For those curious about wizards with wands who cast the most spellbinding performances on a drum-kit, here’s a list of the very best in the country. From Jazz, Fusion to EDM, and Metal – while their influences and styles range across genres, each name in this list still have one thing in common; they know how to lay down a sick groove!
1. Trilok Gurtu
A pioneering percussionist who fuses Indian classical rhythms with jazz, rock and global music. Gurtu has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, Don Cherry and Zakir Hussain. His albums include Crazy Saints, Massical and 21 Spices, and he is a multiple DownBeat Critics Poll winner.
2. Ranjit Barot
Drummer, composer, arranger and music director, Barot has worked with Ravi Shankar, R.D. Burman and A.R. Rahman. He drums and performs konnakol with John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension and serves as Rahman’s live musical director. He also composed and sound-designed the 2010 Commonwealth Games ceremonies.
3. Sivamani
Chennai-born percussionist Sivamani blends drums with tabla, ghatam, kanjira, darbuka and other instruments. A longtime A.R. Rahman collaborator, he performed on Bombay, Roja, Taal, Dil Se, Swades and Rockstar. He has also worked with Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu and Billy Cobham, and received the Padma Shri.
4. Jivraj Singh
Kolkata drummer and electronics player best known for Parekh & Singh. He contributed to their albums Ocean, Science City and The Night Is Clear, helping shape the duo’s dream-pop sound. Singh also works with electronic textures and percussion, bringing an experimental edge to his drumming.
5. Arun Kumar
Bengaluru-based interdisciplinary drummer trained in both jazz and Indian classical percussion. He has worked across Carnatic, Hindustani, film, jazz and dance music, while also playing morsing. A student of Ranjit Barot and Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma, he released Thandava: A Galaxy of Drums and founded the Bengaluru Drum Fest.
6. Darshan Doshi
Mumbai drummer and composer who began performing professionally as a child and entered the Limca Book of Records as India’s youngest drummer in 1997. He has recorded for films including Rock On!!, Black, Dhoom 2, Fitoor and Dear Zindagi, and tours with leading Indian artists and composers.
7. Gino Banks
Mumbai drummer, composer, producer and educator who began touring with Louiz Banks’ Sangam at nine. His collaborators include Zakir Hussain, A.R. Rahman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Taufiq Qureshi and Dave Holland. He also performs with MaMoGi and contributed to the Grammy-nominated Miles From India project.
8. Vinayak Pol
Mumbai drummer and composer with extensive experience in classical, fusion, Bollywood and independent music. His credits include collaborations with Rahul Sharma, Niladri Kumar, Rakesh Chaurasia, Sunidhi Chauhan and Amit Trivedi. He is also part of Pulse Conversation and currently develops his own project, Bombay Lights.
9. Jai Row Kavi
One of Mumbai’s prominent session and live drummers, Kavi has performed with Pangea, Indus Creed, Blackstratblues, Tough On Tobacco and Amit Trivedi. He has also worked in Hindi film sessions and temporarily played with Bhayanak Maut. His versatility across rock, metal, blues and pop is a defining feature.
10. Joshua Grant
New Delhi-based professional percussionist and drummer with roughly 25 years of experience. Grant has worked with Louis Banks, Birju Maharaj, Shubha Mudgal, Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale and Indian Ocean, while also building a career as a studio session musician across Indian classical, fusion and contemporary music.
11. Anup Sastry
Maryland-based drummer, producer and engineer whose technical playing became prominent through progressive-metal acts Skyharbor and Intervals. He later joined Monuments and toured with Jeff Loomis. His current work includes session drumming, mixing and production, alongside commercial drum-sample libraries such as The Monarch Kit. He contributed to Skyharbor’s Blinding White Noise era and Guiding Lights.
12. Joshua Vaz
Mumbai-based drummer and percussionist from a prominent musical family. He has toured with Sukriti and Prakriti Kakar and worked with Sonu Nigam, Shibani Kashyap, Anushka Manchanda, Gino Banks and Taufeeq Qureshi. He has also arranged rhythm sections for Bollywood productions and performed with Indian classical dance companies.
