HE WAS one of the earliest faces of Indipop, part of India’s first and only brother-sister band, and he went solo a year ago. You guessed it right, Shaan, aka Shantanu Mukherjee, is the man.
Shaan has been around right from the days of Q-Funk (Qawali Funk, that is). Many of us hardcore Indipop fans may recall seeing him in the medley video of the album. Later in 1996, he went on to do the pop album Naujawan with his sister, Sagarika and one of the tracks, “Aisa hota hai,” became quite popular. Till date, it is the only siblings’ album in the market.
After Naujawan, both Shaan and Sagarika decided to go their separate ways. First, it was Sagarika who branched out with an emotional Maa, which struck a chord with the listeners. In fact, the second video of Naujawan was Sagarika’s solo track, a pumped-up remix of “Disco Deewane".
Soon afterwards, it was Shaan’s turn to go solo, and so Love-ology happened. Its title track went on to become a huge hit with the teenyboppers. The cool lyrics and the college campus mood did the trick.
Shaan was fast becoming popular, and with his remix rendering of popular old numbers such as “Dil kya kare” and “Hum bewafa", he became a regular on all the countdown charts. Then came a phase of film soundtracks when he was heard in quite a few Hindi film songs. The most popular being “Musu musu” from Pyaar mein kabhi kabhi, and more recently, “Tune mujhe pehchaana nahi” from Raju Chacha.
A few remixes later, Shaan made a comeback in 2001 with his second solo album, Tanha Dil, which stayed on MTV charts for a record number of weeks, and went on to bag the MTV Asia Award in the “Favourite Indian Artiste - Pop category” in 2002.
And now, he is back with Shaan - Bhool Ja and Other Hits, (Virgin Records/Sony Music, CDs Rs. 199, Cassettes Rs. 65). It is a collection of Shaan’s best tracks including a new single from Tanha Dil. Most of you would already have seen the video of Bhool Ja - one which could easily be on the list of best Indipop songs in recent times. Some excellent guitar performance, powered by some deadly beats and an infectious tune, make for an excellent track. The lyrics tell a message of “don’t cry over spilt milk” and to carry on with your life. This song will be a welcome gift to many of those heartbroken soul types.
The album also includes two tracks from Tanha Dil. The title song needs no explanation. It has already had its wave of popularity due to its pleasant pace and meaningful words. The second one is “Gum sum ho kyon” which has deep emotions and a mellow tint to it.
The album also features two songs such as “Woh pehli baar", and “Musu musu” from the film Pyaar mein kabhi kabhi, along with “Tune mujhe pehchana nahi” from Raju chacha. The remix versions of “Dil kya kare” and “Hum bewafa” deserve a good listening, while the Latino mix of “Mana janaab ne pukaara nahin” and the desi mix of “Musafir hoon yaaron” are mediocre. But, listen to Bhool Ja once, and you feel you have got your money’s worth.