Himesh Reshammiya‘s most unforgettable songs as a playback singer

The hit-machine of 2000s, Himesh Reshammiya completed two decades of composing music in Bollywood in 2018. Hitting the bullseye with his very first film ‘Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya’, Himesh has cemented a legacy on a solid bank of stellar compositions and tens of hit songs crooned by him. Famous for his initial nasal twang, let’s have a look at some of the most popular songs that were sung by Himesh Reshammiya.

Unleashing his spell on Bollywood, Himesh took to the microphone as a leading vocal singer in 2005 film ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’. Picturized on the then ‘serial kisser’ Emraan Hashmi and Tanushree Dutta, the film’s title track was a sensual number that enthralled the entire nation. The soundtrack featured more chartbusters, particularly ‘Dil Nashin Dil Nashin’ and ‘Mar Jaawan Mit Jaawan’, but Himesh’s ‘Aap Ki Kashish’ emerged as another winner from the album.

A lesser known fact about Himesh’s record as a music composer is that he composed music for 15 films in the year 2005, including diverse films like ‘Iqbal’, ‘Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!’ and ‘Kyon Ki’, but only ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’ boasted of his vocals. Springing back like a true star, Himesh delivered 13 film albums in 2006, out of which 12 had at least a single song sung by him. Producers had realised his market potential and Himesh did not disappoint. Emraan Hashmi’s ‘Aksar’ became the first musical hit of the year, and ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’ turned into the dance anthem for the new year. While ‘Lagi Lagi’ was pictured on Udita Goswami and Emraan and was an entirely sensual number.

Riding the tide of his success as a playback singer and music composer, Himesh came out with his first album as a solo artist. The album was named ‘Aap Kaa Surroor’ and Himesh’s first film as a leading actor was named after it due to its overwhelming success. Giving a face to the now notorious nasal twang, Himesh donned a cap and featured in all of the album’s music videos. ‘Tera Surroor’ was the first of the videos to be released from this album and it featured actress Minissha Lamba as a violinist.

Moving away from his the more regular style of songs that he was singing back then, Himesh Reshammiya scored and sang multiple songs for Abhay Deol and Soha Ali Khan starrer ‘Ahista Ahista’ and nailed the soulful title track. The song was equally wistful and melodious as Imtiaz Ali’s writing was for this Shivam Nair directorial.

Bringing back the legendary comic trio of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty back on screen after their earlier blockbuster outings in ‘Hera Pheri’ and ‘Awara Paagal Deewana’, Neeraj Vora’s ‘Phir Hera Pheri’ also maintained the earlier films’ reputation for having equally entertaining soundtracks. Himesh was in the middle of his superb run in 2006, when he sang the polar opposite numbers ‘Mujhko Yaad Sataye Teri’ and ‘Ae Meri Zohrajabeen’ for the film. The beats infused with desi bass in the prior number made ‘Yaad Sataye Teri’ stand out and ‘Ae Meri Zohrajabeen’ remains a favourite with brass bands at weddings even today.

What stands out even today in this mostly-forgotten film in the career of Emraan Hashmi is definitely Himesh Reshammiya. While Emraan’s co-stars Geeta Basra and Ashmit Patel are hardly visible in films these days, but this dance number is a complete winner. Accompanied by Tulsi Kumar on the vocals, Himesh sang and composed this fun nightclub number that set up Emraan and Geeta’s chemistry in the film.