Wajid Khan, one half of Hindi cinema’s popular music composer duo Sajid-Wajid, died Monday morning of a cardiac arrest, following kidney complications. The 42-year-old’s death came as a shock to Bollywood, with many actors, directors and musicians sharing messages of grief on their social media pages, including Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and more.
The prolific musicians composed songs for more than 70 films, some of which they also wrote the score and lyrics for, and have worked with some of the biggest names in the business. Most of the biggest hits of their career were songs composed for Salman Khan’s films, right from their very first break in Bollywood, the 1998 hit film, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, for which they composed one song.
Wajid also made a name for himself as a playback singer later on.
While their discography is heavy on peppy party soundtracks with loud beats and silly lyrics, it would be foolish to think of their talent in such limited terms. Be it their songs for movies or outside of Bollywood, the brothers displayed a wide range, and could do soulful, romantic numbers just as easily as they could churn out the biggest dance hit of the year. Here is a look at some of their best work.
Deewana Tera (1999): Just a year after Teri Jawani, their debut in Sohail Khan’s Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya that fused Bollywood style with a qawwali touch, Sajid-Wajid composed the music for Sonu Nigam’s non-film album, Deewana. The album had quite a few memorable songs, including Iss Kadar Pyaar Hai, the music video of which starred Milind Soman and Michelle Innes. But its most popular number by far was Deewana Tera. The 1990s were the decade that Indipop reached its zenith, and those who grew up then will remember this passionate, high-energy song as the one that was sung by every lovelorn schoolboy.
Ahista Ahista (Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, 2001): Sajid-Wajid churned out chartbusters by the dozen, many alongside other composers, for movies like Hello Brother, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Garv and Tere Naam. But one of their little-known gems is from a movie that sank commercially — Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, directed by Tanuja Chandra and starring Ameesha Patel and Jimmy Sheirgill. While the rest of the soundtrack was composed by Daboo Malik, Ahista Ahista, by the Khan brothers, is a sweet, slow song about young love.
Soni De Nakhre (Partner, 2007): Nine years after their Bollywood debut came this cracker of a soundtrack, for which Wajid also sang. While there were smash hits like Dupatta Tera Nau Rang Da and Do You Wanna Partner, you couldn’t attend a sangeet or party in 2007 or for a good few years after where the playlist didn’t feature Soni De Nakhre. Sung by Wajid, Labh Janjua and Sneha Pant, the song had a great beat, fun lyrics and chorus that had everyone saying “Pump up the jam” in the Partner way.
Tere Mast Mast Do Nain (Dabangg, 2010): When one thinks of the Dabangg movies, one typically thinks of Salman Khan’s swagger, his larger-than-life caricaturised portrayal of Chulbul Pandey and of songs were loud and often crass. But this song, from the first movie of the franchise, is a lovely melody, beautifully sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, with lyrics by Faiz Anwar. It almost seems out of place in the same set of songs as Munni Badnaam Hui, Fevicol Se and others from this series of movies.
Besharmi Ki Height (Main Tera Hero, 2014): While another song from the movie, Palat Tera Hero Idhar Hai, became extremely popular, this one was a favourite at weddings and house parties alike, for his high-energy vocals, earworm-y lyrics and clubby beats that didn’t take away from the fact that it had a real melody.
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