4 min readChennaiUpdated: Mar 12, 2026 07:32 AM IST
With henna on his hands as he plays the sitar, Rishab Rikhiram Sharma has brought Indian classical music to the masses. However, the sitarist found himself in a controversy when musician Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Pandit Ravi Shankar, denied that Rishab was ever a student of her father. She said that while Rishab is talented, her father was never his guru. However, Rishab denied her claims, and now an old video has surfaced that shows Pandit Ravi Shankar calling Rishab his student.
When Pandit Ravi Shankar introduced Rishab as his student
In the clip, Rishab and his family — the Rikhiram family of sitar makers in Delhi — were seen with Pandit Ravi Shankar at Delhi’s Kamani Auditorium in 2012. Introducing Rishabh to the audience, the maestro can be seen saying, “I have just had this new, wonderful young boy become my student and I have just given him a few lessons. He’s going to play for you. I hope he goes much further and that I can teach him much more. Please bless him. Thank you.”
Later, the host of the evening was seen calling Rishabh Pandit Ravi Shankar’s student. She said, “Ladies and gentlemen, Rishabh is the youngest gandabandh disciple of Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi shankar, he has been a disciple of Panditji for the last 15 days. What an honour for him to pay homage to his grandfather Bishan Dass Rikhiram on his birthday in front of his Guru.”
The Rikhiram family is a multi-generational Delhi-based group of musical instrument makers. It was founded by Pandit Rikhi Ram Sharma in 1920. They are known for crafting premium sitars used by icons like Pandit Ravi Shankar and The Beatles. The family business is currently managed by the third and fourth generations.
Anoushka Shankar didn’t accept Rishabh as Ravi Shankar’s ‘last disciple’
Earlier, in an interview with Humans of Bombay, Anoushka Shankar had refuted Rishab being called Ravi Shankar’s ‘last disciple’. She said, “Rishab is really talented and he is clearly speaking to people in a really wonderful way. I think there is some misunderstanding about his guruship. He learnt very intensively with someone very dear to me, one of my father’s senior disciples Parimal Sadaphal, and he had a couple of lessons with my father, very informally, with Parimal uncle also in the room.”
She added, “We knew him from childhood because he was the son of our instrument maker Sanjay Rikhiram Sharma. So somehow that has gone blown up into some story of him being his last disciple or the youngest disciple, which isn’t true. But he is super talented and deserves all success with or without that story.”
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Rishabh hits back
After Anoushka’s statement, Rishabh’s team sent out a statement saying that the sitarist was formally accepted by Ravi Shankar in the Ganda Bandhan ceremony, which is also mentioned in the video. “On 3rd January 2012, at the Ravi Shankar Centre (Saraswati Pooja Hall), a private meeting was held at the express request of Pandit Ravi Shankar between 13-year-old Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, his parents Sanjay and Manjul Sharma, his brother Mukul Sharma, Pandit Parimal Sadaphal, Shruti Sadamal, and Panditji with his wife Sukanya Shankar. This followed a personal call from Panditji to Sanjay Sharma on 2nd January, requesting Rishab’s presence for the Ganda Bandhan ceremony the next day,” a part of the statement read.
