The news of music director Wajid Khan’s untimely demise early this morning (1st June) has sent shock waves in the film industry. The 42-year-old music director, who collaborated with brother Sajid to give memorable songs in such films as Dabangg, Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya,Grand Masti, Dabangg 2, Ek Tha Tiger, Rowdy Rathore, Housefull 2, Wanted, Partner and Dabangg 3, breathed his last at a hospital at Chembur in Bombay. Although he was suffering from kidney problems, the cause of his death was COVID-19.
Wajid had undergone kidney transplant a year back. He was doing well but developed complications recently, which needed him to be hospitalised. After Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital could not accommodate him, he was asked to shift to a hospital at Chembur. He contracted COVID-19 at the hospital, which claimed his life. Before that, he had been on ventilator for four days. Wajid breathed his last around 1 a.m. Wajid’s sister-in-law (Sajid’s wife) had donated a kidney to Wajid.
Sajid and Wajid were the sons of classical singer Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan. Wajid had a very endearing personality and was full of gratefulness. In one of their first interviews with your editor on ETC Bollywood Business several years ago, the two music director brothers had spoken about how they were not invited to too many parties and how they were asked to move out of the frame by over-enthusiastic press photographers while clicking pictures of other celebrities because not many recognised them despite their work. In fact, Sajid had broken down in the course of the interview while recalling such incidents and also talking about their late father. They came into the limelight when Dabangg became a roaring hit. Their Hud hud dabangg dabangg and Tere mast mast do nain were chartbusters. There was no looking back for Sajid-Wajid after Dabangg as they scored music in a number of films (either all the songs or one or two songs in films) after that. Salman Khan was very close to the music director duo and gave them many films to score music for.