Aadesh Shrivastava

Indian musician

Aadesh Shrivastava (4 September 1964 – 5 September 2015) was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Initially, he had worked as a drummer to music composers including R. D. Burman, Rajesh Roshan before working independently as a music director. Over the course of his career, he had composed music for over 100 Hindi films. Just a day after he turned 51, he died of cancer in Kokilaben Hospital.

Born in a Hindu Kayastha family in Katni, Shrivastava got his first big break with the film Kanyadaan in 1993. Among the singers who sang in this movie, there was Lata Mangeshkar who sang his first song Oh Sajna Dilbar, a duet with Udit Narayan, which became popular on the radio. But the film and the rest of the songs went unnoticed. The same thing happened with Jaane Tamanna, but he bounced back with Aao Pyaar Karen. One track "Haathon Mein Aa Gaya Jo Kal" was a hit. His other films are Salma Pe Dil Aa Gaya and Shastra. The song "Kya Ada Kya Jalwe Tere Paro", from the film Shastra got him in the limelight once again. In 1995, Shrivastava was a judge on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Shrivastava sang a number of hit songs such as "Sona Sona", "Shava Shava", "Gustakhiyaan" and "Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha". He won accolades for his work in Kunwara, Tarkieb and Shikari in the year 2000. In 2001, his success continued with the movie Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai. In 2005, he was a judge on the talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. The following year, he turned to direction with his short film on child prostitution, Sanaa. In 2009, he made a cameo in the film World Cupp 2011 and returned to television as a judge on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009. His semi classical song "Mora Piya" from Raajneeti became a hit in 2010. On the international front, Shrivastava has collaborated with artists such as Akon, Julia Fordham and Wyclef Jean. Together with Akon, he has launched an India wide talent search on the website hitlab. com which uses music analysis technology to predict the hit potential of new songs.

Shrivastava was married to Vijayta Pandit, actress and sister of music composer duo Jatin and Lalit Pandit and actress Sulakshana Pandit in 1990. They have two sons, Anivesh and Avitesh. His elder brother, Chitresh Shrivastava, owned Eyeline Telefilm and Events, the event management company implicated in the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan black money incident. Chitresh died in a car accident in 2011. Aadesh was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in December 2010 and underwent chemotherapy.

It was reported in the media on 31 August 2015 that his cancer had relapsed for the third time since 2010 and that he had been hospitalised for more than a month. He died, in a coma, at 12:30 A. M. IST at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute, Mumbai, on 5 September 2015, a day after his 51st birthday. He was cremated at Oshiwara crematorium in Mumbai the same day.