Ratul Shankar (born Ratul Shankar Ghosh) is a

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Family background

Ratul Shankar is the great-grandson of

Shyam Shankar Chowdhury Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include: ;Shyam *Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor *Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala * Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...

, grandson of

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cl ...

, grand nephew of renowned sitarist

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 ...

, son of

Mamata Shankar Mamata Shankar (born 7 January 1955) is an Indian actress and dancer. She is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has acted in films by directors including Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh. In ...

and nephew of

Ananda Shankar Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 – 26 March 1999) was an Indian musician, singer, and composer best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to dancer and choreographer Tanusree Shankar. Life Born in Almora in U ...

sitar player

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player, producer, film composer and activist. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield; she has had 7 Grammy Awards nominations and was the ...

and western singer

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

. Born in the Shankar family on 30 July 1979, Ratul was exposed to the various forms of

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

at a very young age. He has been touring with his illustrious parents

and Chandrodoy Ghosh from the age of 2 years. Trained under Pt.

Tanmoy Bose Tanmoy Bose ( bn, তন্ময় বোস; born 23 August 1963), whose name is often preceded by the title Pandit (Master), is an India percussionist and tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer. He has collaborated with Pa ...

, Ratul also has had the honour of performing in his World Music Project "TAAL TANTRA" and has been performing with the project for the last 13 years. He has also been a feature of various other World Music projects. A Major in Mass Communication and Videography from

St. Xavier's College, Kolkata St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic, autonomous higher education college under Calcutta University run by the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus in Kolkata, India. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1860 and named after St. F ...

, Shankar made his debut in acting with

Rituporno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his ...

in the

National Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...

winning film

Utsab ''Utsab'' () is a 2000 Bengali-language drama film directed by Rituparno Ghosh and stars Madhabi Mukherjee, Mamata Shankar, Rituparna Sengupta, Prasenjit Chatterjee, Pradip Mukherjee, Deepankar De and Arpita Pal. The film focuses on the various ...

in 2000. But music has always been his first love and shall always be, as he always says, his greatest influence has been his uncle

. While performing with "TAAL TANTRA" and other various projects, Ratul has had the privilege to perform with the maestros namely

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (born 9 October 1945) is an Indian classical ''sarod'' player, best known for his clear and fast ekhara taans. Khan was born into a classical musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was award ...

, Ustad Taufique Quereshi,

Selvaganesh V. Selvaganesh is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition and one of the leading kanjira (south Indian frame drum) players of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh." Career Selvaganesh gained world fame through ...

, Pt.

Tejendra Narayan Majumdar Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (born 17 May 1961) is an Indian sarod player and pupil of Bahadur Khan. Majumdar is one of the most popular and celebrated modern sarod players. Training He started his music training under his grandfather Bibhuti ...

, Pt.

Bickram Ghosh Bickram Ghosh is an Indian classical tabla player. Early life He started learning tabla from his father, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, who had played with Ali Akbar Khan. Career Ghosh has performed with Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ghos ...

Pete Lockett Pete Lockett is an English percussionist and recording artist. Lockett is known as a versatile and prolific percussionist, collaborating with many artists. He is well-versed in percussion traditions from music cultures around the world, from tradit ...

, Tilmann Dienhart,

Niladri Kumar 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. He started learning sitar under his father at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public per ...

Carl Peters Carl Peters (27 September 1856 – 10 September 1918), was a German colonial ruler, explorer, politician and author and a major promoter of the establishment of the German colony of East Africa (part of the modern republic Tanzania). Life H ...

, Ranajit Sengupta, Wolfgang Netzer,

Soweto Kinch Soweto Kinch (born 10 January 1978) is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper. Biography Born in 1978 in London, England, to a Barbadian father, playwright Don Kinch, and British-Jamaican actress Yvette Harris, Soweto Kinch began playin ...

, Jesse Bannister, Attab Hadad and many more. Shankar has been touring extensively with various projects scattered over the world. His main interest lies in collaborating with musicians from all over and believes in the Cultural Exchange that takes place fluently.

As an actor

Ratul has acted in

Anuranan ''Anuranan'' (English: Resonance) is the directorial debut by Bengali filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. The film premiered at the 2006 International Film Festival of India. ''Anuranan'' (meaning "resonance" in Bengali) explores the relationsh ...

and

Rituparno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Ratul 1979 births Living people Bengali musicians Male actors from Kolkata Indian percussionists