Shaan: Wajid was someone who would always look out for a friend and support him

Wajid Khan of the composer duo Sajid-Wajid expired last evening. He had reportedly tested COVID-19 positive but died due to a cardiac arrest. The composer is fondly remembered by all in the music industry. Singer Shaan spoke to Bombay Times about his deep friendship with Wajid.
He shares, "I have so many memories about him. Don't know where to start. I have still not registered that he is no more.I guess it will seep in slowly. We would talk for hours and not about work or music only. He was like a brother and we would talk about life and talk about whatever situation we were in. We would play cricket together and we were great buddies. I remember the little things like how he got my kids to sing. He was like, 'Arre bacche gaa rahein hain? Chalo I should be the first to given them a song'. Wajid created a situation in his film Himmatwala (2013) and got my sons Soham and Shubh to sing 'Bum Pe Laat' with me. For any occasion, anything happened with us and he was always there."
Wajid had always maintained his friendship and love for Shaan. "Since 2010 Sajid-Wajid made sure they got me in most of their projects and he used to always say, 'Yaar, dost, dost ke liye nahi karenga toh kiske liye karega? We should always stay together and we should always watch each other's back'. Wajid was someone who would always look out for a friend and support him There was never any negative stuff with him, never any malice. He would always talk about how music should be pure and timeless, He would see what was trending, he would produce music differently and always would give preference to melody. I was one of the first ones who heard their Dabangg soundtrack," he reminisces, adding, "Wajid would never drink at parties and I used to say, 'Arre kya karenge, bore ho jayenge party mein' but he would hang out till the end enjoying the music. He has been there always for me and I have too many memories."
Shaan remembers that Wajid had changed after his father demise. "He used to miss his father a lot, ever since he lost him around 10 years ago. Post his death, Wajid had become very low. His father Sharafat Bhai, was 53 when he expired. He was a very renowned tabla wadak."
In the last few months Wajid had been unwell and Shaan mentions that he missed meeting him. "He was not able to speak much, so I was more in touch with his brother Sajid. And in the last few months he kept saying, 'Yeah, Wajid will be back home soon' and 'Phir miltein hain', 'We will catch up soon', 'Arre Chembur kaha aayega tu? Chembur mat aa'. And so, I didn't have a fair idea of the extent of his health issues. I didn't know that the infection had gotten so serious. During Eid I had called him, but he didnt take my call and Sajid bhai said, 'Shayad so raha hoga'. Sajid Bhai didn't let us know how serious it was. So we were very hopeful and very positive that it was all going to be okay. He was in the hospital and he got the infection there. He had a lung infection and a kidney infection. His operation had been successful but he had a relapse where his creatine levels were not under control. So he was under supervision and they were trying to get his infection out. And then COVID-19 came in and aggravated the situation."