Shekhar Ravjiani, of the Vishal-Shekhar fame, came out with his melodious and heartfelt rendition of ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ which was launched by veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday.
After three very successful singles, ‘Saazni’ and ‘Saavli’ in Marathi, and ‘Butterfly’ in Telugu, Shekhar’s fourth single, ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ is a beautiful, meditative interpretation of the prayer that was written by the poet Tulsidas and has been loved and revered by many generations. Aiming to appeal to the youth, Shekhar has composed and sung it in a very mellow and soulful manner, making it a very soothing version of the usually high-tempo Chalisa. And the singer-composer says that he has dedicated it to his late grandmother.
“’Hanuman Chalisa’ has been an integral part of my life. My grandparents instilled these traditional values in me. It was my late grandmother’s wish to see me compose a version of the epic prayer. I dedicate it to her,” Shekhar said.
Describing his version of the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ as “soothing” and “meditative” Shekhar said, “This version is more soothing, calm and peaceful. When the song started to sound the way I wanted it to, I decided to do a little more research on Lord Hanuman. I went to a bookstore and started reading. Suddenly, I felt like making my own version of it.”
But Shekhar, who has composed more than 400 songs for Bollywood soundtracks as one half of the Vishal-Shekhar duo and has also sung some very popular and award winning playback numbers, said that he doesn’t make singles to achieve success. “I’ve been in the industry for over 15 years, composed about 500 songs for over 60 films. But these singles have never been part of them. These are made on a personal level but not for the reason of achieving success. My soul is connected to these singles,” he said.
He further added saying, “What matters to me is that people should enjoy the experience of these singles. That’s my expectation from them. I feel such songs open the doors for a new set of listeners for me. I feel I challenge myself with such experiments and I like it.”
To make sure that the prayer reaches more people, Shekhar has also conceptualised a special edition pocket book which has an introduction to the Hanuman Chalisa, the prayer and its meaning in English along with a note about Sant Tulsidas. Additionally, an exclusive mobile phone app has been developed for people to be able to download the Chalisa and its meaning on their handsets making it readily accessible for them.
“I’m coming up with a book called Shekhar Ravjiani’s ‘Hanuman Chalisa’, which will be available globally. I’ve also come up with an app for mobile phone users with my song and book,” Shekhar revealed. The music label is being released under the Zee Music Company label while the upcoming books would be available in both English and Hindi.
