The Shantabai Effect

A slum dwelling Marathi lyricist woke up to overnight fame recently after a song penned two decades ago became a chartbuster. Sanjay Londhe’s song Shantabai had been written then as a lullaby for his newborn daughter Prajakta. The name of the song was derived from his paternal aunt, whose courage was an inspiration to him.

It found no listeners at the time but recently when Londhe—who lives in Rajewadi slums in Pune’s Nana Peth area—desperately needed money, he decided to redo it. He composed the music, jazzing it up to a feet- tapping number and sang it too. He got paid Rs 25,000 by a buyer in May of this year. “I had forgotten about the song until I heard it being played by a Ganesh mandal (during the festival). Then I heard it being played everywhere,” said Londhe. He still cannot understand its sudden popularity. “I am being written about. My interviews are on TV. My photographs are all over,” said Londhe. “I had heard stories of people becoming famous overnight and now it has happened to me. Is this all a dream or reality?” Londhe, who is in his mid- fifties, has been writing lyrics for over two decades and some of his songs have been sung by well known Marathi singers. “I use phrases which are commonly used by the people. Shantabai too is such an attempt. It is easy for the masses to relate to the phrases I use,” he said.

Besides being at the top of the charts, Shantabai is also an online sensation with people making their own videos of the song and posting it on Youtube. Londhe also sings bhajans at temples and jingles for political events for extra money and hopes that Shantabai’s unexpected popularity will help his financial situation. “Writers do not get paid much. I hope I get a better price for the next song I write. I need money to look after my family and for the marriage of my daughters,” he said.

About The Author

Haima Deshpande