Sanjay Dutt - The Singer and Rock Star

Sanjay Dutt and Asha Bhosle recording the song
"Aapke Dil Mein" for the volume "Asha & Friends Vol. 1"

"In fact I told Sanju that people should start calling him Music bhai." (Anand Raj Anand)

Sanjay Dutt is an excellent singer. For many years he has frequently sung himself in his movies, and nowadays he even gets offers other than film soundtracks. His swing number "Aapke Dil Mein" which he sung together with the living legend Asha Bhosle ("Asha & Friends Vol. 1") for example became a chartbuster in the beginning of 2007. Wanna listen?

Both his professional partners (Asha Bhosle, Bappi Lahiri) and his composers and musical directors (Shamir Tandon, Bappa Lahiri etc.) are full praise for Sanjay's voice, rhythm, expression and his great musical sense. Sanjay loves music and he's got the perfect feeling for it.

"His voice is so much like Kishoreda's (= Kishore Kumar). It has a masculine feel to it which is missing in many playback singers of today." (Asha Bhosle, October 20, 2006)

"Sanjay's voice is pretty unconventional for playback singing but the uniqueness of his voice has always attracted music composers." (Indiatimes Movies, December 5, 2007)


Sanjay Dutt loves music, especially rock, heavy metal and jazz, but even blues and soul. At school he had played percussions, now he's learning guitar, he is an excellent singer and loves playing DJ. He owns a piano, percussions and an e-guitar (Fender Stratocaster, Led Zeppelin Limited Edition). Adding to that, he is a terrific air guitar player, in such an extend that he even won a championship in the USA. His favourite musicians and bands include Walter Trout, Santana, Guns’n’Roses, Metallica, B B King, Albert Collins, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Doors, The Who and AC/DC.

The Filmfare 10/2005 wrote about 'Discman Sanju': "Sanjay Dutt is a total music freak and has a fabulous collection of CDs. And if there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to get him absolutely excited, it’s playing DJ. In fact, we hear he spends hours at the DJ’s console whenever he can at 'Enigma', the favoured party hole for apna industry." The Stardust 11/2006 proclaimed Sanjay as "DJ of the month" after he overtook the DJ console in the night club 'Poison' and made the house rock. He is indeed a rockstar... And a sample of his air guitar abilities he offered at his KBC performance in 2007.



Sanjay Dutt in Woodstock Villa

In the movie Woodstock Villa (2008) Sanjay Dutt, together with the band Aryans, does the clip "Kyun" which turns out to be the first rock video ever in a Hindi film.

Rockstar Dutt! (The Times of India, July 5, 2007)
Sanju, the rock star (The Times of India, April 21, 2008)
Dutt's the way to rock! (The Times of India, April 23, 2008)

"Sanju baba is the real rock star in this song ('Kyun' in Woodstock Villa). It was a delight to see Sanju strum the guitar like a real rock star. He is a superb drummer and playing the guitar comes naturally to him too. He has the perfect sense of timing, whenever he plays a chord, it is easy to guess his fondness for the instrument. He is very fond of rock music. On the sets, during the shoots, he would listen to different compositions and discuss jamming sessions with us. He is a rocker himself. When we shot the song, he was high on the success of Munna Bhai and it is easy to see that spunk in him. What I really liked about working with him was his pro rock body language. He holds the guitar in a way that you know he is a man who truly loves rock." (DJ Narain of Aryans, Times of India, April 21, 2008)


Film Soundtracks with Sanjay Dutt

Khoobsurat ("Aye Shivani")
Haseena Maan Jaayegi ("Sharmana Chod Dal")
Chal Mere Bhai ("Chal Mere Bhai")
Kaante ("Rama Re" and "Chhod Na Re")
Munnabhai MBBS (spoken sequences in "M Bole To" and "Apun Jaise Tapori")
Plan ("Aim Kaim")
Musafir ("Tez Dhaar")
Home Delivery* ("Maya")
Shabd (spoken sequences in "Khoya Khoya" and "Bolo To")
Zinda ("Kabhi Muskura Ke", spoken sequences in "Yeh Hai Meri Kahani")
Lage Raho Munnabhai (spoken sequences in "Samjho Ho Hi Gaya")
Dus Kahaniyaan (recitation of the Gulzar poem "Chaal Chalo Tum"; see below)
Mehbooba (spoken sequences in "Babuji")
C Kkompany ("C Kkompany", "C Kkompany R-Mix")
EMI ("EMI", "EMI - Remix")

*In the film Home Delivery Sanju is not acting, there are just sequences from his song "Maya" to be heard.
That's the reason for the "Thank you Sanjay Dutt" in the credits.





