Shamir Tandon's new album crosses 12 million views in a week

He says the pandemic gave him a lot more time to compose new tunes, collaborate with other artistes and grow as a musician

Composer and music director Shamir Tandon has just released ‘Sazaa Pyaar ki’. He has collaborated with Sameer Anjaan and Kumar Taurani for the album.

Sung by Sameer Khan, featuring Karishma Sharma, the song has the feel and flavour of ‘90s music. He spoke to Metrolife about the making of the song, his transgender band, and his work life through pandemic.

How did the song come about?

During the peak of the lockdown, I got a call from Kumar Taurani, who asked me to compose tracks for some debutant singers who he had signed on. He asked me to create a melancholic track reminiscent of the ‘90s for a talented singer Sameer Khan. The lyrics are by Sameer Anjaan. I struck upon the tune while walking on my terrace one evening during the lockdown. Little did I know that it would turn out to be so soulful and cross 12 million views in a week.

Taking your transgender band to an international platform must have been exciting.

People around the globe are more sensitive towards gender equality than people here. Our audience understood the importance of giving equal importance and respect to the third gender. Wherever we went, we got a lot of requests for selfies and pictures. We felt honoured performing across the globe.

How has music enriched your life?

I have always listened to music and I was very passionate about it right from my childhood. I have been listening to all the genres of music even when I did not understand them. I would listen to complicated Urdu words in ghazals that I didn’t understand much, but I still appreciated and enjoyed it. That is when I started composing music, even without knowing what music composition was. It was the sheer passion that drove me.

Did the pandemic affect your work?

The music industry has (actually) seen a massive growth. More music has been produced during the pandemic than it ever was. In my case, I have recorded almost 40 songs during the pandemic as opposed to less than 10 songs in 2019 and 2020.

A lot of musicians sitting at home have been creating tunes and have been collaborating with other musicians to create music over Zoom calls. The pandemic has given an impetus to non-film music and a lot of actors have come out in the open and have released their works.