Salim- Sulaiman’s special tribute to Rajesh Khanna!

Nearing the completion of their “dream project” — Bollywood Musical — music composers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant are delighted to showcase a glimpse of the same at the upcoming Global Music Indian Academy (GIMA) awards next week. The duo will do a stage show with a fully-equipped orchestra and a choir along with 30 kids who will be singing the old-time hits of Rajesh Khana, like Yeh Shaam Mastani, Zindagi Ka Safar.

Bollywood Musical comes as a long overdue project for the brothers as they had been mulling over the idea for years now. “It’s going to be a fashionable presentation of the classic hits of ’60s and ’70s — the enchanting tunes of RD Burman, Shankar Jaikishan and Madan Mohan — in an orchestral format,” reveals Salim. The album, he says, will be done by the end of October. “We shall do extensive city tours to promote it later. But for now, we thought of doing a preview at GIMA… along with a tribute show to late actor Rajesh Khanna.”

The music-makers are presently on a work-vacation in Goa where they are shooting for a video for the song Tujhpe Fida from the already released film Heroine.

“The song became so popular that we thought even though we couldn’t fit in the film, we should do a video. And the fact that the film has been doing so well and has received much critical acclaim, only urged us all the more,” states Salim adding that Goa made for a fitting venue for shooting this “club style love song.” The video is being shot at Casino Royale in Goa and will feature Salim, Sulaiman, along with singers Benny Dayal and Shraddha Pandit.

Salim was recently seen walking the ramp for fashion designer JJ Vallaya’s show at the bridal week. Ask him if we would be seeing him making an acting debut soon, like singer Shaan, and he says, “At the moment I’m just too occupied with music — there’s so much happening! However, I’m open to the idea. If a director calls me up and puts forth a great offer, I shall certainly take it up.”