Falu Wiki, Age, Family, Husband, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Falu

• Falguni Shah  Falguni Shah is an Indian American artist who has won the 64th Annual Grammy Award for her album “A Colourful World” under the “Best Children’s Album” category. Falu has worked with several well-known artists such as A. R. Rahman, Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass, Wyclif Jean, and Ricky Martin.

• Falu was born into a family that had a keen inclination towards music. From a young age of just 3 years, Falu began her journey in music.

• As Falu was learning music, she was trained by several renowned artists. Falu used to practice for 16 hours a day, as she was learning the Jaipur Gharana musical traditions and the Banaras styled Thumri.

• Her masters included the legendary Ustad Sultan Khan, who was an excellent vocalist and a talented Sarangi player.
  

  Falu with a musical instrument, Sitar

• She was also taught by Kishori Amonkar, a Jaipur Gharana Classical musician. In an interview, Falu recalled,
  

  She was thorough and detailed in her teaching and would take every student extremely seriously, making sure they reached their highest potential. She could talk neuroscience and music in the same sitting seamlessly.” ^[3]The Indian Express

• While growing up, Falu had a keen interest in Gujarati folk music and ghazal. She was trained for it by Kaumudi Munshi and Uday Mazumdar. Apart from this, Falu also acquired a master’s degree in Indian Classical Music.

• While growing up in Bombay, Falu participated in many singing competitions and won three such competitions. ^[4]NYC Radio Live

• After completing her musical training and education in India, Falu got married to Gaurav Shah and shifted bases to the United States in 2000.

• In 2001, upon her arrival in the United States, Falu joined a Boston based Indian-American band, Karyshma, as a lead singer.

• Falu was appointed as a guest lecturer at Tufts University, where she worked for 2 years.

• She got a major break in her career when she was provided with an opportunity by Yo-Yo Ma in his project The Silk Route Project, Project in which she was featured as a soloist.

• Falu, in 2005, was made the ambassador of Indian Music at Carnegie Hall.

• In 2006, Falu and her husband Gaurav, gave their vocals to the world-famous documentary film Born in Brothels Ensemble Born in Brothels Ensemble. The documentary was about the red light area of Calcutta.

• For the film A Place In Time, which was directed by Angelina Jolie, Falu and Wyclef Jean made the music together.

• In 2008, Karyshma’s song ‘Rabba’ became the first Hindi song ever to be aired on the FOX Channel’s Fearless Music. ^[5]NYC Radio Live

• In 2007, after releasing her self-titled music CD, the hybrid Indie-Hindi genre was accepted. ^[6]The Wall Street Journal

• Falu has also worked with the renowned singer and composer A. R. Rahman in 2008. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire, she gave her vocals for the movie’s famous song “Jai Ho”.

• In 2009, Falu was invited to perform at the White House alongside A. R. Rahman to honour the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

• In 2012, she composed music for a documentary titled ‘The Human Tower’ and later in the same year, she made music for the film ‘The First Sight.’

• She also contributed to the album “Prayer For The World” which was produced by Global Noize. In early 2012, Falu and her band performed for 400 juvenile inmates of New York’s Crossroads Juvenile Center and Sing Sing Correctional Facility. During the performance, the band included 16 musically talented inmates.

• Falu released her second album, Foras Road, in 2013. This album was shortlisted for the nominations but could not make it to the main event’s nominations.

• She released another album called Falu’s Bazaar in 2018. This album was inspired by the questions asked by her son Nishaad. In an interview, Falu said,
  

  When my little son started his preschool, he came home with questions like, ‘Ma, why is our food yellow?’ ‘Why do we speak a different language at home versus school?’ ‘Why do we count our numbers in a different language?’ I thought the best way to answer all his questions was through music, and so I started writing songs for him. That was the birth of Falu’s Bazaar.” ^[7]The Sunday Guardian

• The album, Falu’s Bazaar was nominated for the 2019 Grammy Awards’ main event. ^[8]She the People
  

  Album cover of Falu’s Bazaar

• Falu wanted to create music by amalgamating old generation songs of different origins with modern western music. To achieve this, she created a band called American Patchwork Quartet. The band even received $40,000 in grants under the flagship of South Arts Creative Residency Grant. ^[9]The Kurland Agency

• In childhood, Falu met with a bicycle accident and was admitted to the hospital. To overcome the unbearable pain, her mother asked her to sing. Later, Falu recalled this in an interview and said,
  

  My mind shifted from the pain to the music, and I felt much better. I said, Mom, this is the only thing I want to do.”

• Falu’s mother, Kishori Dalal, is also a trained Gujarati classical singer. In the award-winning album A Colourful World, Kishori Dalal lent her voice to a song titled Nishaad’s lullaby. In an interview, Falu talked about this song and said,
  

  This song has been passed on for five generations and I hope Nishaad will pass it on to his children, too.”

• Falu has also performed at Time-100 Gala, where Michelle Obama witnessed her performance. She has also been featured in several leading newspaper and magazine brands such as the New York Times, Billboard magazine, and The Rolling Stone.

• ‘A Colourful World’ was composed by Falu in the memory of her father, who had passed away, because of which Falu had to face depression. Falu said in an interview,
  

  A colorful world, I dedicate to my dad. It is because of his blessing that I have been honored with such a big award. This album is very close to my heart, because in this album I have expressed the time I spent with my father.”

• When Falu was in school, she was bullied a lot by her classmates. Falu, in an interview, stated,
  

  Music at that time was also an escape for me because I was a bit dark and kids used to be very mean to me back then. They would call me kaali bhains (black buffalo) So to escape, I would often do chilla kaatna (a training ritual where the student is completely isolated and spends long hours practising for days at a stretch).” ^[10]The Indian Express

• While growing up in Mumbai, Falu loved listening to music made by various Western as well as Indian artists such as R. D. Burman and The Beatles.

• Falu also performed at the Lincoln Centre in 2003, in the honour of the Dalai Lama.

• Dilipbhai Rasiklal Shah, who is a well-known trained classical singer; is the father-in-law of Falu. ^[11]Divya Bhaskar

• Apart from being a musician, her husband, Gaurav Shah has also earned a medical degree from Columbia University in 2016 and is a brain cancer specialist.
  

  Falu with her husband Gaurav Shah during his convocation day at Columbia University

• In 2001, Falu, along with her band Karyshma, performed for the then First Lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton.
  

  Falu with the First Lady of the United States of America, Hillary Clinton, after her performance