Sitar aur fireworks ka kya rishta hai?

No this is not a hit piece on sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma It is in fact a dissection of the polarised views on his particular brand of fusion music melded with his flair for showmanship Is it a passing fad or the new way of classical Indian musicSharmarsquos shows are not just him sitting on a stage crossedleg sitar astride his lap Hersquos got pyrotechnics and confetti in a packed arena Even his stage look defies the conventions of classical music Sharma dons something between a tannur worn by sufi dancers during whirling dervishes and a kurta mesmerising the audience both auditorily and visually with intricate henna designs on his hands as they pluck at the sitar strings Itrsquos a carefully curated and wellmarketed vibe and by drawing Gen Z fans Sharma is undoubtedly taking the sitar to new audiences A rockstar sitaristRishab Sharma has become one of the first to have full sold out 10city tour PicrishabmusicNot everyone appreciates Sharmarsquos fast and loose approach to the traditions of Indian classical music especially as ldquothe last disciple of the late Sitar maestro Ravi Shankarrdquo as he claims to beThe traditional vs experimental debate came to a head earlier this month when news anchor Mangalam Maloo blitzkreigm put out a post on the lsquogram stating ldquothere is something offrdquo about Sharmarsquos fame Maloorsquos post goes on to say ldquoThe hype around him is writing cheques that his skill canrsquot cash This isnrsquot about himmdashhersquos doing an incredible job marketing himself and the instrumentrdquo Maloo jibes ldquoItrsquos like a foreigner eating chaat for the first time at a 6star hotel and going crazy about it Not his fault But deep down the chef his staff and even the said touristrsquos accompanists knowmdashthis is far from the real thingrdquo it says The post now has over 11000 likes and 900 commentsMehtab Ali Niazi Tushar Lall Gaurav Chintamani and Narendra KusnurSharmarsquos fanbase is predominantly Gen Z with his sitar cover of the Game of Thrones theme being one of their favourites Twentysomethings form a majority of the crowd in his 10city tourmdashSitar for Mental Healthmdashwhere hersquos been playing to venues packed with over 10000 listeners The fervour of his fans is palpable in the comments section on his Instagram page rishabmusic ldquoI was there amongst those 12000 It was a magical eveningrdquo says one young fan of his experience attending the tour concert ldquoThank you for healing usrdquo says anotherMehtab Ali Niazi sitarist and vocalist grew up playing the Sitar with Sharma He lets it slip that he would often do riyaaz on the sitar belonging to Sharmarsquos father renowned instrumentmaker Sanjay Sharma aka Rikhi Ram ldquoI believe that when you do fusion music like this especially for the younger audience then itrsquos up to you where you take them with your musicrdquo says Niazi ldquoWhat itrsquos meant to do is to slowly take listeners on a journey towards the pure and unadulterated form of classical music never once compromising on the devotion the music needsrdquoNiazi believes that what Sharma has been able to accomplish canrsquot be ignored ldquoIn terms of what he has done for the instrument this is one of the biggest waves of interest we have seen for the sitar As a sitarist we cannot undermine the effort it has taken whether itrsquos his sense of music production or thought to presentationrdquo he says ldquoAt the same time we must be careful about the future of Indian classical music and be very aware of the direction we are headed inrdquoThis divide between purists and the unconventional comes on the heels of the Lollapalooza India fest held in the city in March where one of the biggest names was sitarist Niladri Kumar He played to an eager young crowd that listened with rapt attention recalls Gaurav Chintamani the bassist for Advaita one of Indiarsquos most reputed fusion bands ldquoWe donrsquot think twice about lsquocorruptingrsquo a ragardquo says Chintamani of his band ldquoI understand that purists might not be a big fan of fusion music but we should trust the intent of anyone who knows music and is trying to make a connection in whatever wayrdquoIs it about the art of popularity or both ldquoAny artist who says that they do not prize popularity is not being honest We all want people to love our music and as long as it connects with someone there shouldnrsquot be a problemrdquo says ChintamaniEven amid musicians who have embraced fusion therersquos a call for being serious about and avoiding gimmicks The Indian Jam Project was one of the first to come out with covers of Hollywood movie scores on Indian instruments in 2014 Their covers of Titanic and Harry Potter scores is beloved to many Fusion is not the only kind of music the bandrsquos composerarranger Tushar Lall has had success with though Lall has scored Bollywood projects such as Brahmstra Part One ndash Shiva 2022 and Curry amp Cyanide The Jolly Joseph Case 2023Lall ldquoobviously does not feel that playing western music on Indian instruments is a problemrdquo The problem he tells us over the phone is that most musicians who play Indowestern fusion often get carried away when they have cracked its code ldquoIn classical music your work and more importantly your longevity speak louder than trends Fusion can be a delicate space mdash virality doesnrsquot equal lasting impact Irsquove ridden that wave myself We prefer to stay focused on the music and let time and audiences deciderdquo he addsldquoFusion is not new but the purist will always oppose itrdquo says music journalist Narendra Kusnur He talks about sitarist Ananda Shankar who in 1970 released covers of tracks by The Doors and The Rolling Stones ldquoEven the band Shakti with the influence of Carnatic music has been able to find a younger audience Purists say fusion doesnrsquot work but I feel that if it is done well there is no harm in itrdquoAs far the gimmicky side of fusion goes Kusnur says ldquoIn the social media age we are seeing people indulge in a lot of gimmicky and flashy fusion covers of Guns N Roses or Deep Purple songs seem to be the order of the day but the point is that it fusion should serve as something that reels the audience into listening to classicalrdquoChintamani adds ldquoAll music is fine The ask is that one keep improving their artrdquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params