FATHER: BAPPI LAHIRI

Musical interest: Music direction, composition.

Age: 55.

Trained under: Father Aparesh Lahiri and mother Bashori Lahiri.

Inspirations: Saturday Night Fever the film, music composers Salil Chowdhury and SD Burman.

Father on son: “Like me he’s a born musician. He has been playing electronic drums and percussion in my recordings since he was 10. I had started with tabla. Our entire family for three generations has been immersed in music,” said Bappi. But there have been differences, too. “Bappa is a recordist, a programmer and arranges his own music. My journey in music direction started with live orchestra whereas it’s all computerised for him.”

Son’s scope for improvement: “I guide him in everything he does. He’s done the music for a film called Alibaug by Sanjay Gupta. That will bring about a great change in his career.”

SON: BAPPA

Musical interest: Drums, music direction, composition.

Age: 26.

Trained under: His father. “Since childhood, Baba has been an inspiration. I’m carrying forward the legacy that my dad had started with his father.”

Inspirations: “My dad for sure! I’ve never had any formal training. Whatever I’ve learnt is all inspired by my dad.” Father and son also share a love for Michael Jackson.

Being his father’s son: Bappa was performing by the age of three and started out professionally as a programmer when he was 16. “It means a lot of responsibility and expectations that I have to meet. People feel things are easy when you have a famous father but it actually gets more difficult to prove yourself.”

Father’s scope for improvement: “He believes people too easily and thinks everyone is nice.”

TOGETHER:While Bappi has his ways of working the crowds, Bappa prefers to concentrate on his rhythm pad. When they play together, Bappi takes the foreground while Bappa settles down behind his assortment of drums and percussion instruments.

FATHER: ANJAN DUTT

Musical interest: Singer, songwriter, composer.

Age: 55.

Trained under: Self-trained.

Inspirations: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan.

Father on son: “Neel grew up with music but he got into advertising professionally. There was total freedom. My father wanted me to be a lawyer but I got into cinema, theatre, acting and filmmaking. I had no such expectations from my son. When I realised he was doing good music and doing it differently I decided to use his stuff in my films.”

Son’s scope for improvement: “I wouldn’t want to change anything. I respect what my son is doing.”

SON: NEEL

Musical interest: Guitar, music direction, band Friends of Fusion.

Age: 29.

Trained under: “I have never really trained under anyone. I have been associated with music, cinema and art in general since childhood. I hung out a lot with Amyt Datta and would listen to him play. I used to hear my father strum his guitar and sing to us. I have been playing the guitar with him since his first stage show in 1993.”

Inspirations: Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, John Lennon.

Being his father’s son: “I am grateful to have a father like him. He has sometimes been my director and sometimes a musician… but beyond that he is a father and a friend. While in school I played the guitar like any other kid my age, I played in all my father’s albums and got paid about Rs 800 per album!

“My first film as a music director was for my dad’s Bow Barracks Forever. I have completed work on my father’s Byomkesh Bakshi and currently am working on Parambrata’s Jiyo Kaka!!.”

Father’s scope for improvement: “He had a temper earlier but with age, he has calmed down.”

TOGETHER:You won’t catch Anjan Dutt on stage without his favourite Ray-Bans and jeans and tee. Neel likes to maintain a low profile and is more keen on finding his sound. The duo’s second show together was for Jadavpur University’s fest Sanskriti. They have performed together many times since.

FATHER: PARTHAPRATIM CHATTERJEE

Musical interest: Sitar.

Age: 59.

Trained under: Parents Roma Chatterjee and Prabir Kumar Chatterjee, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

Inspirations: Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Amir Khan.

Father on son: “From the very beginning he showed promise. We used to play together a lot at one point. He has a lot of energy and is always coming up with bright ideas and I’m always trying to catch up with him.”

Son’s scope for improvement: “I’m happy that he could find his own path. But it’s still a long road ahead. I wish he would devote more time to riyaaz and thinking.”

SON: PURBAYAN

Musical interest: Sitar and fusion.

Age: 33.

Trained under: Parthapratim Chatterjee, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ajoy Chakraborty, Pandit Anindya Chatterjee.

Inspirations: Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Rashid Khan.

