Niladri Kumar: My soul remains the same and so does my music

Niladri Kumar belongs to a generation of musicians who constantly evolve and innovate. Though tutored in the intricacies of

sitar

by his illustrious father,

Pt Kartick Kumar

, Niladri has broken set moulds to take his craft to places it had never been. ���A classical musician constantly swims against the tide. He survives in an environment which is buzzing with popular genres of music. The fact that he is able to hold his own shows how brimming with creativity he is,��� Kumar told TOI.

To play music that is not traditional, one has to be very rooted to one���s own genre he says. ���I knew the kind of sounds that I wanted to create. The seed had been sown early in my career and it took eighteen years to fruit,��� he says explaining the creation of

zitar

which he invented and played for the first time 2001-02. The ���zitar��� is a combination of the sitar and a guitar.

Kumar decreased the number of strings from 20 to 5, similar to that of a guitar and added an electronic pick within the sitar body to create authentic guitar rock sound. ���I could see how the younger generation was relating to other forms of music. I wanted to reach out to them by playing out sounds with which they identified better,��� he says.

He began experimenting with his father���s old sitars to get the desired results. ���I also wanted it to look different and easy to wield,��� he adds. Though the physical form and sound that it makes may be different, but Niladri says that no modifications are made in the music presented on it. ���I am student of Hindustani classical music. It is just that the instrument has been created to reinvent and adapt what already exists, in order to give something new. I am constantly on my toes and open to try out new music on it,��� he says.

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This need among the younger set of musicians to innovate and experiment is a good thing feels Kumar. ���Innovations for purpose other than music is not good. Classical music is like a wave which keeps coming back and what it carries simply keeps resurfacing,��� he says.

Not agreeing with the statement that he has done away with his family���s legacy, Niladari says, ���Legacy remains when you walk the same path set by the legends. I am trying to walk a more difficult path. I think I am just an experiment that happened in my father���s lab. I still have to become an entity who creates his own music.���

Niladari finds no contradiction in the fact that he is able to play the sitar and zitar with equal ease. ���One day I am clad in a dhoti for a classical concert and the other day in a western attire. But my soul remains the same and so does my music,��� says the musicians who has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and also won the MTV ���Best Classical/Fusion Instrumental��� award.

Listen to songs by Niladri Kumar on gaana.com

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