Remember the haunting song Kitne Ajeeb Rishte Hain Yahaan Par that knitted to life the box-office hit Page 3? Indian music composer Shamir Tandon has been flexing his creative chords to churn out Bollywood hits and international collaborations over the years
Excerpts from a conversation
So you got your break by humming a tune in a coffee shop to director Madhur Bhandarkar. Cut to 2016…
Yeah, that was good fortune when me, as a country head, bumped into Madhur and during the course of my conversation, realised he was making a film ailm and wanted songs. And I just bagged my first film. The last 14 years have been fun; ups and downs… interesting times. In 2016, it’s back to action after a hiatus — from an entire album for Priyanka Chopra’s web series to recreating Sare Jahan Se Accha with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
How do you feel now?
You are a super-successful, award-winning music composer, spotting promising newcomers and helping them along? Well, it’s been fun spotting promising artistes. I was wearing a marketing hat when I promoted Shaan’s Tanha Dil and Shubha Mudgal’s Ab Ke Sawan. As a composer, it was fab working with the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and (Indian) Idol winners for various albums.
If you had to pick the most important turning point in your career, which one would it be, and why?
The music opportunity I got to score the entire album of National award-winning film Page 3 with Madhur has been the turning point. I quit my job as a managing director to become a music director. It sounds heroic to say, ‘pursue your passion’, but it’s difficult. What prompted you to curate the 6 Pack Band? Why this name? Full marks to my producer Yash Raj Films and its head, Ashish Patil. I owe it all to him.
Shilpi Madan for Sunday Herald