Pandit Niladri Kumar is an Indian sitar player and music composer.

Early life

He was born to sitar player Kartick Kumar, a disciple of

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

. He started learning sitar under his father at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public performance at the age of six at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

Career

He was a part of the Masters of the Percussion tour alongside

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

. Kumar has also worked with

Jonas Hellborg Jonas Hellborg (born 7 June 1958) is a Sweden, Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin, Sultan Khan (musician), Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Ande ...

and V. Selvaganesh on their album ''Kali's Son'' and with

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

on album ''Floating Point''. Kumar has also worked with various music directors in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, including A.R. Rahman,

Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy () is an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. They have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across five languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and English. Amongst t ...

and

Pritam Pritam Chakraborty (born 14 June 1971), also known mononymously as Pritam, is an Indian composer, instrumentalist, guitarist, and singer. After working as an ad jingles composer, he debuted as a co-composer in the 2001 Hindi film Tere Liye. A ...

. Niladri was conferred the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

's Ustad

Bismillah Khan Bismillah Khan (born Amaruddin Khan, 21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006), often referred to by the title ''Ustad'', was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. While the shehnai had long held imp ...

Yuva Puraskar, awarded to young musicians, in March 2007. Niladri has also won

MTV Immies The MTV Immies are held every year with an aim to award the best talents in the Indian music industry. In 2005 The Immies supported relief for the quake victims of India and Pakistan. Also, proceeds from donor passes were given to the Prime Mi ...

award for the Best Classical/Fusion Instrumental for his album ''If''. The concept initiated from a traveling sitar, which was modified by Kumar to create rock guitar sound out of it. Kumar reduced the number of

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

on the instrument from 20 to five. He also added an electric pickup inside the instrument so that it would sound more like a guitar. His first full album composed using the instrument, titled ''Zitar'', was released in 2008. 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 Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

. He also won the MN Mathur Award in the 51st Maharana Kumbha Sangeet Samaroh for his contribution to Indian classical music in March, 2013.

Discography

Albums

*2001: ''Together'' *2002: ''Revelation'' *2003: ''Dharohar'' *2003: ''Saanjh Sur'' *2003: ''If: Magical Sounds of Sitar'' *2005: ''Sitar Gaze'' *2005: ''Yoga Lounge'' (With Chinmaya Dunster) *2006: ''Forever'' *2006: ''De-Stress Revive'' (With

Rupak Kulkarni Rupak Kulkarni is an Indian Bansuri player. Background With the musical background of his father Pt Malhar Rao Kulkarni, Rupak continued his learning under Padma Vibhushan Hariprasad Chaurasia to represent Maihar gharana. Performances Rupak ...

) *2007: ''Chillout Forever'' *2007: ''Faith'' *2008: ''Zitar'' *2009: ''Priority'' *2011: ''Together'' (With

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is an English musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

) *2013: ''Plucked'' *2014: ''Sur Yajna''

Films

Bunty Aur Babli ''Bunty Aur Babli'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali and written by Jaideep Sahni, based on a story by Aditya Chopra, who serves as producer under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film stars Abhishek Bac ...

- Chup Chup Ke (

Sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

) *

Gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

- Na Jaane Koi (Zitar) * Omkara - Naina thag lenge (

) * Life in a... Metro - Alvida (Zitar) * Life in a... Metro - In DIno (Zitar) *

Dhoom 2 ''Dhoom 2'' (trans. Blast 2) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and written by Vijay Krishna Acharya, based on a story by producer Aditya Chopra, who backed the film at an estimated budget of unde ...

- Crazy Kiya Re (Zitar) *

Dabangg 2 ''Dabangg 2'' () is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film co-produced with and directed by Arbaaz Khan in his directorial debut, who co-produced the film with Malaika Arora. Its story is set in Kanpur and written by Dilip Shukla. ''D ...

- Tore naina bade dagabaaz re (

) *

Maazii Maazii () is an Indian bollywood film, directed by Jaideep Chopra and produced by Jaideep Chopra & Narendra Singh. The title Maazii is an Urdu word meaning "the past". Cast *Sumeet Nijhawan as Tarun Singh *Mona Wasu as Shrishti Singh * Manish ...

- Mora Jiya (Zitar) *

Desi Boyz ''Desi Boyz'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by debutant Rohit Dhawan, son of director David Dhawan. The film stars Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangada Singh in lead roles while Sanjay Dutt ...

- Make Some Noise (Zitar) *

Paheli ''Paheli'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language fantasy film. It is a remake of the 1973 Hindi movie '' Duvidha'' by Mani Kaul based on the short story written by Vijayadan Detha in Rajasthani. It was also reported to have been partially inspire ...

- Dheere Jalna (

) *

7 Khoon Maaf ''7 Khoon Maaf'' (; read as "''Saat Khoon Maaf''"), released internationally as ''Seven Sins Forgiven'', is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film directed, co-written and co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj. The film stars Priyanka Chopra i ...

- Aawara (

) *

My Name Is Khan ''My Name Is Khan'', is a 2010 social drama film directed by Karan Johar and written by Shibani Bathija and lyricist Niranjan Iyengar. It was produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan under their production companies, Dharma Productions and ...

- Tere Naina (

) *

Kalank ''Kalank'' (; ) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film directed by Abhishek Varman and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under Dharma Productions and Sajid Nadiadwala under Nadiadwala Grandson Ent ...

- Ghar More Pardesiya (Sitar) * Baahubali: The Beginning - Manohari (Sitar) *Aashiqui 2 –

Sunn Raha Hai Sunn Raha Hai () is an Indian Hindi-language song from the 2013 Bollywood film, ''Aashiqui 2''. Composed by Ankit Tiwari, the song is sung by Ankit Tiwari, with lyrics penned by Sandeep Nath. This song along with "Tum Hi Ho" became very popu ...

(Sitar) *Laila Majnu *Kalank - Ghar more pardesiya

Music direction

*''

Shorgul ''Shorgul'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film, set against the backdrop of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots; it is directed by Pranav Kumar Singh (P. Singh) The film is produced by 24 FPS film Pvt Ltd. The film stars Jimmy ...

(Tere Bina)'' - Hindi Movie (2016) *'' Niruttara'' - Kannada Movie (2016) *''

Laila Majnu ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

'' - Hindi Movie (2018)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Niladri Hindustani instrumentalists Indian male composers Sitar players Living people 1973 births