Viju Shah
Vijay Kalyanji Shah (born 5 June 1959) is an Indian score composer for Hindi cinema.[1] He is the son of music director Kalyanji Virji Shah of the composer duo Kalyanji Anandji.[2] Viju Shah is known for blockbuster musical albums. Throughout his musical career over a decade, he had been extremely selective in choosing his assignments. He has composed music for movies such as Tridev (1989), Vishwatama (1992), Mohra (1994), Tere Mere Sapne (1996), Gupt (1997), Aar Ya Paar (1997), Bade Miyan chote Miyan (1998), Pyar ishq Aur Mohabbat(2001). . He won the 1998 Filmfare Award for Best Background Score for Gupt.
Viju Shah | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Vijay Kalyanji Shah 5 June 1959 |
| Occupation | musician, score composer |
| Years active | 1988 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Sunanda Shah |
| Parent(s) | Kalyanji Virji Shah |
Due to his distinctive prowess of background scores and instrumental electronic soundtrack, he is aptly regarded as the Hans Zimmer of Bollywood.
Career
Viju Shah, son of music director Kalyanji (of the Kalyanji Anandji duo), started his journey as a music arranger at the age of 17. He had a keen interest in electronic music and synthesizers.
He debuted in Bollywood with Tridev. Though he was the actual music director of the film, the music was credited to Kalyani Anandji due to contractual obligations.
He again teamed up with Rajiv Rai in 1992, when he composed music for the movie Vishwatma, featuring the iconic song "Saat Samundar Paar". The song has such a phenomenal fanbase till date it is impossible to imagine an Indian Wedding or Disco with out playing it.
He continued his partnership with Rajiv Rai in 1994 with Mohra. He composed hit songs including "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast" and "Tip Tip Barsa Pani". He even included the song "Na Kajre Ki Dhar", originally sung by Mukesh, and composed by the Anandji Kalyanji duo. The music album went on to become the second most-sold Bollywood soundtrack album of the year, selling more than 8 million units,[3] behind only Hum Aapke Hain Koun..![4] However, the hit song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast" had inspiration from the popular Qawwali "Dam Mast Qalandar" by Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.[5]
After Mohra, Viju Shah went on to compose for movies including Tere Mere Sapne and Raavanraaj.. Both albums were chartbusters with Ankh Mare being smash hit.
His score is in the movie Aar ya Paar by Ketan Mehta is arguably one of his best. The movie didn't receive much acclaim. The songs Hulle Hulle", Man Chahe Sanam" and "Tumma Elle" had achieved cult status .
His most acclaimed composition thus far is for the 1997 blockbuster Gupt. His other notable scores are in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat, Asambhav, Tujhe Meri Kasam, "Chhal" and Shikhar.
Musical Style
Viju Shah is referred as " King of Synth Sounds" for his unanimous superlative skills on Keyboard. His musical arrangement & styling was far advanced to that of contemporary era . Apart from Synthesiser, his music included use of flute, piano, saxophone , & traditional musical instruments. He had been very innovative in use of Whistles in many of his creations
In 2020, Viju Shah was seen in an episode of the show Times of Music for the platform MX Player, where he recreated "Javeda Zindagi + Maula Mere" from the movie Anwar, composed by Mithoon. Mithoon also recreated "Tip Tip barsa paani" from the movie Mohra, composed by Shah, for the same episode.
Popular Remixes
With late 2020 most of Bollywood movies relied heavily on remix instead of original creation. Viju Shah once again topped the chart. The list includes Ankh Mare (Simba) - Too cheez badi hain (Machine) Gali Gali ( KGF) Tip Tip barsa Pani ( Sooryavanshi).
Hansal Mehta used the song Toofan from Vishwatma in his acclaimed web series Scam 92
Choice of singers
Viju Shah has mostly worked with Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet, Amit Kumar, Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Alka Yagnik, Anuradha Paudwal, Babul Supriyo, Sapna Mukherjee, Sonu Nigam, Sudesh Bhosle, Vinod Rathod, Shaan, Zubeen Garg and Jolly Mukherjee, Sunidhi Chauhan, KK, Mohammad Aziz.
Public personality
He is known as "The King of Synth Sounds".[6] Viju Shah, as a music director, had been very ahead of his generation with use of synthesizers and electronic music. Viju Shah performs at various Garba/Dandia nights and can be seen playing multiple synthesizers simultaneously with great energy.
Awards
Won
- 1997 – Best Background Score – Gupt
Nominated
- 1994 – Best Music Director – Mohra
- 1996 – Best Music Director – Tere Mere Sapne
- 1997 – Best Music Director – Gupt: The Hidden Truth
- 1992 – Best Music Director – Vishwatma
- 1995 – Best Music Director – Ravan Raaj: A True Story
- 1995 – Best Background Score – Andaaz Apna Apna
- 1993 – Best Background Score – Lootere
Filmography
References
- "Lalit Pandit's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai track voted most popular!". Indian Express. 7 September 2012.
- "Biography of Viju Shah from hindilyrics.net". Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- "Top 25 films between the years 1985-1994". Filmfare. 18 February 2018.
- "Music Hits 1990-1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- Amit Baruah, R. Padmanabhan (6 September 1997). "The stilled voice". The Hindu, Frontline. Archived from the original on 30 December 2001.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - "Mohra – second most sold album of 1994". Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.