Salim Merchant Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Salim Sadruddin Moledina Merchant
Profession(s)	Singer, Music Director, Score Composer
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in feet & inches- 5’ 10”
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Debut	Music (Background Score): Hameshaa (1997) Music (Composer): Ghaath (2000) TV: Indian Idol Season 5 (2010)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Star Screen Award for Best Background Score for the film “Bhoot” (2003) • Star Screen Award for Best Background Score for the film “Dhoom” (2004) • Zee Cine Award for Best Background Score for the film “Ab Tak Chhappan” (2005) • IIFA Award for Best Background Score for the film “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi” (2005) • FHM (magazine) Award for Best Dressed Music Composer (2007) • Filmfare Award for Best Background Score for the film “Krrish” (2007) • Syracuse International Film Festival Award for Best Music Director for the film “Fashion” (2008) • Mirchi Music Award for Indie Pop Song of the Year for the song “Cheene Re Mora Chain” (2013)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	3 March 1974 (Sunday)
Age (as in 2019)	45 Years
Birthplace	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Zodiac sign	Pisces
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
School	St Peter’s High School, Mumbai
College/University	KC College, Mumbai
Educational Qualification	Graduate
Religion	Islam
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian
Hobbies	Reading Books, Playing Xbox
Controversies	Salim Merchant was accused of plagiarism by the Pakistani singer, Farhan Saeed. Farhan pointed out that Salim's song "Haareya" was an absolute copy of his song "Roiyaan." However, Salim called it a coincidence.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Jeanne Merchant
Family
Wife/Spouse	Jeanne Merchant (Singer, Lyricist)
Children	Son- None Daughter- Ayesha
Parents	Father- Late Sadruddin Merchant (Music Director) Mother- Name Not Known (Deceased)
Siblings	Brother- Sulaiman Merchant (Music Director & Composer) Sister- None
Favourite Things
Food	Japanese Cuisine, Grilled Fish, Butter Chicken
Actor(s)	Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Ranveer Singh, Riteish Deshmukh
Actress(es)	Keira Knightley, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra
Film(s)	Bollywood- Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) Hollywood- Legends of the Fall (1994), Life is Beautiful (1997)
Musicians	Sukhwinder Singh, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kailash Kher, A. R. Rahman
Book	The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein
Restaurant(s)	Kofuku Japanese (Mumbai), Tatami (Mumbai)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Salim Merchant

• Does Salim Merchant drink alcohol?: Yes

• Salim Merchant was born into a well to do family in Mumbai.
  

  Salim Merchant’s childhood picture

• His family has its roots in Mundra, Kutch, Gujarat.

• Salim’s surname was earlier ‘Moledina,’ but his uncle changed it to ‘Merchant’ when he moved to Australia.

• His father, Sadruddin Merchant, was a music director and a veteran of the Telugu Film Industry, who moved to Mumbai in 1969 and started a manufacturing business of the musical instruments.
  

  Salim Merchant’s father playing the piano

• His father used to lead the Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India and was fondly called the Mohammed Rafi of the Ismaili community.

• Being born to a musician father, Salim developed an interest in music at an early age.

• After completing his graduation, Salim went to London’s Trinity College of Music to master the piano.

• He has learnt the Harmonium from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi.

• His music guru was Ustad Sultan Khan.

• Salim started his music career along with his brother Sulaiman by composing ‘jingles’ for television commercials.

• The duo composes music together and are popularly known as Salim-Sulaiman.
  

  Salim Merchant performing live with his brother

• In the mid-1990s he shifted to pop music and worked with musicians like Voodoo Rapper, Style Bhai, Shweta Shetty, and Jasmine Bharucha.

• In 1997, he, along with his brother, received his first Bollywood project of composing the ‘Background Score’ in the film “Hameshaa.”

• Subsequently, he gave the music composition in the film “Ghaath.” The duo shot to fame after giving the background score for the film “Bhoot.”

• He has composed the music and background scores of Bollywood films like “Ab Tak Chhappan” (2004), “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi” (2004), “Dhoom” (2004), “Neal ‘N’ Nikki” (2005), “Kaal” (2005), “Krrish” (2006), and “Fashion” (2008).
  

  Salim Merchant working in his studio

• Apart from being a music composer, Salim is also a good singer. In 2014, he lent his voice for the song “Ishq Wala Love” from the film ‘Student of The Year.’ The song was a huge hit.

• Salim has also created the Bollywood remix of Lady Gaga’s songs “Born This Way” and “Judas.” He has worked on Enrique’s song “I’m A Freak.” Salim has also composed the music for the Hollywood film “Sold.”

• Salim has appeared as a judge in many singing reality shows including “Indian Idol Season 5,” “Indian Idol Season 6,” “Indian Idol Junior,” and “The Voice of India Season 2.”
  

  Salim Merchant as a judge

• From the list of all his compositions, his favourite composition is “Yeh Honsla Kaise Jhuke” from the film ‘Dor.’

• In 2013, his wife opened up a music academy for the toddlers. She has taught music to many celebrity kids like Hrithik Roshan‘s son Hrehaan, Farhan Akhtar’s daughter Akira, Ronit Roy’s daughter Aador.

• In 2009, Salim and his brother, Sulaiman got nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award (an American accolade) for their song ‘We Like Being Small’ from the show ‘Wonder Pets.’

• In 2010, Salim-Sulaiman collaborated with the South African singer, Loyiso Bala and Kenyan singer, Eric Wainaina to record the FIFA World Cup anthem song “Africa – You’re A Star.” Till date (2019) they are the only Indians to have recorded the anthem for the FIFA World Cup.

• Salim is fond of dogs and owns two pet dogs, Cookie and Daisy.
  

  Salim Merchant with his pet dog, Cookie