Pandit Niladri Kumar is a sitar musician from India who also writes music. Kartick Kumar, a Ravi Shankar disciple, was his father when he was born. At the age of four, he began studying sitar with his father. Kumar’s first public performance was at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, when he was six years old.

Along with Zakir Hussain, he was a member of the Masters of Percussion tour. Kumar has collaborated with Jonas Hellborg and V. Selvaganesh on the album Kali’s Son, as well as John McLaughlin on the album Floating Point. Kumar has also collaborated with A.R. Rahman, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and Pritam, among other Hindi film music directors. Niladri received the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in March 2007, which is given to young artists.

Career and Recognition

Niladri’s album If also won the MTV Immies award for Best Classical/Fusion Instrumental.  Every year, the MTV Immies honour the top musicians in India. The Immies helped India and Pakistan earthquake victims in 2005. Additionally, the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund received proceeds from donor passes. A number of Pakistani and foreign performers performed during the occasion in keeping with tradition.

 Kumar adapted a travelling sitar to make a rock guitar sound out of it, which inspired the notion. Kumar lowered the instrument’s string count from 20 to five. He also fitted the instrument with an electric pickup to make it sound more like a guitar.

In 2008, he released Zitar, his first full-length album composed using the instrument. Kumar wrote the album’s first track, Priority, in 2003. He refined the single and following tracks over the next five years by monitoring crowd reaction during live performances. He made the tunes up as he went along, using elements from numerous genres such as rock, electronic, and lounge.