1999–2002: Beginnings in Bollywood Sujal Maheshwari & Vishal Dadlani, along with his Pentagram teammates Shiraz Bhattacharya and Samrat, made his Bollywood debut by composing tracks for Tyger Productions' film
Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999) including the hit songs "Woh Pehli Baar" and "Musu Musu Hasi". Coincidentally, Dadlani's childhood friend Shekhar Ravjiani also composed a few tracks on the same film including "Dil Se Mere Door Na Jana". The two childhood friends met in the studio while recording songs for the film where they decided to form a team together to write music for Bollywood films. They formed the musical duo Vishal-Shekhar. Their first composition in Bollywood as a duo was as guest composers for Padam Kumar's
Champion, where they composed two tracks "Aisa Champion Kahan" and "Lelo Lelo". They would compose one song each as guest composers for
Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001) and
Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai (2001). Vishal-Shekhar's first full soundtrack was
Vadh (2002).
2003–2007: Breakthrough Vishal-Shekhar first got noticed in Bollywood with
Jhankaar Beats (2003), which included hit songs such as "Tu Aashiqui Hai" and "Suno Na". They won the
Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for
Jhankaar Beats. Recognized for introducing
techno music in Bollywood, Vishal-Shekhar continued further success after
Jhankaar Beats with soundtracks like
Supari (2003) and
Musafir (2004). "Allah Ke Bande" from
Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II also became a success during this period. Vishal-Shekhar began receiving offers from bigger banners and 2005 was hugely successful for the duo as they composed the songs for three films:
Dus,
Salaam Namaste and
Bluffmaster.
Dus earned them their first nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. The duo would continue to write music for successful soundtracks during this period including
Golmaal: Fun Unlimited (2006),
I See You (2006),
Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007) and
Om Shanti Om (2007).
Om Shanti Om which had the hit songs "Main Agar Kahoon", "Dard-e-Disco" and "Aankhon Mein Teri" earned the duo their second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. They won the Best Composer Award at the
2nd Asian Film Awards for
Om Shanti Om.
2008–present: Mainstream success 2008 was the year when Vishal-Shekhar established themselves among the leading music directors in Bollywood with extremely popular soundtracks for
Tashan,
De Taali,
Bachna Ae Haseeno and
Dostana.
Tashan had the hit song "Falak Tak Chal Saath Mere" while
Bachna Ae Haseeno had several hit tracks including "Khuda Jaane" and "Lucky Boy" and
Dostana had the evergreen item number "Desi Girl".
Dostana earned them their third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. After only one release with
Aladin in 2009, Vishal-Shekhar continued their success in 2010. The year included
Anjaana Anjaani which had the hit songs "Tujhe Bhula Diya" and "Aas Paas Khuda" and
I Hate Luv Storys which had evergreen successes with "Bin Tere" and "Bahara". Both these films earned them two nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director at the
56th Filmfare Awards. The same year also included
Tees Maar Khan, which included the hit item number "
Sheila Ki Jawani", one of the two most popular Bollywood songs of 2010 along with "
Munni Badnaam Hui". Vishal-Shekhar's success continued with two major soundtracks in 2011 for
Ra.One and
The Dirty Picture.
Ra.One included the hit songs "Dildaara" and "
Chammak Challo", which featured internationally renowned singer
Akon on vocals while
The Dirty Picture had the hit item number "Ooh La La" and "Ishq Sufiana". They earned their sixth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for
Ra.One. The following year, Vishal-Shekhar composed music for
Karan Johar's
Student of the Year (2012), which included hit tracks such as "Ishq Wala Love" and "The Disco Song", earning the duo their seventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Vishal-Shekhar continued their association with
Red Chillies Entertainment after
Om Shanti Om with successful soundtracks for
Chennai Express (2013) and
Happy New Year (2014), earning their eighth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for the former. They continued their success in 2016 with
Sultan and
Befikre.
Sultan had the hit song "Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai" and "
Jag Ghoomeya" while
Befikre had the huge hit song "
Nashe Si Chad Gayi" which went viral and was the first Indian song to clock 300 million views and then 400 million views on YouTube. It currently has over 600 million views. During the same year, the duo collaborated with British rock band
The Vamps for the single "
Beliya".
Sultan earned them their ninth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Vishal–Shekhar's music for
Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) was a huge success with "
Dil Diyan Gallan" and "Swag Se Swagat", with the latter song becoming the fastest song in the world to hit 100 million views and clocked up to 650 million views on YouTube in its first year. Vishal-Shekhar have continued their good run with soundtracks for
Student of the Year 2 (2019),
Bharat (2019) and
Pathaan (2023), earning their tenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for
Bharat. == Awards and nominations ==