Viju Shah is an Indian music composer. He is the son of Kalyanji Virji Shah, the senior music director of composer Kalyanji Anandji’s group. He is widely regarded as the Hans Zimmer of Bollywood due to his exceptional talent for background music and instrumental electronic scoring.
Wiki/Biography
Vijay Kalyanji Shah was born on Friday, June 5, 1959 (age 64 years; as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Gemini.
Childhood photos of Viju Shah with mother and brother
family
Parents and siblings
Viju is the son of veteran music composer Kalyanji Virji Shah. His mother’s name was Sakaben Kayanji Shah. He has four brothers: Dinesh, Chandrakant, Ramesh and Rajesh Shah. Rajesh Shah is a management consultant.
Viju Shah (left) with Kalyanji-Anandji and Rajiv Rai
Viju Shah’s mother
Viju Shah’s younger brother Rajesh K Shah
Viju Shah’s brother Dinesh Shah
Viju Shah’s younger brother, Chandrakant Shah
wife and children
Viju Shah married Sunanda Shah on May 21, 1983. They have a daughter, Priyal Shah, who is the founder and director of Svara Music Studio.
Viju Shah and his wife
Viju Shah with wife and daughter
other relatives
Viju Shah’s grandfather’s name is Virji Premji Dedhia and his grandmother’s name is Haansbai Virji Dedhia.
Viju Shah’s grandparents
Career (Music Director)
Movie
Tridev (1989), an Indian action thriller directed by Rajiv Rai, was Viju Shah’s official film debut as a music director. He subsequently composed many hit songs with catchy tunes, including “Tirchi Topiwale” from the film “Tridev” (1989), “Samundar Paar” from the “Saat” film “Vishwatma” (1992) and the film “Tere Mere” “Aankh Marey” in Sapne (1996).
In 1992, he reunited with Rajiv Rai for the Indian thriller Vishwatma, which was released in Hindi. The musical comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1994) and the horror film Junoon (1992) both featured music by Viju Shah. In Mohra (1994), Rajiv Rai and Viju Shah worked together. The most famous songs from the movie are “Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast” and “Tip Tip Barsa Pani”. The music album sold more than 8 million copies, surpassing Hum Aapke Hain Koun to become the second-highest-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of the year. In the years after Mohra became popular, Viju Shah went on to compose music for films like Ravan Raaj: A True Story and Tere Mere Sapne. His fifth collaboration with Rajiv Rai was in the 1997 film Gupt. During his 30+ year career in the music industry, he has composed songs for nearly 35 films.
Viju Shah (organ) composed the song “Kabhi hoti nahi jiski haar” along with Kishore Kumar, music director Babla and lyricist Indeevar
Ott
Viju Shah composed the background score for the 2021 Netflix film Class of ’83.
dispute
Plagiarism problem
Viju Shah has often been criticized for borrowing music from other musicians, especially Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In an interview, he talked about these plagiarism issues and clarified,
If a director shows us a song and instructs us to adhere to that template, there’s not much we can do. Then all we have to do is make some modifications to it and present it to the filmmakers. The tune is okay and my work is done. Otherwise, who would want to copy tunes when so many states have rich Indian folk music? ”
Awards
In 1998, Viju Shah won the Filmfare Award for Best Background Score for the Bollywood film Gupt: The Hidden Truth.
Viju Shah wins Filmfare Award
Facts/Trivia
- In an interview, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan discussed the issue of Bollywood composers stealing his music. The Pakistani qawwali guru claims that Anu Malik and Viju Shah imitated him best.
- The song “Tip Tip Barsa Pani” from the movie “Mohra” (1994) has been re-written for the movie “Sooryavanshi” (2021), and the original singers Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan have remained intact in the re-written song. In an interview, he talked about the reworked version of the song, saying:
From what I know of the song, I don’t feel like it was reworked or sounds any different. Similar to mine, they also used original singers Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. So it sounds closer to the original. Recreating is when you keep the original piece the same but change the arrangement slightly. But I’m glad that even after 27 years, people still like the song and give it love. “
In an interview, when asked why he chose to pursue a career in music, he said:
Since Kalyanji Virji Shah, the father of the composer Kalyanji Anandji, was a famous musician of his era, he wanted one of his children to pursue music. Before the advent of electronics in the 1970s, my approach to music was very mechanical. Ultimately, I felt like I should start with this.”
Viju Shah (right in pink shirt) celebrates Anandji’s 90th birthday with other Bollywood singers and composers
- In 1995, Viju Shah served as a judge for the semi-finals of the popular reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – Schedule 2, along with Jagjit Kaur, Javed Akhtar and Usha Khanna.
- Early in his career, he released a solo album titled “Why not Synthesizers?”
- At an awards ceremony, host Vishal Dadlani introduced him as the “King of Synthesizer Sounds.”
- In an interview, talking about using a synthesizer for the first time, Viju Shah said:
When I shot Don, I was in seventh standard. The use of electronic instruments in “Don” is very interesting. I was so excited when the electronics arrived. “Yeh Mera Dil Pyaar Ka Deewana” was the first song I composed. I played synthesizer on the song. I still remember that date clearly. That was August 24, 1974. ”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education