Sitar Soul: How Mandar Katti is helping young listeners reconnect with Hindustani Classical music

For most people discovering Hindustani classical music today, the entry point is accidental - a viral reel or a friend dragging you to a baithak you weren’t sure you’d enjoy. Very few imagine a sitarist whose day job is R&D at a global FMCG company. That’s the first thing that makes Mandar Katti interesting: he represents a version of classical music that lives inside the modern world instead of sitting outside it.


He grew up in a Kirana-gharana household, learning first from his mother Anuradha Katti and then absorbing Kirana vocal training from his father Anand Katti. That early foundation continued with two important teachers - Pt. Shrikant Deshpande and Pt. Chandrashekhar Vaze - both rooted deeply in the Kirana tradition. Instead of becoming a vocalist like many from that lineage, he chose the sitar. And you hear that ancestry every time he plays: long meends, slow phrases shaped like sung lines, and an emotional arc that unfolds without chasing fireworks. It’s the opposite of algorithmic listening.

Mandar has been studying under Pt. Ravi Chary for the last 15 years, and that training shows in his clarity and restraint. He’s also an AIR-graded sitarist and secured the first rank in India in the Alankar exam of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya for sitar - but none of this appears in the way he carries himself.

He’s part of a generation that is rebuilding classical culture from within. Younger listeners-especially those familiar with ambient music or minimal electronic structures-often recognize a surprising familiarity in how he shapes a raga.

As a trustee of the Shri Anand Katti Sangeet Pratishthan, he helps create platforms for young musicians while balancing a full-time job and his own practice. For a lot of people, classical musicians feel distant. Mandar is part of the group proving they aren’t.

On 29th November at The Revolver Club, Mandar will play a one-hour sitar recital accompanied by Swapnil Bhise on tabla - a focused, close-distance performance that lets you hear the music properly and watch the two musicians interact. If you’ve been curious about Hindustani classical music, this is an easy place to start.

Buy tickets at the link in the @therevolverclubmagazine instagram bio.