The maverick musical genius, Himesh Reshammiya, enters his 50th year today. TV producer, composer, singer, actor, reality show mentor and judge, de facto film producer, film writer and music producer – Himesh’s creative cap is crowded indeed.
Here we look at 12 lesser-known facts about Himesh Reshammiya:
1. Started career mid-90s
Himesh Reshammiya appeared on the entertainment scene as a producer and title-song composer of television serials in the mid-‘90s. His debut serial, Andaz (1995), featured the legendary Rajendra Kumar in his TV debut.
2. Treats all artists ethically
The composer always believed in ethical treatment to his artistes and technicians. An artiste who prefers to be anonymous, told me, “When I did not collect my remuneration cheque from his office, there were several calls, including one from Himesh himself. He then actually sent the cheque over to my house! No one else in this industry does this!”
3. Salman Khan gave him first big break
Himesh’s father, composer and musician Vipin Reshammiya, originally planned a film with Salman Khan that did not take off. But Salman loved Himesh’s music and gave him a break in his first home production, with the title-track of Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya.
4. Introducing new talent
From the beginning of his career, Himesh followed—and still follows— the dictum of introducing many new voices and mentoring others. As per Himesh in 2011, “That’s the right thing to do and it keeps my music fresh. Salman Khan, my mentor, who is everything for me, also advised me to do this. Salim Khan-sir, his father, tells me that I must give back to the industry too, since it has given me so much to me.”
5. Instrumental in launching Deepika Padukone’s career
Farah Khan watched Deepika Padukone in Himesh’s record-breaking debut album Aap Ka Suroor (2006)’s music video, ‘Naam hai tera tera’ and decided to introduce her on screen in Om Shanti Om. Later, a grateful Deepika even told me that she would gladly be Himesh’s heroine if he ever wanted her in his films as actor!
5. Not worked with top heroines because…
But Himesh had a unique reason for not working with top heroines as a star. He said, “If my film with them does not work, log meri band bajaa denge (I will get all the flak) for spoiling their reputation!”
6. Unafraid to take risks
Himesh calculates his career with masterly precision. “I never hesitated to rock my career boat every few years, despite warnings from well-wishers. The first move was a shift from TV and my entry into films as composer in 1998 at a time when big names were ruling. Then I turned singer in 2005 with Aashiq Banaya Aapne, an actor with my film Aap Kaa Surroor in 2007 and so on. God and my parents always blessed me—my first serial and song, my first film song as composer, my first as singer and my first film as actor were all major hits!”
7. Worked with most A-listers
Himesh was considered among the topmost names alongside Pritam for many years though he never worked with A-list heroes like Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan or elite filmmakers like Yash and Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani and the prolific and musical Mahesh Bhatt.
8. Started own music label
He became the first Hindi film composer to start his own music label, HR Muzik, in 2010 with an aim to also discover fresh musical talent.
9. Launched his father as composer
In 2014, Himesh decided to launch his father as a composer with his own starring vehicle, Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh. “Daddy has sacrificed his career for me and I am repaying my karz (debt) to him by launching him at a time when fathers launch sons! And let me promise you one thing —his music is going to be younger than even mine!” the composer told me then. The film, sadly, did not take off.
10. International album with Li’l Wayne
In 2014, another project that never took off was a 15-song international album with Universal Music, named @Da Edge. Himesh had written, composed and sung 15 English songs, and to create them with authenticity, he lived in Europe for months. He was to collaborate with American rapper Li’l Wayne and musician-DJ Edward Maya on it.
11. Multi-faceted personality
Himesh’s prolific talent and work can be gauged by the fact that when he quit outside films for a while to become a “package deal” as composer-singer-actor, his panic-stricken friend and composer, Pritam, begged him not to stop talking outside films as too many assignments would then come to the latter’s doorstep!
12. Energetic on tours
Himesh’s energy worked at another level altogether. In London for a concert at Wembley in 2006, he landed on the morning of the event after a grueling 8-hour flight, met the Indian media who had been flown there as well as the U.K. Fourth Estate in the late afternoon, killed it at the concert between 7 and 10 p.m., was present at the dinner that went on past midnight and boarded a bus at 7 the next morning for the next destination of his concert tour!