13. Virendra Kaith
Known as Viru, Kaith built his reputation in India’s metal scene with Demonic Resurrection, appearing on The Return to Darkness, The Demon King and Dashavatar. He has also played with Scribe, Pin Drop Violence, Sparsh, Far Travel Music and others, later developing into a multi-genre freelance drummer.
14. Rahul Hariharan
Longtime drummer of Mumbai metal band Bhayanak Maut, which he joined in 2003. The band toured extensively and performed at Oslo’s Inferno Metal Festival. Hariharan has also worked with Neha Kakkar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Diljit Dosanjh, Raghu Dixit Project, Pentagram and Benevolent.
15. Nagen “Nags” Mongrati
If old school hard rock is your jam, then you can’t miss this jewel from Sikkim. Nagen Mongrati is the longtime drummer of Sikkim hard rock outfit Girish and the Chronicles. He has performed internationally, including America’s Got Talent, and appears on Back on Earth, Rock the Highway and Hail to the Heroes. He also releases music as Nags World and works as a drum educator.
16. Gautam Deb
Pune/Mumbai drummer associated with Noiseware, Reverrse Polarity and Aswekeepsearching. Noiseware won the 2011 Rolling Stone Metal Awards Critics’ Choice for “23,” while Deb won Best Drummer at the 2014 Rolling Stone Metal Awards with Reverrse Polarity. He later contributed to Aswekeepsearching’s Khwaab.
17. Gaurab “Gaboo” Chatterjee
Kolkata drummer and percussionist, founding member of Bengali rock band Lakkhichhara. His playing incorporates rock, Western drums and traditional Baul percussion such as dubki. He has worked with musicians including Bickram Ghosh and also composes music and background scores for Bengali films.
18. Dhir Mody
Mumbai-born, Pune-based drummer and percussionist who has recorded and performed with more than 30 artists across genres. A OneBeat fellow, he co-founded Drumhouse and worked on the Ajala Dhwani Project and Street Studio India. His practice combines traditional Indian rhythms with electronic styles such as drum ’n’ bass and jungle.
19. Nishant Hagjer
Northeast Indian metal drummer associated with Undying Inc, Rectified Spirit, D.O.T.H, Dark Horizon and SystemHouse33. His tenure with Undying Inc included the Ironclad EP. A Paiste artist and drum clinician, Hagjer has also toured extensively and performed with artists including Brendan Power.
20. Tarun Balani
Delhi-based jazz drummer, composer, educator and Global Music Institute co-founder. His albums include Sacred Worldand Dharma, while Seasonal Affected Beats combines jazz with electronic music. He has performed internationally and worked with artists including Adam O’Farrill, Sharik Hasan and Olli Hirvonen.
21. Andrew Kanga
Mumbai drummer whose career centres on session work across funk, jazz, R&B, rock, pop and Indian fusion. He has performed with a range of artists and was singled out by Gino Banks for his versatility and musicianship. Kanga has also appeared in Mumbai’s professional drum and fusion circuit.
22. Sambit Chatterjee
Kolkata drummer trained initially in tabla by his father, Pandit Subhen Chatterjee. He rose to fame in his formative years with What Escapes Me, later joining aswekeepsearching and Karma-Bandish Fusion. He has also shared stage with Divine, Mohini Dey and Niladri Kumar.
23. Manjunath Sattyasheel
Indian drummer known for blending Western drum kit techniques with Hindustani and Carnatic music, Indian classical dance, film, fusion and world music. A student of B.S. Sukumar, he has performed nationally and internationally and was featured alongside leading young Indian drummers at Mumbai Drum Day.
24. Yadhunandan Nagaraj
Bengaluru drummer who joined Carnatic progressive-rock outfit Agam in 2014 after working in the city’s metal scene. He has since become part of Agam’s signature fusion of Carnatic music and progressive rock, including the band’s recent work and Grammy consideration for The Ascension.
25. Vishesh Singh
This TAMA artist is a Varanasi-born metal drummer best known for his work with Bloodywood, bringing technical precision and high-energy playing to the band’s folk-metal sound. He has also performed with Fragarak, Diabolus Arcanium, 1833 AD and Elemental, while appearing on Bloodywood’s Rakshak and Nu Delhi.
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