Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone Friday attended the concert of sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma in Mumbai, days after the musician was embroiled in a controversy over claims related to his discipleship.
The event was part of Sharma’s Sitar for Mental Health India Tour 2026. Following Mumbai, the tour is scheduled to travel to Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi.
In a clip posted by the organisers, Deepika was seen seated at the concert along with her sister-in-law Ritika Bhavnani and mother-in-law Anju Bhavnani.
“A night where music brought everyone together. At Sitar for Mental Health in Mumbai, it wasn’t just about the music — it was about the presence. With some of the biggest Bollywood faces in the room, the evening turned into a truly special and star-studded experience. But beyond the spotlight, it was the sound of the sitar by @rishabsmusic that connected everyone in the same moment — calm, present, and feeling every note. A reminder that music has the power to bring everyone together,” Team Innovation wrote on Instagram alongside a video from the event.
The Mumbai concert comes days after sitarist-musician Anoushka Shankar questioned Sharma’s claim of being the youngest and last disciple of her father, sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar.
In an interview with Humans of Bombay, Anoushka Shankar said Sharma’s association with her family had been “blown up into some story of him being his last disciple or the youngest disciple”.
“We knew him from childhood because he was the son of our instrument maker Sanjay Rikhiram Sharma...But he is super talented and deserves all successes with or without that story,” she said.
Subsequently, the Ravi Shankar Institute for Music and Performing Arts termed Sharma’s claims as “incorrect” in an official statement.
Sharma’s team later issued a clarification stating that Ravi Shankar had personally called Sanjay Sharma to bring his 13-year-old son for the ‘Ganda Bandhan ceremony’ on January 3, 2012. The institute, however, maintained that while an informal string-tying took place on that date, it occurred at the
“persuasion of Rishabh's father and due to the affection for the young child”.