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MUMBAI: Renowned music director Anandji Virji Shah, of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo, has been chosen for the prestigious sixth Akshaya Samman 2012. The veteran is being honoured for his outstanding lifetime contribution in the field of music.
The annual award instituted by the Akshaya Mohanty Foundation would present Anandji with a cash prize of one lakh rupees and a special letter of appreciation. Celebrating the birth anniversary of legendary composer, lyricist and writer Akshaya Monanty, the award ceremony is scheduled to be held on 12 October.
Last month, Shah was also named as the recipient of the prestigious ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award which carries a cash prize of Rs 5, 00,000 and a citation.
Kalyanji-Anandji, carved out a musical space for themselves in the era of superlative talents in films in the forms of – SD Burman, Hemant Kumar, Madan Mohan, Naushad, ShankarJaikishan and Ravi. Anandji who worked as his brother Kalyanji’s assistant, joined him as his partner and the duo went on to score for 250 films that included ‘Don’, ‘Qurbani’, ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Purab Aur Paschim’ and National award winning ‘Saraswatichandra’.
Shah was born on 2 March 1933 in Kundrodi village in Kutch Gujarat. His family migrated to Mumbai where he learnt music at a young age with his brother.’
The brothers discovered and promoted a number of music industry’s talents including Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Manhar Udhas, Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan, Sapna Mukherjee and Sunidhi Chauhan.
They also promoted poets and lyricists like Anand Bakshi, Gulshan Bawra, Qamar Jalalabadi, Anjaan, MG Hashmat and Verma Malik among others.
Kalyanji died in 2000 at the age of 72. Anandji continues to make music and nurture new talent in the film industry.
Akshaya Samman is given in recognition of lifetime contribution to music or literature. The previous recipients of the samman include Manna De, Gulzar, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Ilayaraja and Asha Bhosle. Like previous years, Akshaya music competition was held in four places across the state including Bhubaneswar, Angul, Berhampur and Balasore, while the final round was conducted in Bhubaneswar. Those selected in different categories will also be awarded during the Akshaya Utsav.
