Niladri Kumar
About
Niladri Kumar, a world-renowned fifth-generation sitar player, is a rare unconventional instrumentalist and a music composer.
He is a fifth-generation sitar player in his family, trained both under his father, the famous sitarist and classical musician Pandit Kartick Kumar, and the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar. He started performing at the age of six and was recognized as a prodigy.
Niladri has collaborated with Jonas Hellborg and V. Selvaganesh on Kali's Son and John McLaughlin on Floating Point. He also performed on the Masters of Percussion tour with Zakir Hussain.
He has transformed his classical styles on the Sitar to innovative, electrifying renditions on his own instrumental innovation the Zitar, and also released an album with the same name.
Niladri has also worked with several Hindi film music directors, including A.R. Rahman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and Pritam and has worked on music for many Bollywood movies like Bunty Aur Babli, Gangster, Omkara, Dabangg 2, Dhoom 2, Desi Boyz, My Name Is Khan, Paheli, 7 Khoon Maaf and more.
He has been featured in over 20 international & national albums.
Awards and accomplishments
Awards and accomplishments
- Niladri won the ‘MN Mathur Award’ in the 51st Maharana Kumbha Sangeet Samaro’ for his contribution to Indian classical music in 2013,
- He received the MTV Immies Award for the ‘Best Classical/Fusion Instrumental’ for his album If’.
- He has also won the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s ‘Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar’, awarded to young musicians, in 2007.
- He received ‘Upcoming Music Composer of The Year’ at the Mirchi Music Awards in 2018 and the ‘RD Burman Award For Upcoming Talent In Film Music’ at the 64th Filmfare Awards in 2019 for the movie Laila Majnu.
Why Nildari Kumar ?
Niladri Kumar is known for his expansive modern sitar style, stretching the boundaries of classical music with his own variations. He has developed an extraordinary technical command of his instrument, complete with dextrous double stops, whispering string bends, and rapid taans. As the creator of his unique instrument, the Zitar, Niladri has made a significant contribution to the music industry and forged close relationships with his listeners.
