When the sitar got a twist

While the sitar has 18 to 21 strings with six to seven of them being plucked by the player, Niladri Kumar took this purely classical instrument and gave it a modern, electronic spin with his invention — the zitar. This is a five-stringed instrument that the maestro plays and is fiery red in colour.

When asked about his creation, Niladri explained that the idea was not to create a new electronic instrument, but rather to make an electric version of the sitar and thereby bring the focus back to this classical Indian instrument. The zitar also blends in with different genres, and even meshes with Western songs, unlike the original model.

Indeed, Niladri has been known to play bits of Guns and Roses, bhajans and completely commercial Bollywood tracks like Crazy Kiya Re from Dhoom 2 all on the zitar. The artiste, who admitted that he didn't find classical music interesting in his youth, has definitely found a way to bring the sitar to the masses.