Internationally acclaimed sitarist Anoushka Shankar says Indian classical music has a strong following abroad, but it’s “such a shame” that the genre’s popularity hasn’t translated in the country of its origin.

The daughter of late sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar earned her fifth Grammy nomination this week for her album “Home”, which reaffirms Indian classical music’s hold in the West.

“I think our music in its purest form is something what we always talk about here as being under threat. I see that less for myself because I don’t come here that often, but I see my peers who say that they have to do collaborations and crossover fusion, and some kind of spin for it to sell,” Anoushka said.

“That’s such a shame because there is a huge audience for our music abroad. I tour around the world, the classical shows would totally sell out. There is a huge audience for what we have to offer. It’s a shame that it is not translating in the country of its origin,” she added.

She says that the “narrow stream of media” here makes it seem that Indian classical music is under some “threat”, but that’s not entirely true.