Being his father’s son: “In my initial years I used to wish my father wouldn’t force me to play the sitar. Gradually he became my guide and I knew that I wouldn’t need to unlearn anything with my father teaching me. Then came a stage of living up to the expectations. I feel that my father is very proud of whatever I’ve achieved today.”

Father’s scope for improvement: “I’d like him to loosen up a little and be less strict about his moral code.”

TOGETHER:While father Parthapratim Chatterjee dons plain kurtas and strums his sitar without much ado, Purbayan likes colourful kurtas, fashionable glasses and a goatie, which he calls his “soul patch”. The first time they played together was in Indonesia when Purbayan was 11. Last year they went on a legacy tour.

FATHER: SHANKAR GHOSH

Musical interest: Tabla.

Age: 75.

Trained under: Various gurus including Gyan Prakash Ghosh in five different gharanas.

Inspirations: Pandit Shanta Prasad, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan.

Father on son: “When he was a child I would whisper into his ears that ‘you must play the tabla’,” remembers Ghosh. “There comes a stage when your son grows up and you stop being a guru. That’s when I realised that I had many things to learn from Bickram, too. Whenever he plays an interesting rhythm I’m curious to learn about the unique beats he creates.”

Son’s scope for improvement: “I would like to correct a wrong impression that Bickram is too busy doing other forms of music and not tabla. He is always true to his tabla even when experimenting with other forms.”

SON: BICKRAM

Musical interest: Tabla and other percussion instruments.

Age: 42.

Trained under: Pandit Shankar Ghosh, S. Shekhar and Gyan Prakash Ghosh.

Inspirations: “My father. I’ve heard him all my life and trained under him for 20 years. The composer side of me is influenced by Pandit Ravi Shankar and RD Burman.” Bickram always wanted to become a tabla player. “My father would surround me with tablas and would be very particular about my practice. After I came of age, I still wanted to play the tabla.”

Being his father’s son: “A huge sense of pride. I’ve always been inspired seeing him on stage. He’s a great guru, friend, father and a phenomenal tabla player.”

Father’s scope for improvement: “As a musician, nothing. But as a father I’d like him to be a better listener when it comes to me.”

TOGETHER:We both have a very strong presence on stage yet we’re different,” says Bickram. First Bickram went his own way to create his own space on stage. “When I decided to become a professional, my father made it very clear that he wouldn’t be hand-holding me. We finally performed eight years ago, not as father and son but as independent artistes.”

FATHER: SUBHEN CHATTERJEE

Musical interest: Tabla and fusion.

Age: 48.

Trained under: Pandit Swapan Chowdhury.

Inspirations: Pandit Kanai Dutta, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Pandit Shyamal Ghosh and Ustad Karamatullah Khan. Bob Dylan, Joan Myers, Deep Purple and Pink Floyd were influences behind the band Karma.

Father on son: “For the past couple of years Sambit has been an active member of Karma. He has really helped us appeal to the younger generation. I always dreamt that he would be a musician someday. Since a very young age Sambit’s inclination was clear.”

Son’s scope for improvement: “Being on TV and becoming a desi rocker has made him a little fixated about the ‘X-factor’.”

SON: SAMBIT

Musical interest: Progressive drumming.

Age: 19.

Trained under: Subhen Chatterjee, Nondon Bagchi, Sivamani whenever he was in Calcutta.

Inspirations: Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, Amyt Datta, Nondon Bagchi, Sivamani, Miles Davis, Weather Report and Screaming Headless Torsos.

Being his father’s son: “It’s a boon as well as a curse. When I play well the credit goes to him and if I play badly it shames him. But I have been able to work my way through it.

“Before I went for the audition for Rock On with MTV, I knew I would be a musician. Now I am a musician. This is my profession.”

Father’s scope for improvement: “I think he has more expectations from me than I can deliver. When we went to Paris to watch Dream Theater performing he said, ‘One day I want you to be on a stage and 38,000 people will come to watch you perform’.”

TOGETHER:If son Sambit likes to bang his head and swirl his sticks whenever the base notes kick in, father Subhen likes to play fusion Latino motifs on his tabla. They first performed together for a Karma show in 2007.