Guest bio
- One of India's most celebrated tabla maestros and composers, and a pioneer of Indian fusion music.
- Son of Pandit Shankar Ghosh, he spent years accompanying Pandit Ravi Shankar and founded the fusion band Rhythmscape in 2002.
- Received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2023 and has been appointed artistic director of music at the Venice Biennale.
Bickram Ghosh is one of India's most celebrated tabla maestros and composers, and a pioneer of Indian fusion music. Born into a musical dynasty, the son of Pandit Shankar Ghosh and grandson of Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee, he spent years accompanying Pandit Ravi Shankar. He founded the fusion band Rhythmscape in 2002, which stayed at the top of India's CD charts for a decade, and scores films for modern Indian cinema. His honours include the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2023, three Oscar contentions and Grammy nominations, and he has been appointed artistic director of music at the Venice Biennale. Deeply rooted in Kolkata, he runs his career as an entrepreneur as much as an artist, licensing rather than selling his music, co-owning a music label and thinking consciously about brand and legacy.
Show notes
What does it take to carry the weight of a classical tradition and simultaneously shatter its boundaries? In this special episode of Money Majlis XTRA, recorded in the heart of Kolkata, Suvo Sarkar sits down with tabla maestro and composer Bickram Ghosh for a conversation that moves effortlessly between raga and rhythm, art and entrepreneurship, spiritual alignment and streaming algorithms.
Born into a musical dynasty - his father the legendary Pandit Shankar Ghosh, his maternal grandfather the great Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee -Bickram was being shaped by the tabla even before he could read. He describes a childhood defined by beautiful contradictions: a California upbringing, a La Martiniere education, Rolling Stones covers by day and rigorous riyaz at dawn. That discipline, resisted fiercely in youth, became the bedrock of everything that followed.
His years accompanying Pandit Ravi Shankar became a masterclass in more than music. Bickram recounts two unforgettable lessons -one about eating octopus in Japan, and one about 15,000 people closing their eyes in a gymnasium in Taipei - that distilled what it really means to cross cultural borders, not just with your art, but with your whole self. He shares the story of a transformative four-hour conversation with Zakir Hussain in Los Angeles that gave him permission to become more than he already was, and the founding of Rhythmscape, his fusion band, which stayed at the top of India's CD charts for a decade.
The conversation turns to money, ownership and legacy in a way that few artists dare to. Bickram speaks candidly about licensing rather than selling his music, retaining control over his intellectual property, and thinking of himself unashamedly as an entrepreneur. He reflects on film scoring - where his master's degree in English literature gave him an unexpected edge in reading and interpreting scripts - and on his recent appointment as artistic director of music at the Venice Biennale, alongside a stunning project orchestrating Tagore songs with a hundred-piece German ensemble.
On AI, streaming and virality, he is characteristically clear-eyed: understand the tools, build your team, but never let the algorithm drive your art. And on legacy, his answer is just two words - True Music. Strong melodies, good rhythms, improvisation, skilled musicians, and music that moves and changes people. It is a deceptively simple ambition from a man who has spent a lifetime proving it is anything but.
For younger musicians and creative professionals, this conversation is packed with grounded advice: why knowledge and relentless practice still matter more than virality, how to build relationships with humility and charm, and why gratitude and enthusiasm can be your biggest unfair advantages even after forty years in the game. For listeners from banking, fintech and business, there are striking parallels with entrepreneurship: building a distinctive brand, owning your IP, diversifying revenue streams and designing a legacy that will outlive you.
If you care about creativity, culture, or simply building a meaningful career on your own terms, this rhythmic, reflective journey with Bickram Ghosh will stay with you long after the final beat fades.
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