“Everyone knows Vilayat Khan but no one knows Vilayat Khan.” This masterful biography explores the magnetic, contradictory and utterly compelling life of Ustad Vilayat Khan—a genius who transformed the sitar and reshaped the soundscape of Indian classical music. Meditative yet mischievous, exacting yet emotional, he was a man of many moods and dazzling complexities. From fierce rule-breaking to passionate innovation, he created a sitar sound that felt alive—“fairies dancing, elephants walking”—and made the instrument sing like no one before him.
Acclaimed author Namita Devidayal traces his journey across Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Shimla, Dehradun and finally Princeton, USA. Drawing on extensive research and little-known anecdotes, she paints an intimate portrait of an artist whose life was as dramatic and unpredictable as his music. This is a landmark biography of an extraordinary musician who forever changed Indian instrumental music.
Namita Devidayal is the author of the bestselling book The Music Room and the novel Aftertaste. A journalist with The Times of India, she is widely admired for her sensitive and insightful chronicling of the Indian classical music world. She lives in Mumbai.