Salim-Sulaiman

Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant are a pair of musician brothers, born and brought up in Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat, India. They belong to an Ismaili Muslim family and are inspired by their father Sadruddin Merchant, who used to lead Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India. Steeped in a family tradition of music as the sons of composer and veteran of the film industry Sadruddin Merchant, Salim mastered the piano on at the Trinity College of Music in London while Sulaiman took up tabla training with such legends as Taufiq Qureshi and Ustad Zakir Hussain. They emerged as popular music directors only in 2003, six years after their first music composition in a Bollywood film. They received recognition with their award-winning performance for their music in Bhoot, in which the music was a very influential and significant aspect of the movie. Their music in the award-winning movie Iqbal earned them rave accolades. Salim and Sulaiman have been composing music for over a decade having scored for movies such as Neal 'n' Nikki, Chak De! India, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Fashion. The duo had also composed for many Indi-pop performers including Viva, Aasmaan, Shweta Shetty, Jasmine and Style Bhai among others, composed and produced several TV commercials and collaborated with artistes such as Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan. They got their first break when Karan Johar asked them to compose the music for his movie Kaal. After that, they have gone to do movies with well-known producers and directors like Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai and Ram Gopal Varma. Before composing music, they were composing the background scores for movies. Salim Merchant is one of the three judges for the Fifth season of Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment Television (India) and he has sung in many movies. They have worked on a Bollywood remix for Lady Gaga's songs Born This Way and Judas.