Niladri Kumar

Niladri Kumar was born in 1973 in Kolkata into a musical family. His father, Kartick Kumar, was a respected sitarist and disciple of Ravi Shankar, and he began teaching Niladri at age 4. By six, Niladri had already given his first public performance at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry, marking an early start to his concert career.

While firmly grounded in classical raga music, Niladri Kumar became known for exploring new sonic possibilities for the sitar. His most notable innovation is the zitar, a self-designed instrument in which he reduced the number of strings and added electronic pickups to produce a tone closer to a guitar while retaining sitar techniques such as meend and gamak. This instrument became central to his fusion and crossover projects, especially from the 2000s onward.

He has performed internationally and participated in major tours, including the Masters of the Percussion, led by Zakir Hussain. His collaborations extend to global jazz and fusion musicians, including John McLaughlin and Jonas Hellborg. Alongside stage performances, he has been active in the Indian film industry, working with composers like A. R. Rahman, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and Pritam. His sitar and zither can be heard in many well-known film songs across Hindi cinema.

Niladri Kumar has released numerous solo and collaborative albums, ranging from pure classical to fusion and ambient styles. Titles such as If, Zitar, Priority, and Plucked highlight his interest in cross-genre composition while maintaining a raga foundation.

His recognitions include the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (2007), the MTV Immies Award for classical/fusion instrumental music, the MN Mathur Award (2013), the Filmfare Award for the RD Burman Award for New Music Talent (2019), and a Mirchi Music Award (2018).

In addition to performing and composing, he is active in music education and currently serves as Dean of the performing arts faculty at Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai. His career reflects a balance between classical training and contemporary experimentation, making him one of the notable sitarists of his generation.