| Director Ashok Pandit's 11-year-old son Raj is not following his father's footsteps. Not interested in direction, Raj is set to make a mark in the field of music.
Raj began his musical journey when he was just three. He started learning tabla from percussionist Shadab Bhartiya. Raj's mother, Neerja Pandit, a playback singer herself, trains him in vocals.
He joined Ustad Allah Rakha Khan's Institute of Music, studied under Ustad Zakir Hussain and Taufiq Qureshi, and continues to learn from Rakesh Parishast. An early bird
When Raj was eight, music director Tauseef Akhtar encouraged him to take piano lessons from Anita Kohli. Under Akhtar's guidance, Raj has also set up a studio. He tells hitList, "I programme and compose my own music in my studio." Rahman fan
An Utpal Shanghvi student, Raj considers A R Rahman his idol. There is not a single song of Rahman that Raj has not recreated in his studio. "I consider my best recreations as Oh mere maula from Mangal Pandey and Yeh tara woh tara from Swades," he gushes.
Raj, who often consults Dhruva Gogo for music arranging, says, "I am fortunate to be guided by musical maestros like Roop Kumar Rathod, Shamir Tandon, Raju Singh and Sameer. These great names have been very forthcoming in encouraging me." Honours
Recently, lyricist Sameer was so elated by one of Raj's compositions that he penned lyrics for that track. Of late, Raj composed and recorded an album Kashmiri Club Mix to which his mother Neerja lent her voice. This will be a first a mother has sung for her son's compositions.
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