Vishal Dadlani

Biography

Vishal Dadlani (born 28 June 1973) is an Indian singer, songwriter, and music composer. He is best known for being one half of the musical duo Vishal–Shekhar and the lead vocalist of rock band Pentagram.
Dadlani has also maintained a successful solo career and has collaborated with many international artists like Imogen Heap, Diplo, the Vamps, and Akon.

Early life

Dadlani was born and raised in a Sindhi Hindu family in the Bandra neighbourhood of Bombay, Maharashtra. He went to Hill Grange High School in the Cumbala Hill neighbourhood of South Bombay, and subsequently attended the Jai Hind College of the University of Mumbai for two years (1989–90), after which he went to H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, both in Churchgate. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in commerce.

Career

Dadlani's musical journey started in 1994 with the Mumbai-based electronica/indie-rock band Pentagram, which he fronted. Pentagram has gained recognition as one of the pioneers of Indian independent music.
While active with the band, he found fame as a Bollywood music composer, singer, and lyricist, working on soundtracks of movies like Jhankaar Beats (2003), Bluffmaster! (2005), and Salaam Namaste (2005).

Collaboration with Shekhar

In 1999, Vishal–Shekhar, the Bollywood composing/producing and performing music duo, was formed. Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani have worked together on Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Marathi films. Their notable works include Jhankaar Beats (2003), Dus (2005), Bluffmaster (2005), I See You (2006), Om Shanti Om (2007), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Dostana (2008), Anjaana Anjaani (2010), Ra.One (2011), Student of the Year (2012), Chennai Express (2013), Bang Bang! (2014), Happy New Year (2014), Sultan (2016), and Befikre (2016). The duo has gained nationwide recognition, and today are credited with being amongst the architects of the modern Bollywood sound, having composed music for over 60 films, released over 300 songs, and performed over 1,000 shows worldwide. The two rose to prominence in 2003 when they wrote the score for the film, Jhankaar Beats, which included the song "Tu Aashiqui Hai". They won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for their work on the film.

Controversies

In the aftermath of the Panama Paper leaks, the names of Dadlani and some of his family members surfaced due to investments they made through his company Sunny Blessing Holding Inc. in the British Virgin Islands. Some of these transactions are currently under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate.
In 2016, he received strong opposition for criticizing the Jain monk Muni Tarun Sagar in a tweet. He was accused of hurting religious sentiments and several First information reports were filed against him, though the monk is said to not have taken the issue seriously. Dadlani later wrote an open letter, saying that the tweets had been his biggest mistake. He was reprimanded and fined by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the tweet.
In 2024, Dadlani again faced criticism following his reaction to an incident at Chandigarh Airport, where actress Kangana Ranaut was assaulted by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable. Dadlani publicly praised the constable and offered her a job. Subsequently, singer Sona Mohapatra criticized Dadlani in response to a tweet that referred to him as a "rare gem of Bollywood" for his actions. Mohapatra questioned his integrity, citing his association with Anu Malik, who had been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women in 2018.
In 2026, Dadlani again faced criticism over his tweets following his meeting with Safina Khan (journalist and vlogger) and an alleged ISI member. Some tweets of him trended on Twitter slamming him as he said to Richard Dawkins, "You're wrong. ISIS is geo-politically motivated. 'ISLAM' is what they are using to cover-up Western involvement."

Playback singing

Dadlani got his first break as a playback singer for other music directors when Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy approached him to sing "Kiss Of Love", for the movie Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007). His first released track was "Dhoom Again" for Dhoom 2 (2006) by music director Pritam, as suggested by Aditya Chopra.