Shamir Tandon is an Indian music composer and director who works in Indian cinema.[1] He made his debut as a Music Director with Raveena Tandon's 'Stumped' in 2003.[2] He is known for the movies like Page 3, Traffic Signal, Inkaar, Bal Ganesh, Mission Istaanbul and Corporate. He has made singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Jagjit Singh and Manna Dey sing to his tunes.[2] He also written and composed music for Sachin Tendulkar's singing debut in 2017 with the 'Cricket Wali Beat' song in collaboration with singer Sonu Nigam.[3][4] He is also the founding managing director at 'Music Boutique'[5][6][7] He has created an anti-piracy song titled 'Salaami ho jaye' to spread awareness about intellectual property rights which was released on the occasion of World Intellectual Day.[8]

Shamir Tandon
Born
NationalityIndian
Other namesShameer Tandon
Occupations
Years active2003–present
Websitewww.shamirtandon.com

Early life

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Shamir Tandon was born into a middle-class Hindu family located in Mumbai, Maharashtra and lost his parents early in life. He completed his cost accountancy and MBA and then entered the corporate world where he last worked for EMI Virgin Group.[9]

Career

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Shamir Tandon with an MBA in Cost Accounting from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies started his career as a merchant banker with firms like Kotak Mahindra and then Birla Global which was then followed by a couple of years at Plus Channel.[10][11][12]

He then joined Virgin EMI, as a marketing manager where he played a key role in marketing and distributing global acts like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra to Norah Jones, Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue.[10][13]

Tandon was involved in coordinating performances of internationally acclaimed bands such as Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, MLTR, and Richard Clayderman in India. Over the course of his nine-year tenure, he progressed from the position of Marketing Manager to the CEO of Virgin EMI Indian Subcontinent.[11][14]

Tandon is the founder and managing director of a brand solutions company called Music Boutique.[15]

Tandon also collaborated with Spotify for a podcast titled "De Taali - Life of a Transgender", which was the number one podcast on Spotify globally within a week of its release and remained the same for almost four months.[16]

Tandon has composed over 150 commercial jingles for prominent companies including Ambuja Cement, Idea, Big Bazaar, ICICI, Pepsi, Samsonite, SBI, LIC, Airtel, LG and JK Tyre.[10][17]

Shamir curated the world's first transgender band, 6 Pack Band. The band was launched by Sonu Nigam. Apart from him, the band has also collaborated with stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.[18] The band’s goal for acceptance was also met internationally when they won the Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion Award in 2016, while also becoming the first-ever South Asian band to perform on the stage of the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity in 2017.[16][19]

Shamir went on to curate the 'isspeshal' 6 Pack Band 2.0 consists of children with special needs in the mental health space. The collaborations included celebrities such Rani Mukherji, Tiger Shroff, Mika Singh, Vishal Dadlani, Neha Kakkar & other celebrities including Maniesh Paul, Divyanka Tripathi, Nakuul Mehta, Rithvik Dhanjani, Rannvijay Singha, Anusha Dandekar. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Karan Kundra & RJ Malishka.[20][16]

Music experience

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Shamir Tandon entered Bollywood with the film Page 3. He composed music for Madhur Bhandarkar's acclaimed movies Corporate and Traffic Signal.[21] Tandon collaborated with Shemaroo for the Bal Ganesh series [22] and worked with Sudhir Mishra on Inkaar and the recent film Afwaah.[23]

His collaborations include filmmakers such as Balaji for Ragini MMS, UTV Disney for Pizza, Ashtvinayak for Superstar, Sony Pictures for Piku, Viacom 18 for Inkaar, Sangeet Sivan for Click, Sanjay Gupta for Acid Factory, Percept Sahara for Jail, Sanjay Leela Bhansali for My Friend Pinto.[24]

His non-film music work includes a composition for Asha Bhosale's album Asha and Friends released in 2006 which also featured the vocals of Sanjay Dutt,[25] Urmila Matondkar,[26] Bret Lee etc.[27] Tandon did a composition of a popular cricket-themed song, featuring the voice of Sachin Tendulkar & Sonu Nigam.[28]

In 2012, Shamir in collaboration with Flipkart India created an anti-piracy song to spread awareness about intellectual property rights featuring Sonu Nigam, Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Mohit Chauhan, Shaan, Kailash Kher and Zanai Bhosle.[8][29]

He recently collaborated with Sudhir Mishra for his mystery thriller film Afwaah. The film starred Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bhumi Pednekar and Sumeet Vyas in lead roles.[23]

