Tridev to Zora: Viju Shah on his unbroken association with Rajiv Rai, “After Vishwatma he was being pressurized to take someone else”

By Rajiv Vijayakar -

September 26, 2024 - 1:13 PM IST

When we interacted last in 2022, when their Gupt completed 25 years, Viju Shah (“In rhythm, Viju-bhai Rahman ka baap hai!” a major music luminary had told me some years ago!) had spoken about a new film that Rajiv Rai was making “with just one or two songs”. That film is now complete and set for release around Diwali, marking Rajiv Rai’s comeback as director after exactly two decades—Asambhav (2004) was the last film from the maker of cult movies like Tridev, Vishwatma, Mohra and Gupt.

Tridev to Zora: Viju Shah on his unbroken association with Rajiv Rai, “After Vishwatma he was being pressurized to take someone else”

The Rajiv Rai-Viju Shah association is spoken about in the same vein as that of Rakesh and Rajesh Roshan: they are simply inseparable, and if not brothers like the Roshans, they are brothers-in-spirit. Because in one aspect, they stand out: when Viju’s name crops up, Rajiv’s comes in automatically, and vice-versa. We chat with Viju Shah on this long camaraderie.

Rajiv Rai’s comeback film, Zora, marks the return of your association that now spans three decades. But why do you have just one song when fans expect a musical from both of you?

Yes, Zora has just one song and a new star-cast. A prominent feature of Rajiv’s work is that he visualizes and films a song remarkably, and this time we felt that since the cast was all-new, they might not be able to carry several songs. Earlier, he was even reluctant to put it a song at all. Now the background score is weaved into the film and its effect is the film’s heartbeat.

After Anand Bakshi passed on, Sameer Anjaan had written the lyrics for Asambhav. Who has written the song for Zora?

The Zora song is written by Raashid Rangrez, who is also the film’s executive producer and writer. Palak Muchhal is our singer. Raashid, Palak and I have also done the only song in another film Rajiv has made, where again there will be just one song. This will be released in early 2025. Both films are thrillers with newcomers.

Is that new film a sequel to Zora?

I would not say that.

Rajiv’s first film, Yudh (1985) had music by your father and uncle Kalyanji-Anandji. Did you work on that film as well?

Yes, I was a musician with Kalyanji-Anandji for long, especially after Don. I assisted them during Yudh and struck a rapport with Rajiv. In Yudh, I also composed the title-song and hit it off with Anand Bakshi-ji. I remember going to his house for the song, when normally Bakshi uncle would come to my father’s sitting room. Then I also scored the film’s background music, though under the supervision of Kalyanji-Anandji. After that, when Rajiv announced Tridev, he wanted me to do the entire film. I guess he was comfortable with me because we were around the same age.

The credits for Tridev read ‘Music: Viju Shah. Music conducted by: Kalyanji-Anandji’.

Yes, when he told my father that he wished to work with me, he and Anandji-bhai, my uncle, told him that it was a ghar ki baat and since it was a big-scale film, they were given the credit as well. Of course, they were around to guide me. I decided to experiment with electronic music. The first song I recorded was ‘Main teri mohabbat mein’ wherein dad made a few changes.

Naseeruddin Shah was a regular singer with both of you—he recited the themes of Tridev and Vishwatma, and sang and acted again in Asambhav.

Yes, Rajiv wanted a 100 percent trance feel for the title-track recitation in Tridev. We kept the music softer in Vishwatma to explain that theme. And Naseer-bhai’s song was in dialogue form in Asambhav. That was actually a score we designed for FM stations and the songs were all ‘trance’-y.

A score that was brilliant but went unsung with the film’s failure was Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat (2001).

True! Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat remains Bakshi uncle’s favourite Rajiv Rai score! He loved the pop-like soft songs. He had said that if the film worked, the music would be unstoppable.

You had once told me that Rajiv preferred the tune first. Were there any exceptions to this rule where the lyrics were written first?

‘Ae kaash kabhi aisa hota’ and ‘Subah se lekar’, both from Mohra, and ‘Saat samandar’ from Vishwatma were written first by Bakshi uncle.

Your team has been tremendous and Rajiv never goes anywhere else for his music.

I am really indebted to him! After Vishwatma did not do too well, I remember that he was being pressurized to take someone else. But he stuck to me for Mohra. And the sales were huge! In early 1994, the only other score that did fabulously was 1942—A Love Story, though Hum Aapke Hain Koun!... came later in the year. A shopkeeper at Lamington Road told me that among double cassettes then (soundtracks of two films on one cassette), one side had to have Mohra’s music, while the other could be any other film’s songs! And today, in an era when no one knows what will run, Rajiv is still very clear about what he wants and what he does not. With him, that is one virtue that has always remained.

Machine, Simmba, Sooryavanshi and others: your songs have been re-created often. As an electronic music whiz, what do you feel about this?

Often, re-creations use a part of the original song in background. But in all such cases, the new filming makes a lot of difference. One also has to catch the USP: like the repetition of the word aankh, aankh, aankh in my ‘Aankh maare’ (Tere Mere Sapne) in Simmba did the trick! But now, I also feel that those who re-create old songs are playing too safe! The fact that a 1996 song became so big in 2018 proves that even today’s audience loves great music and lyrics, and they should, in fact, pick up songs that have gone unnoticed and use and film them well!

Also Read: Tridev, Yudh, Mohra, Gupt director Rajiv Rai opens his heart on his marriage to actress Sonam