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 sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

. 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, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

Career

He was a part of the Masters of the Percussion tour alongside Zakir Hussain. Kumar has also worked with

Jonas Hellborg Jonas Hellborg (born 7 June 1958) is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Anders Johansson, Ginger Baker, Michael Shrieve, V. Selvaga ...

and

V. 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 ...

on their album ''Kali's Son'' and with John McLaughlin 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, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

, including

A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

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, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and English. Amongst ...

and

Pritam Pritam Chakraborty (born 14 June 1971), also popularly known mononymously as Pritam, is a National Award winning Indian composer, instrumentalist, music producer and singer. Graduating from FTII in Sound Engineering, he worked as an ad jin ...

. Niladri was conferred the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

's Ustad

Bismillah Khan Ustad Bismillah Khan (born Qamaruddin 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. His virtuosity made him a le ...

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 M ...

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 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 Wale ...

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

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. He is currently the Dean of Maya Somaiya College of Performing Arts at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai.

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

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

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

Films

Bunty Aur Babli ''Bunty Aur Babli'' (transl. ''Bunty and Babli'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali, written by Jaideep Sahni from a story by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film s ...

- 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 the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

) *

Gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) 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 ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

- 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'' (transl. ''Blast 2''), also known as ''Dhoom 2: Back in Action'', is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language caper action thriller film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. Written by Vijay Krishna A ...

- Crazy Kiya Re (Zitar) *

Dabangg 2 ''Dabangg 2'' () is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed and produced by Arbaaz Khan under Arbaaz Khan Productions. It is a sequel to '' Dabangg'' (2010), and the second installment of the ''Dabangg'' series. Salman Khan ...

- Tore naina bade dagabaaz re (

) *

Maazii Maazii () is a 2013 Indian film directed by Jaideep Chopra and produced by Jaideep Chopra and Narendra Singh. It is a remake of the 2005 English film ''A History of Violence''. Cast * Sumeet Nijhawan as Tarun Singh * Mona Wasu as Shrishti Sin ...

- 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 while Sanjay Dutt features in ...

- Make Some Noise (Zitar) * Paheli - 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 ...

- Aawara (

) *

My Name Is Khan ''My Name Is Khan'' is a 2010 social action drama film directed by Karan Johar and co-written by Shibani Bathija and Niranjan Iyengar. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles, and is a co-production between India, the United St ...

- Tere Naina (

) *

Kalank ''Kalank'' (; ''Blemish'' or ''Stigma'') 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 un ...

- Ghar More Pardesiya (Sitar) * Baahubali: The Beginning - Manohari (Sitar) *Aashiqui 2 – Sunn Raha Hai (Sitar) *Laila Majnu *Kalank - Ghar more pardesiya *Dr. Arora - Mehram (Song Composer) *Dr. Arora - Khaalipan (Song Composer)

Music direction

*'' Shorgul (Tere Bina)'' - Hindi Movie (2016) *'' Niruttara'' - (All songs) Kannada Movie (2016) *'' Laila Majnu'' - (Ahista Ahista, Tum, Hafiz Hafiz, Sarfiri, Tum Version 2) Hindi Movie (2018)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Niladri Hindustani instrumentalists Indian male composers Sitar players Living people 1973 births Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award