Meet Purbayan Chatterjee – the Sitar Maestro Coaching Farhan Akhtar for His Hollywood Ravi Shankar Portrait

When you hear the name Purbayan Chatterjee, you might first think of his electrifying sitar performances on Indian stages, but lately his name has been cropping up in a very different arena – Hollywood. The acclaimed Indian musician has been recruited by actor‑director Farhan Akhtar to help him slip into the skin of the legendary sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar for an upcoming biopic.

Born in Kolkata in 1978, Purbayan grew up surrounded by a family that breathed music. His father, a classical vocalist, encouraged him to pick up the sitar at the age of ten. By the time he was a teenager, the boy was already racking up awards at national youth festivals, impressing judges with a rare blend of technical precision and emotional depth.

What truly set him apart, though, was his hunger for experimentation. In his early twenties he co‑founded the band “String Junction,” a collective that fused Indian classical ragas with rock, jazz, and folk elements. The group’s debut album, Fusion Raga, earned critical praise for daringly re‑imagining the sitar’s role beyond the concert hall. Over the years, Purbayan has collaborated with names like Anoushka Shankar, Zakir Hussain, and even Western artists such as Herbie Hancock, cementing his reputation as a bridge between musical worlds.

So how did a sitarist known for genre‑bending projects end up tutoring a Bollywood star for a Hollywood movie? The answer lies in his long‑standing connection to the Shankar legacy. Purbayan studied under Pandit Shankar’s younger brother, Shubho Shankar, for five years, absorbing not just the notes but the philosophy that underpinned Ravi Shankar’s approach to music and life. When Farhan Akhtar was cast as Ravi Shankar, his team reached out to Purbayan, hoping his insider knowledge could lend authenticity to the performance.

Training for a role isn’t just about mastering finger placements; it’s about embodying a whole demeanor. Purbayan spent weeks with Farhan, guiding him through the subtleties of posture, the breath work required for fluid improvisation, and the emotional gravitas that made Shankar a global ambassador for Indian music. “He taught me to feel the instrument, not just play it,” Farhan later remarked, adding that the sessions were as much spiritual as they were technical.

Today, as production gears up for the Hollywood set, both men speak with quiet confidence. Purbayan continues to tour, releasing new compositions that push the sitar’s boundaries, while Farhan prepares to step onto the screen, armed with a deeper appreciation for the maestro he’s about to portray. Their collaboration is a reminder that the lines between art forms—music, cinema, culture—are thinner than we often think.