Viju Shah Talks ‘Chhal’: Music, Memories, and the Making of a Crime Thriller

Viju Shah, the composer, reminisced about his involvement in Hansal Mehta’s ‘Chhal’. He noted that the film was one of his early projects alongside Mehta, as well as his first collaboration with producer Nitin Patil, lyricist Amitabh Varma, recording engineer Tanay Gajjar, and singer K.K. The experience, according to Shah, was positive. He expressed his surprise at the space given to music within ‘Chhal’, despite it not being a musical film. The composer highlighted K.K.’s excitement for the title track, and the contributions from singers Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, and Shaan. Additionally, Javed Ali performed an alaap in one of the songs. Shah also spoke fondly of working on the background score. ‘Chhal’ was also notable for being the debut film for actors Kay Kay Menon and Prashant Narayan. A memorable story involved Asha Bhosle, who, undeterred by a broken elevator, climbed four floors to record her vocals.