By Joginder Tuteja
Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Composers Vishal and Shekhar were pleasantly surprised when they opened the morning newspapers to find A.R. Rahman appreciating their work. Not just that, the Oscar winner mentioned Michael Jackson as the only other artist whose work he liked.

“Frankly speaking, I am speechless,” states Vishal Dadlani, who couldn’t believe when informed about acknowledgment coming from none other than maestro Rahman himself. “One can just bow down and say thanks when someone of the stature of Rahman appreciates your work.”

In a story published in a national newspaper (The Hindu) June 12, Rahman had stated that the songs from Naushad’s “Mughal-e-Azam” were his all-time favourite and he admired Michael Jackson and Vishal-Shekhar’s work.

“I guess we are doing something right at the least,” said Shekhar Ravjiani. “Mentioning only our names and that too in the same vein as Michael Jackson is a surreal thought by itself. It’s a beautiful feeling.”

Starting with “Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi” (1999) and making it big with “Jhankaar Beats” (2003), Vishal and Shekhar have given memorable scores in films like “Dostana”, “Bachna Ae Haseeno”, “Tashan”, “Om Shanti Om”, “Dus” and “Musafir” over the years.

So excited was Shekhar on reading the piece that he immediately called up his wife. “For something as big as this, you are bound to call up your loved one. I read out the entire piece to her and even she was thrilled to bits. I have met Rahman at a studio earlier and he came across as a very sweet man. Both Vishal and I love his music.”

Said Vishal: “Everyone knows that we are Rahman’s biggest fans ever. He is an inspiration for every single musician out there. That is why good words coming from a person like him who had made such a huge name worldwide is something that would be cherished forever by us. We wish to continue delivering some good music and make him feel proud about our work.”

Well, Rahman would certainly be watching out for the upcoming soundtracks of Vishal and Shekhar, like Sujoy Ghosh’s “Aladdin”, UTV Motion Pictures’ animation flick “Arjun”, Siddharth Anand’s next for producer Sajid Nadiadwala and debut venture of filmmaker Punit Malhotra for Dharma Productions.