Kalayanji, Anandji win BMI award

MUMBAI: The legendary Bollywood musician duo of Kalyanji-Anandji has become the first Indians to be honoured by the US-based Broadcasting Media Inc (BMI) that deals with copyright issues.

Bollywood's enduring composers have been given the award for their songs 'Ye mera dil' from 'Don' and 'Ae naujavan' from 'Apradh' that the band Black Eyed Peas used in their hit number 'Don't phunk with my heart'.

Black Eyed Peas won the Best Rapper award at the 2005 Grammies for the song. However, the band never got in touch with the music director but directly approached the music label 'Sa Re Ga Ma.'

The surviving member of the famous brothers, Anandji Virji Shah, has gone to Los Angeles for the award that will be given on Wednesday.  Kalyanji passed away in August 2000, leaving behind an everlasting legacy.

Known for evergreen melodies like 'Kasme vaade pyaar wafa sab' from 'Upkar' and 'Yaari hai iman mera' from 'Zanjeer', the famous duo has enchanted listeners through the decades.

Anandji was quoted as saying in a media report: "Of course I am happy. The award is important because it recognises and gives due credit to the original creators of the song. I hope this award creates an awareness about copyright issues in India, because so often songs in India are used without giving the original composer any credit or royalty for it."

It is going to be an emotional moment for the composer who says he is going to miss his brother Kalyanji on the occasion. "He was older than me and I used to feel safe under his guidance."