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Special Feature: Shaan’s five most memorable romantic songs

Completing 20 years in the Indian music industry, singer Shantanu Mukherjee aka Shaan has had one of the best runs…and he is still going strong. With a unique voice and the vocal style that melts hearts, Shaan is one of the best male leads that Bollywood has ever seen. As one of the most versatile singers he has sung in almost every genre and in almost every language in India delivering his melodic hits throughout his career. He has even gone beyond Bollywood collaborating with British boy band – Blue on their hit song One Love making him a global talent!

Ahead of Shaan’s UK tour taking place in April 2020, BizAsiaLive.com looks back at some of the singer’s most memorable romantic songs!

Shaan delivered a huge range in the beautiful song Chaar Kadam in the movie ‘PK’ (2014). His vocal was so serene that even without looking at the video it would put the listener on a romantic boat ride on a canal in beautiful Europe. Shantanu Moitra’s composition gave the singer some amazing room to show his talent and Shaan did not disappoint! His expression on every line of Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics made a big impact as he made it sound seamless with Shreya Ghoshal by his side. Perhaps one of his last big hits but this one is surely one of his best works.

Going from his most last hit to his first major hit – Wo Pehli Baar from ‘Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi’ (1999) is one amazing song. Vishal – Shekhar gave Shaan his first Bollywood project with this movie and he deliver two huge numbers with Wo Pehli Baar and Musu Musu becoming an instant hit with teens around the country. The vibes of that song clicked instantly with young love birds thanks to Shaan’s melodic soft tones that he starts the song with. This is one of the best written works of Raj Kaushal and Vishal Dadlani and Shaan’s vocal made it epic. This song still sounds fresh and relevant even now 20 years later thanks to its modern sound and smooth vocal delivery.

Jab Se Tere Naina from ‘Saawariya’ (2007) became famous for many reasons. Ranbir Kapoor’s launch and his towel scene being one of the reasons but Shaan’s vocals are what gave that scene its voice. Shaan was heard in his typical style in this song and one could say this song was written just for him. No other singer could have given this song the personality it has other than Shaan and it is difficult to visualise anyone else singing this. He won many awards for this song and it is truly one of the best romantic songs of his career. This is a truly unique piece of work for lyricist Sameer and it also marked the arrival of Monty Sharma as a music director winning him the RD Burman new talent award that year.

Next up, the song that won him all the awards and it truly deserves it! Chand Sifarish from ‘Fanaa’ (2006) can easily be referred to as one of the most romantic songs of all time! This was the last movie Jatin – Lalit ever composed for together and this song is truly iconic in every way. The soulful deep humming that Shaan started the song with just makes the heart melt away. His vocal caliber in this song is unlike any other as Jatin – Lalit always delivered a strong Hindustani classical base to all their songs. Shaan delivered a note perfect execution across the entire range of twists and turns of the notes with amazing control. Prasoon Joshi’s phenomenal poetry has such depth in its words that makes this song even more difficult. This is one complex piece of musical work but Shaan made it sound super easy and effortless.

This is perhaps one of the most underrated Shaan song because it was in an A-grade Bollywood movie. Talk about the perfect mix of brilliant music, great lyrics and exceptional vocal delivery and Suno Na from ‘Jhankaar Beats’ (2003) deserves to be known as the best romantic song by Shaan. The immaculate melody of this songs builds throughout and grows on the listener like none other and it did win Shaan some awards too. It has a characteristic that even after playing this on a loop one would not get bored of it. Shaan has such amazing vocal control in this song that is hard to imitate while the depth of his vocal gives it its soul touching romantic vibes. The beautiful writing and the amazing guitar work, keys with violins gives it the perfect ambiance created by Vishal – Shekhar. This album was a tribute to RD Burman and the music truly was of the caliber of the legend.

Some of his other romantic hits that really deserve a mention include Hey Shona from ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ (2007) where he brought his Bengali roots to the song.

Woh Ladki Hai Kahan from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001) showcased the fun romantic side of Shaan making this one of his biggest hits.

Kuch To Hua Hai from ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ (2003) is one super cute and upbeat romantic number that was even picturised really well on screen. Shaan and Alka Yagnik gelled beautifully on this song.

My Dil Goes Mmmm from ‘Salaam Namaste’ (2005) is yet another good one that is totally a Shaan song and works best in his unique vocal style.

Shaan Live In UK

Saturday 11th April 2020
Indigo at The O2, London

Sunday 12th April 2020
De Montfort Hall, Leicester

Tickets available from usual agents.