What business does a sitar have stealing the spotlight at a buzzing nightlife hotspot in Bandra? Composer and songwriter Varun Nimbolkar will let the strings do the talking when he takes stage with the Sitara Devi Project this week. A departure from the more familiar East-meets-West jugalbandi style, Nimbolkar’s philosophy is grounded in structure and also open to defying it at once, he tells us.

Over 18 long years with the sitar, the 36-year-old has found a way to blend the Indian instrument into genres like Trance, Afro-House, Drum ‘n’ Bass, and Rock. “I do not improvise on the sitar. Every track is carefully shaped in the studio with intent. The sitar becomes a part of the story rather than an ornamentation on top. I draw from musicians like Nitin Sawhney and Arooj Aftab,” he shares.