He reaches out to people through his sitar, music
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, April 19
While effortlessly straddling two different worlds of Indian classical music and fusion music, sitarist Niladri Kumar has been guided by an inner urge to reach out to as many people as possible through his music.
His insatiable hunger to reach out has seen him foray into composing music for Hindi films, performing with foreign artists and for that matter, lending his music and name to the Taj Mahal advertisement. “All of us are into music for the love of it. It is this force that propels all of us to take to the stage, perform and reach out,” said Niladri, speaking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a musical concert Swarangan organised yesterday.
Acutely aware about the dwindling interest in sitar in India and the curious glances that it invites among those who do not recognise the instrument, Niladri has faith that some day, a more compelling change would come about. “I am hopeful that things would come full circle. Those who are looking for instant success would value the virtues of perseverance and hard work. Even while composing for films, a special skill is required. Things are quite different now. The technology is being used to enhance music, ” the musician affirmed.
He has refrained from affixing “Pandit” before his name because the title seems too exalted and should be reserved only for the best and the few. “I am still charting out my course. The title is only for the legend and that is the way it should be,” said Niladri.
Despite having brought to the fore an electric sitar called Zitar, Niladri is quick to point out, “It would be wrong to call it my invention. It was already there. Somebody must have done the research work and I only came along and dusted it. I believe a different instrument can take shape only if it is capable of producing different music.”
In fact, he is hopeful that the instrument, despite being patented by somebody else, would witness unprecedented growth and popularity.
