Mumbai, Aug 31 (IANS) Music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman is paying a tribute to the late Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain along with fellow music composer Shankar Mahadevan. The team is set to release the song ‘Shringaar’ as a part of the 6th season of Salim-Sulaiman’s music initiative ‘Bhoomi’.

‘Shringaar’ is a classical pop song, and features the vocals of Shankar Mahadevan. It offers a heartfelt homage to their mentor, the late Zakir Hussain. Salim-Sulaiman wanted to pair the voice of Shankar Mahadevan with the artistry of Ustad Zakir Hussain. The universe, however, had other plans, as Ustad Zakir Hussain passed away in December 2024.

Talking about the song, Salim Merchant said, “The idea to create this song with Zakir bhai and Shankar bhai happened at the end of October. In November, Sulaiman and I had the basic melody. Shankar loved it, but he advised me not to send it to Zakir bhai as he wasn’t keeping well. On December 15th, we all lost him. I had lost my musical father. Song left aside, it was a huge loss for me and the music fraternity. Since we had decided to do the track with him, it was only natural that we complete it as a tribute”.

‘Shringaar’ tells the story of a person expressing to his beloved that her natural beauty needs no adornment.

Shankar Mahadevan reflected that legends like Ustad Zakir Hussain were “walking encyclopedias”. From performing with him on stage to touring the world together, Shankar said one didn’t just learn music in his presence, one learned humility, camaraderie, teamwork, and the art of spreading positivity through music.

He said, “‘Shringaar’ is a tribute to someone who is our favourite to me, to Salim-Sulaiman, to the entire musical fraternity. This is a collective musical tribute we have given him. I am sure that when the song plays, he will be looking down on us from above, smiling, blessing us, and giving us all the good wishes he always did”.

The making of the song held its own moments of magic. Shankar’s recording was so spontaneous that it barely needed retakes.

Salim shared, “We left Shankar just to explore the classical part and he actually sang the whole thing in one take! It was so mesmerising that it literally felt like Maa Saraswati had come and blessed us. We actually captured Shankar live, something that normally doesn’t happen. You have to hear it for yourself”.

The song is set to be released on September 1, 2025.

–IANS

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