.
Wed, Aug 06, 2025
July 25, 2025 18:50 IST
Himesh Reshammiya’s resurgence is real. The mania, however, lies in a curious combination of nostalgia, FOMO in times of Insta reels, a thriving live-music industry and that age-old need to grasp at a familiar cultural memory.
Sun, Jul 27, 2025
July 20, 2025 05:00 IST
Bharatanatyam exponent Malavika Sarrukai, 'India's greatest living dancer’ according to noted art historian BN Goswami, on her dance journey, questioning tradition and how pay parity between a dancer and a musician continues to be overlooked in the Carnatic world’s debate on caste and gender
Sat, Jul 19, 2025
July 15, 2025 22:30 IST
Veteran Punjabi singer Muhammad Sadiq on his song that's making waves in 2025, questions about who profits from a folk artiste’s cultural legacy and performing during militancy and, now, with Diljit Dosanjh.
Wed, Jul 16, 2025
July 13, 2025 14:09 IST
Recently, a tech entrepreneur paid 400,000 dollars to conduct the Toronto Orchestra for one evening, to criticism from some musicians. Why do conductors matter, and what do their baton waves and wrist flicks actually mean?
Mon, Jul 14, 2025
July 05, 2025 17:56 IST
Guru Dutt’s films gave us decaying idealism and gentle stories about unrequited love. The songs in them completed the story
Sun, Jul 06, 2025
July 04, 2025 20:38 IST
In what is likely to be an epic collaboration, AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer have come together for the upcoming Ranbir Kapoor starrer Ramayana.
Fri, Jul 04, 2025
June 28, 2025 16:51 IST
Playback singer Kishore Kumar’s refusal to sing at an Indian Youth Congress rally promoting Sanjay Gandhi’s 20-point programme was taken as defiance by the government.
Sun, Jun 29, 2025
June 27, 2025 06:59 IST
Badstue will climb the podium and wield the baton to present music from Scandinavian repertoire, including compositions by prominent Danish composer Carl Nielsen
Fri, Jun 27, 2025
June 27, 2025 06:30 IST
Ludhiana-based Taranjot Singh, one of India’s first practising Sikh Kathak dancers, with all the markers of his faith intact, is challenging norms to follow his passion
Fri, Jun 27, 2025
June 23, 2025 21:33 IST
Toronto Metropolitan University will begin a course on the Born to Shine singer in 2026
Mon, Jun 23, 2025
June 14, 2025 16:16 IST
The journey that producer Ishleen Kaur takes in The Killing Call, which was released by the BBC on YouTube, to get to the bottom of the matter, is quite unsettling and at times a hair-raising watch
Sat, Jun 14, 2025
June 11, 2025 03:53 IST
It all started when a producer from America’s Got Talent reached out to Girish via Instagram, after seeing a soundcheck video he had posted from a show at Independence Rock Festival in Mumbai
Wed, Jun 11, 2025
June 08, 2025 19:59 IST
Blues music: The story of a folk art form with roots in Africa and emergence in the Mississippi Delta, which became the essence of American music.
Sun, Jun 08, 2025
May 25, 2025 12:43 IST
Three people have been booked for reciting the poem in Nagpur. But the protest anthem speaks neither for Pakistan nor for India but for a more inclusive world
Sun, May 25, 2025
May 24, 2025 09:11 IST
The compositions follow the jazz drummer's quest for identity born out of a yearning for his grandfather and the homeland of Sindh
Sat, May 24, 2025
May 20, 2025 18:16 IST
Chapter 3: We Return to Light, conceptually, is a return to dawn as well as the basics. Three different producers, different geographies that are home in different ways and different ideas that are still woven into a thread.
Tue, May 20, 2025
May 17, 2025 18:42 IST
Playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy on her 50-year journey in Hindi film music, why she thought Hawa Hawai was not meant for her and how AI can’t replace musicians
Sun, May 18, 2025
May 14, 2025 13:56 IST
Most opera directors were fascinated by Maria Callas, even though her voice had them divided. Also, back when a larger physique was believed to contribute to a richer voice, Callas decided to lose around 30 kg in the middle of her career. Here's the story of her remarkable life.
Wed, May 14, 2025
May 03, 2025 16:04 IST
What made Bombay indelible wasn’t just the subject it showcased, it did so along with AR Rahman’s soundtrack — a score of conscience that stirred a nation
Sun, May 04, 2025
April 29, 2025 16:49 IST
International Dance Day 2025, Ballet history significance: The day celebrates the spontaneity of movement and expression that the art form is capable of. The French ballet dancer Noverre pioneered a more emotive, story-driven approach to dance.
Tue, Apr 29, 2025
April 27, 2025 21:25 IST
Chatur Lal was a pioneer who introduced the tabla to western audiences as he travelled the world playing with other Indian greats, like Pandit Ravi Shankar, in the 50s and early 60s. In his centenary year, here's his story.
Mon, Apr 28, 2025
April 26, 2025 04:58 IST
“...the prayer for acknowledgement, sought for by the Plaintiff, is the minimum that can be granted... , the Junior Dagar brothers are the original authors and composers... court has found that the Defendant’s work is an infringing work,” the court said.
Sat, Apr 26, 2025
April 24, 2025 19:28 IST
Kathak exponent Aditi Mangaldas on performing in times of war and terror and her upcoming project about atrocities on children in conflict zones
Fri, Apr 25, 2025
April 19, 2025 00:35 IST
The festival, held inside the famed Hanuman temple in Varanasi, is a confluence of music and syncretic culture. It opened with a recital by flute maestro Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Sat, Apr 19, 2025