Filmography and discography

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Films
Year Title Language Notes
2003 Stumped Hindi [30]
2004 Rakht Hindi
2005 Page 3 Hindi [31]
2006 Corporate Hindi [32]
2007 Traffic Signal Hindi [33]
2008 Mission Istaanbul Hindi
2009 Jail Hindi [21]
2009 Bal Ganesh 2 Hindi [22]
2011 Ragini MMS 2 Hindi
2013 Inkaar Hindi [34]
2015 Piku Hindi
2017 Bank Chor Hindi
2018 Welcome To New York Hindi [35]
2019 Khamoshi Hindi
2019 The Body Hindi
2019 Marudhar Express Hindi
Non-Film
Year Title Notes
2006 Asha & Friends [27]
2014 Zaroori Tha
2016 6 Pack Band [16]
2017 Sachin's Cricket Wali Beat feat. Sonu Nigam [28]
2018 6 Pack Band 2.0 [20]
2021 Tips Rewind
2021 Heartbeat

References

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  1. ^ "SHAMIR TANDON". Times of India.
  2. ^ a b "Shamir Tandon now wants fun films". Hindustan Times. 22 May 2008.
  3. ^ "Music director Shamir Tandon shares experience working with Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in 'Cricket Wali Beat' song". theprint.in. 18 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Music director Shamir Tandon shares experience working with Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in 'Cricket Wali Beat' song". ANI News. 18 May 2023.
  5. ^ "ARTIST, CURATOR CONSULTANT FOUNDER MD - MUSIC BOUTIQUE". www.brandsandentertainment.com.
  6. ^ "JetSynthesys' Music Boutique New Single 'Dhadkane' By Sufi-Pop Singer Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Features The Beautiful City Of Los Angeles". www.koimoi.com. 11 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Change perceptions towards transgenders: 6 Pack Band curator Shameer Tandon". Indian Express. 13 July 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Shamir Tandon set to launch anti-piracy song". Hindustan Times. 26 April 2012.
  9. ^ "In conversation with Shamir Tandon – Score Short Reads". www.highonscore.com. 4 August 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Bollywood throws up interesting storylines". Economic Times. 10 November 2009.
  11. ^ a b "SHAMIR TANDON: MAKING MUSIC & INNOVATIONS!". www.thedailyeye.info. 20 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Interview - 20 Jun 2009 17:10 - By AnitaIyer. Shamir Tandon - "I feel let down as my songs are never played in autos or night clubs because they lack fast tempo"". www.radioandmusic.com. 20 June 2009.
  13. ^ "A Rendezvous with Music Maestro Shamir Tandon". www.khabarexpress.com. 14 March 2008.
  14. ^ "What's wrong with India's music industry?". www.rediff.com. 5 September 2005.
  15. ^ "SHAMIR TANDON'S ENTERTAINMENT & MUSIC BOUTIQUE PRIVATE LIMITED". The Economic Times.
  16. ^ a b c d "6 Pack Band curator and composer Shamir Tandon looks back on their journey this pride month". Indulge Express. 23 June 2023.
  17. ^ "A Rendezvous with Music Maestro Shamir Tandon". www.khabarexpress.com. 14 March 2008.
  18. ^ "A new voice, a new beginning". The Hindu. 15 September 2016.
  19. ^ "Turning stigma to success". Asian Age. 3 March 2019.
  20. ^ a b "Karan Johar introduces India's first 'isspeshal' music band: 6-Pack Band 2.0". Hindustan Times. 27 April 2018.
  21. ^ a b "Sayali Bhagat does Chandni Bar style item number in Jail". Indian Express. 13 August 2009.
  22. ^ a b "Hat Trick!". Indian Express. 20 September 2009.
  23. ^ a b "There's paradigm shift in Hindi film music: Music composer Shamir Tandon". The Statesman. 26 June 2023.
  24. ^ "Shamir Tandon bats for Sanjay Bhansa". Times of India. 6 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Encore!". Mumbai Mirror. 3 January 2007.
  26. ^ "Hall of Frame". Mumbai Mirror. 14 January 2007.
  27. ^ a b "In tune with Asha". Tribune India.
  28. ^ a b "Music director Shamir Tandon shares experience working with Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in 'Cricket Wali Beat' song". The Print. 18 May 2023.
  29. ^ "A Song for the Sake of Music". Indian Express. 29 April 2012.
  30. ^ "'Stumped' by a forgettable experiment". www.rediff.com. 16 May 2003.
  31. ^ "Corporate's music is mellow". www.rediff.com. 29 May 2006.
  32. ^ "Corporate: Smart and gripping". www.rediff.com. 7 July 2006.
  33. ^ "Konkona did not want to do Traffic". www.rediff.com. 31 January 2007.
  34. ^ "Inkaar's Other Corporate Connection". www.rediff.com. 8 February 2013.
  35. ^ "Boundaries and Beyond". Indian Express. 23 February 2018.
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