Ustad Vilayat Khan was a famous player of which instrument?

Explanation

Ustad Vilayat Khan (1928-2004) was one of the greatest sitar players of the 20th century and, together with Pandit Ravi Shankar, one of the two leading sitarists of his generation. He belonged to the Imdadkhani gharana (also called the Etawah gharana), a famous family of sitar and surbahar players.

Vilayat Khan was born in Gauripur, in present-day Bangladesh. His father, Ustad Inayat Khan, and his grandfather, Ustad Imdad Khan, were great sitar and surbahar players. His father died when he was a child, and he learnt music from his mother's family and other relatives. He became famous for developing the "gayaki ang" style of sitar playing, which imitates the human voice. In this style, the sitarist uses long slides (meends) and other techniques to make the sitar "sing" in the manner of a khayal vocalist. He also made changes to the sitar itself, to suit his style. He was known for his independent and proud nature. He declined the Padma Shri (1964), the Padma Bhushan (1968) and the Padma Vibhushan (2000), saying that the government had not given proper recognition to his music and his family. He composed music for Satyajit Ray's film "Jalsaghar" (1958) and for the Merchant-Ivory film "The Guru" (1969). His brother, Ustad Imrat Khan, was a famous sitar and surbahar player, and his sons, Shujaat Khan and Hidayat Khan, are also sitarists.

The sitar is a long-necked stringed instrument with movable frets and a large gourd resonator, played with a wire plectrum (mizrab). Other famous sitar players include Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Shahid Parvez Khan, Budhaditya Mukherjee and Anoushka Shankar.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sarod is linked with Amjad Ali Khan and Ali Akbar Khan.
• ✗Sarangi is linked with Ram Narayan and Sultan Khan.
• ✗Shehnai is linked with Bismillah Khan.