Vishal Dadlani

Vishal Dadlani (born 28 June 1973) is an Indian singer, music record producer, composer, lyricist and performer. He is the vocalist/songwriter of the indie rock/electronica band, Pentagram, founded in 1994, regarded as one of the pioneers of original Indian independent music, having received recognition locally as well as globally. He is also one half of the Bollywood composing/producing and performing music duo Vishal-Shekhar, since 1999. They are credited with being amongst the architects of the modern Bollywood sound, having composed for 60 films and released over 300 songs, and performed over 1,000 shows worldwide. Vishal has always supported Indian independent music, and helped many artists and bands find their feet. Raghu Dixit, now a hugely successful artist in his own right, is one of Vishal's earliest proteges. Vishal and Shekhar released Raghu's first album to great success, in 2008. Vishal's involvement as a jury member in many of India's biggest music talent hunts including, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2007 and 2010, Indian Idol Junior 2013 and 2015, The Stage 2015, have been prominent in highlighting his constant search for, and encouragement of, fresh talent in both, the mainstream and the Indian independent music scene. Vishal also co-founded indie-giant Only Much Louder with Vijay Nair in 2002 and exited a couple of years ago. Vishal is equally at home with indie music, rock, electronica, hip-hop and Bollywood sounds, has now launched his own label in 2015 called VLT (Vishal Likes This) to create a wider platform for indie artists in India.

Vishal was born and raised in a Sindhi family from Mumbai, Maharashtra. Vishal went to Hill Grange High School, Mumbai and subsequently attended Jai Hind College, Mumbai for two years (1989–90) then was shifted to H.R. College of Commerce and Economics. Vishal graduated in 1994 with a degree of Bachelor of Commerce.

Pentagram (1994-present)

Vishal Dadlani's musical journey started back in 1994, with the electronica/indie-rock band Pentagram formed in Mumbai. The band fronted by Vishal Dadlani (one half of the film music producing duo Vishal-Shekhar) with Randolph Correia on guitars, Clyde D'souza (former member) on guitars, Papal Mane on bass and Shiraz Bhattacharya on drums. All of whom have recently been actively involved in the Bollywood music business. Pentagram received their initial recognition and fame by winning three major rock competitions at IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay. Of these, Livewire, the annual band competition at Mood Indigo landed them a record deal. Pentagram regarded as one of the pioneers of original Indian independent music, the band has received major recognition. Pentagram has been recognized among the top rock bands of India since past 20 years. Pentagram have had a brief touring history outside India; including the Sundance Music Festival in Estonia in 2003. In 2005, Pentagram became the first Indian band to play at the Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK.

We Are Not Listening (1996-2001), was the debut album of Pentagram. Pentagram won MTV India's Artist of the Month award in 1997 and also won the Channel V awards for Best Live Band and Best Indian Band in 1997 and 1998. They were featured on Channel V's Big Gig show, an hour-long live performance, which was plagued with bad sound. The second album, Up (2002) saw the band's sound evolve into a deliberate, definitive electro rock. One of their greatest hits as listed by Rolling Stone Magazine in their article "25 Greatest Indian Rock Songs of the Last 25 Years" was "Drive" (Up, 2002). During this time Dadlani found fame as a Bollywood music composer, singer and lyricist with movies like Jhankaar Beats, Bluff Master and Salaam Namaste. Pentagram's third album It's OK, It's All Good in 2007 recorded under their own record label, Pentagram Music too received noticeable attention in India. The first single off this album "Voice" won the Song Of The Year and vocalist Vishal was awarded Vocalist Of The Year at the Jack Daniel's Annual Indian Rock Awards. "Voice" also received considerable airplay on VH1 India. The song was later used in a music video competition by the channel and Nokia, and the video that has been released features the contributions of various fans across India who sent in their videos. Pentagram have toured around the country, performing at clubs, college festivals and music festivals like the Bacardi NH7 Weekender and the Invasion festival. In 2011, they released their fourth album, Bloodywood (EMI) and have been touring the same live for the past few years. The same year, they also got to open for one of their biggest inspirations, The Prodigy, at the Invasion Festival in New Delhi and Bangalore. In 2013, they appeared on MTV Unplugged, supported by guitarist and producer Gaurav Gupta and pianist Karan Joseph. In 2014, they complete over 20 years of being together.

Pentagram discography

• We're Not Listening (1996 Plus Music)
• Up (2002 Pentagram Music, Sony Music)
• It's OK, It's All Good (2007 Pentagram Music)
• Bloodywood (2011, Pentagram Music)

Vishal & Shekhar

In 1999, Vishal & Shekhar, the Bollywood composing/producing and performing music duo was formed. The duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani who have worked in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Marathi films. Their notable works include Jhankaar Beats (2003), Dus (2005), Bluffmaster (2005), I See You (2006), Om Shanti Om (2007), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Dostana (2008), Anjaana Anjaani (2010), Ra.One (2011), Student of the Year (2012),Chennai Express (2013), Bang Bang! (2014) and Happy New Year (2014). The duo has received noticeable recognition in the past 15 years, and today are credited with being amongst the architects of the modern Bollywood sound, having composed for 60 films and released over 300 songs, and performed over 1,000 shows worldwide. The duo rose to prominence in 2003 when they composed the score for the film Jhankaar Beats which included the song "Tu Aashiqui Hai". They won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for Jhankaar Beats.

Other work by Vishal-Shekhar

They have been judges on the star hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 and the musical talent show Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star with director and choreographer Farah Khan. They are the judges on Amul Star Voice of India Mummy Ki Superstars. They were mentors and judges in the reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa with Sajid-Wajid. They composed the Indian Premier League theme song of season 3 and the anthem of Kolkata Knight Riders. Following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Vishal Dadlani launched a petition to ban live media coverage during the rescue operations. They composed the song "Allah Ke Bande" from Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II.

Both Vishal and Shekhar appeared as judges in the reality singing show for children and teens, Indian Idol Junior, Season One, while only Vishal appeared in Season two.

Vishal has also performed a Sufi influenced song "Madari" in the Season 2 of Coke Studio.

Awards and recognition (Vishal & Shekhar)

They are credited with being amongst the architects of the modern Bollywood sound, having composed for 60 films and released over 300 songs, and performed over 1,000 shows worldwide. The duo has received great recognition, not only in India but across the globe.

Conflicts

In the aftermath of Panama papers leaks the names of Vishal and his family members (Reshma Motiram Dadlani, Moti Thanwerdas Dadlani and Anjana Haresh Vaswani) have been surfaced with some of their investments made through his company Sunny Blessing Holding InC, British Virgin Islands. Some of these transactions are currently under investigation by the enforcement directorate.

Vishal witnessed a very strong opposition when he tweeted against Jain Muni Tarunsagar ji Maharaj. Many FIR are filed against him all over India for hurting the religious sentiments. Though Muni Tarun Sagar Maharaj have never taken the issue seriously. Vishal also made himself apart from any political work after these conflicts. He has written an open letter to the saint saying that it was his biggest mistake to comment unknowingly.

Annual Central European Bollywood Awards

Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award

Asian Film Awards

BIG Star Entertainment Awards

Filmfare Awards

Global Indian Music Academy Awards

International Indian Film Academy Awards

Upcoming projects 2016

Sultan produced by Aditya Chopra under his Yash Raj Films banner, starring actor Salman Khan directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the movie will hit the theaters in 2016. Composer duo Vishal-Shekhar will compose for Salman Khan's next project Sultan, promise to create "more magic" with their creations.

Music director (Vishal & Shekhar)

Playback singer