'Every collaboration becomes a conversation': Sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee on evolving music

For Purbayan Chatterjee, the sitar was never merely an instrument. "The sitar never felt like an 'instrument' to me, it felt like a voice I already knew," he says. "I was drawn to the meditative quality of the instrument, the silence between notes as much as the notes themselves."

Over the years, Chatterjee has emerged as one of the most globally visible contemporary Indian classical musicians, balancing the discipline of the Senia Maihar Gharana with collaborations that move across jazz, fusion and world music. From collaborating with Zakir Hussain and Pat Metheny to experimenting with electric sitar and digital performance formats, his work has consistently explored how Indian classical music can evolve without losing its emotional core.

That instinct for exploration continues with 'Feathered Creatures', his upcoming collaboration with Mark Lettieri of Snarky Puppy. The project brings together sitar and electric guitar in what Chatterjee describes as less of a fusion experiment and more of a musical conversation.

"Mark and I connected through a shared love for groove, improvisation, and emotional storytelling in music," he says. "What fascinated me was how naturally the sitar and electric guitar began conversing once we stopped thinking in terms of genres."

For Chatterjee, collaboration has become central to artistic growth.

"When I work with artists outside the Indian classical space, I'm forced to listen differently and rethink my own assumptions about rhythm, harmony, and silence," he says. "It’s creatively liberating because every collaboration becomes a conversation rather than a performance."

Yet even within contemporary settings, he says his musical identity remains deeply rooted in raga and improvisation.

"Whether I’m playing with a jazz musician or an electronic producer, I still think like a sitarist shaped by riyaaz and improvisation," he says. "That identity naturally travels with me."

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Born into a musical family and trained under his father, Pandit Parthapratim Chatterjee, music entered his life early. But he says his relationship with the sitar eventually became something more instinctive and personal.

"My father gave me discipline, but the emotional pull came from somewhere deeper," he says. "Even today, when I’m travelling across continents, the moment I tune the sitar, I feel grounded again."

His journey, however, was not without challenges. One of the defining struggles, he says, was navigating invisibility in the early years of his career.

"I didn’t come from a famous musical surname, and in the early years that mattered more than people admit," Chatterjee says, recalling an incident from childhood when he attended a concert in Kolkata and was asked to sit at the back while other young musicians received attention because of their family names.

Years later, that experience became one of the inspirations behind the Purbayan Arts and Artists Music Foundation (PAAMF), which supports young musicians irrespective of privilege or lineage.

Among the defining moments in his career, Chatterjee points to an invitation from Bhimsen Joshi to perform at the Sawai Gandharva Festival and his first performance with Zakir Hussain in Kolkata in 2007.

"His generosity, spontaneity, and joy on stage showed me that music could simultaneously carry depth, virtuosity, and human connection," Chatterjee says about performing with Hussain. "Those experiences transformed music from a pursuit into a calling."

As he prepares for a six-city India tour across Kolkata, Delhi, Surat, Nagpur, Chennai and Mumbai between May 30 and June 28, Chatterjee says live performance remains one of the most exciting aspects of his work. The tour will feature flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, tabla artist Ojas Adhiya and percussionist Shikhar Naad Qureshi.

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"What excites me most is the chemistry between the musicians," he says. "Every concert becomes alive in a different way because improvisation is at the heart of what we do."

At a time when technology and AI are rapidly reshaping creative industries, Chatterjee believes innovation can be valuable as long as it does not replace emotional truth.

"I see AI primarily as a tool, not a replacement for human artistry," he says. "AI may imitate style, but it cannot replicate soul or lived emotional context."

That balance between experimentation and emotional authenticity also shapes how he views the future of Indian classical music.

"I think Indian classical music is entering a fascinating transitional phase," he says. "Younger audiences today are more open-minded than ever."

According to Chatterjee, the challenge now is ensuring classical music continues to feel emotionally immediate rather than distant or inaccessible. "My dream is for Indian classical music to be experienced not as something 'ancient,' but as something alive, evolving, and emotionally urgent."

The conversation about Indian classical music’s global future returns to Ravi Shankar, especially as Farhan Akhtar prepares to portray the legendary musician in the upcoming Beatles biopic. Chatterjee believes Ravi Shankar’s legacy remains deeply relevant for younger musicians today.

"He never approached collaboration from insecurity or compromise, he approached it from confidence," Chatterjee says. "His career proves that authenticity has global power."

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