"I really enjoy singing and playing the guitar. In fact, I'd love to do a film like 'Rock On'. But I don't think I'm ready to sing on stage. If you see I never perform at awards functions. I'm not comfortable doing it. I can't dance. But I like to sing. Yes, I do enjoy playback singing. And I've sung in films. But I can't sing live." (Sanjay Dutt, October 9, 2008)



Sanjay Dutt sings with Asha Bhosle: Asha & Friends Vol. 1 ("Aapke Dil Mein")
"When Ashaji called me and asked me to sing with her I almost fell off my chair" confessed Sanjay Dutt.
(No need, Sanju. Your duet with Ashaji is simply mind-blowing.)

It's obvious that Ashaji and Sanju had lots of fun doing "Aapke Dil Mein" which became a chartbuster in India, and Asha signalized that she would love to do another song with Sanju.
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Three songs for Alibaug...
Sanjay sang three songs by Bappa Lahiri and Aanchal for the White Feather Films production Alibaug: "Sun Toh Zara", then, together with Bappi Lahiri, "Raat Khamosh Hai", and finally a song together with Roop Kumar Rathod. A video for "Raat Khamosh Hai" was shot in the Mumbai Hard Rock Café with Bappi playing piano, his son Bappa at the drums and Sanjay at the guitar.

At first, Sanjay was shy about matching chords with the veteran composer-singer. "But soon they hit it off like two music-minded people always do. It was great fun for all of to watch them sing together," says Gupta. Bappi Lahiri added, "Sanju Baba has always been my favourite. He has featured in some of my biggest hits like 'Tamma tamma'. But this was a different territory. I not only sang 'Raat khamosh hai' with him, we also shot the music video together." How was Sanju as a singer? "Ussnein sambhaal liya (he managed fine)," he replied.

After managing the intricate notes of "Raat Khamosh Hai" Sanjay seems to seriously consider cutting an album on his own. (I would be more than happy to hear it, Sanju!)
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Interview with Bappi and Bappa Lahiri

P.S. Unfortunately it looks like we will never be allowed to hear Sanjay's Alibaug songs. After he walked out of the film, his songs will be deleted too, and it doesn't look like Gupta even considers giving them to us at least as bonus tracks on the soundtrack. Too bad!





Sanjay Dutt recites Gulzar
"When there is a Sanjay Gupta film, how can Sanjay Dutt not come behind the mike for the music album? Though he has not sung a song, he compensates for that by reciting 'Chaal Chalo Tum' for Rise and Fall. Taking a listener through life being a game of chess, Sanjay Dutt gets philosophical as he goes through a pensive journey." (Indiainfo, November 1, 2007)

Sanjay Dutt reciting "Chaal Chalo Tum"


Sanjay Dutt sings for Aladin and the Mystery of the Lamp
Sujoy Ghosh makes full use of the fact that two of the leading men in his forthcoming film are excellent singers: Vishal-Shekhar have recorded several songs with Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt for Aladin.
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Sanjay Dutt sings for Chatur Singh - Two Star
Even for Ajay Chandok's comedy about a bungling two star police inspector Sanjay has sung a song again.
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"Gunda Rap": Sanjay Dutt and Anand Raj Anand planning a music album
Sanjay Dutt is now all set to come up with a full-fledged music album, Gunda Rap, with his good friend and music director Anand Raj Anand. Anand confirmed and said, "Yes I had this concept of Gunda Rap and it would not have suited anyone else except Sanju. So, I made him listen to a couple of songs and he loved it. Though he has verbally agreed to do the album and is very kicked about it, we have yet to work out the details. Sanju has a unique style of understanding the melody and then singing it in his own style. There is a unique simplicity in his voice and that reflects in his songs. I love the way he uses his temperament in his songs. I have made all these melodies especially for Sanju." Anand Raj Anand and Sanjay Dutt have earlier worked together for songs like "Rama Re" from Kaante, "Aim Kaim" in Plan and the song for C Kkompany.
Anand is quite impressed with Sanjay and the way he understands the nuances and intricacies of music: "Sanjay has a great sense of music. The way he reacts to a song shows how much he understands the minuteness of instrumentation. It makes the music director very happy. One can discuss music with Sanjay for hours. He is very fond of music and listens to international bands. In fact I told him that people should start calling him Music bhai." (February 2007)
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