Shitala Pandey, better known as Sameer Anjaan, is an Indian lyricist, writing songs such as "Mujhe Raat Din Bas", predominantly in
Hindi language films. He is a
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
holder for writing the most songs. He was awarded this honor on 17 February 2016.
His father is the famed Hindi lyricist, Lalji "Anjaan" Pandey. He has won three
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
.
Biography
Sameer, officially named sameer Pandey, but commonly known by his nickname Rajan, was born near
Banaras,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. He earned a
Master of Commerce degree at the
Banaras Hindu University in
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
, and started a new position as a
bank officer at the
Central Bank of India.
However, a few days after joining, he left the job because he "knew the bank was not my world".
To pursue a career as a lyricist, he moved to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
in 1980.
Career
Sameer started his career as a lyricist in 1983 with the film ''Bekhabar'' (1983).
[https://lyricsraag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Filmfare-Awards-Winners-From-1953-to-2018.pdf ] The first film song he recorded was "Maar Ke Kataaree Mar Jaibe" for the Bhojpuri film ''Bairi Saawan'' (1984) sung by
Suresh Wadkar and
Preeti Sagar. In 1990, he came into prominence with songs in films such as ''
Dil'' and ''
Aashiqui''. He won his first
Filmfare Award for the song "Nazar Ke Saamne" in the latter. In the following decades he emerged as a leading lyricist in
Hindi films, writing the lyrics for over 500 films (4,000 songs).
According to Sameer, his inspirations have been lyricists
Majrooh Sultanpuri
Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in India's Hindi language film industry. He wrote Hindustani lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks.
He was ...
and
Anand Bakshi, and his father,
Anjaan. He has said on several occasions, "Whatever I am today is only because of my father."
Sameer won two additional
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
in 1993 and 1994; one for the song "Teri Umeed Tera Intezaar" from the movie ''
Deewana'', and the second for the song "Ghunghat Ki Aad" from ''
Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke''. In 1998, he won
Zee Cine Award for "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" from ''
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' () also known as ''KKHH'' or ''K2H2'', is a 1998 Indian Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly ...
''. Some of his most successful songs include songs in films like ''
Beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labi ...
'', ''
Saajan'', ''
Raja Babu'', ''
Coolie No. 1'', ''
Raja Hindustani'', ''
Anjaam'', ''
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' () also known as ''KKHH'' or ''K2H2'', is a 1998 Indian Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly ...
'', ''
Fiza'', ''
Dhadkan'', ''
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'', ''
Devdas'', ''
Raaz'', ''
Dil Hai Tumhaara'', ''
Ishq Vishk'', ''
Dil Maange More'', ''
Tere Naam'', ''
Asambhav
''Asambhav'' (translation: Impossible) is a 2004 Indian Hindi action thriller film directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by Gulshan Rai under Trimurti Films banner. It was released on 23 July 2004, starring Arjun Rampal, Naseeruddin Shah and ...
'', ''
Fida'', ''
No Entry'', ''
Aksar'', ''
Dhoom 2'', ''
Saawariya'', ''
Race'', ''
Damadamm!'', ''
Housefull 2'', ''
Rowdy Rathore'', ''
Son of Sardaar
''Son of Sardaar'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Ashwni Dhir. A remake of 2010 Telugu film '' Maryada Ramanna'' directed by S. S. Rajamouli, it featured Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha and Juhi ...
'', ''
Dabangg 2'', ''
Balmaa
''Balmaa'' is a 1993 Hindi-language film directed by Lawrence D'Souza. It stars Avinash Wadhavan, Ayesha Jhulka, Saeed Jaffrey, Anjana Mumtaz in pivotal roles. ''Balmaa'' is a not proper Hindi word, but in India people often use the word ...
, and more.
The music composer duo
Nadeem-Shravan chose Sameer as their lyricist for most of their works
Sameerauthored more than 950 under the music composition of famous music composer duo
Anand–Milind. Sameer has also worked with other music directors like
Rajesh Roshan,
Uttam Singh,
Ilayaraja,
Jatin–Lalit
Jatin–Lalit are an Indian film music director duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his brother Lalit Pandit. They have written the widely popular scores for films such as '' Yaara Dildara'', '' Khiladi'', '' Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar'', '' Kabhi H ...
, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen, Nikhil-Vinay,
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film in ...
,
Aadesh Shrivastava,
Anand Raj Anand,
Viju Shah,
A. R. Rahman,
Vidyasagar
Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to:
People
* Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-)
*Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar
*Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director
*C ...
,
Himesh Reshammiya,
Ismail Darbar,
Bappi Lahiri
Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...
,
Vishal–Shekhar,
Monty Sharma,
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy,
Sajid–Wajid,
Pritam,
Sanjeev-Darshan,
Sachin–Jigar, and
Adnan Sami.
Personal life
Sameer is married to Anita Pandey and the couple have three children: daughters Sanchita and Suchita, and son Siddhesh.
[ His mother, Indira Pandey, lives with them.][
A biography, ''Sameer – A Way with Words'' by ]Derek Bose
Derek Bose (born 15 September 1956 in Calcutta) is an author and journalist who specializes in Bollywood and other aspects of India's film industry. An alumnus of St Columba's, New Delhi, he has held senior editorial positions with India's premi ...
, was released by Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...
in 2007.
Filmography as lyricist
Due to Sameer's large number of works, this is an incomplete list.
Albums
Awards and nominations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sameer Anjaan
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century Indian composers
21st-century Indian composers
Banaras Hindu University alumni
Indian lyricists
Musicians from Varanasi