Niladri Kumar is an Indian sitar player and music composer. The invention of the zitar was done by him. He is known to be one of the most popular musicians of his generation, as stated by fellow sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee. Kamar has collaborated with many top musicians, such as Zakir Hussain, Arjit Singh, and John McLaughlin.
He was born to sitar player Kartick Kumar, a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He began learning the sitar under his father's guidance at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public performance at the age of six at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.[1]
Career
He was a part of the Masters of the Percussion tour alongside Zakir Hussain.[2] Kumar has also worked with Jonas Hellborg and V. Selvaganesh on their album Kali's Son[3] and with John McLaughlin on album Floating Point.[4] Kumar has also worked with various music directors in Hindi cinema, including A.R. Rahman, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and Pritam.[1] Niladri was conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi's Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, awarded to young musicians, in March 2007.[5] Niladri has also won MTV Immies award for the Best Classical/Fusion Instrumental for his album If.[1][6] The concept initiated from a travelling sitar, which was modified by Kumar to create rock guitar sound out of it. Kumar reduced the number of strings on the instrument from 20 to five. He also added an electric pick-up inside the instrument so that it would sound more like a guitar.[1] His first full album composed using the instrument, titled Zitar, was released in 2008.[7] Kumar wrote the first track for the album Priority in 2003. Over the next five years he improved the track and subsequent track by gauging audience reaction during live performances. He improvised the tracks adding components from various genres such as rock, electronic and lounge.[1] He also won the MN Mathur Award in the 51st Maharana Kumbha Sangeet Samaroh for his contribution to Indian classical music in March 2013. He is currently the Dean of Maya Somaiya College of Performing Arts at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai.[8]
12345Vijaykar, Rajiv (3 October 2008). "Zitar Power". Screen India. The Indian Express Limited. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
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