‘I’m not a Bollywood fan but that’s always what the audience wants’

On the evening of December 26 2017 when Arjun Shah aka DJ AJ reached Lower Parelrsquos St Regis hotel to play at a wedding he had no knowledge about the couple in question ldquoI was in touch with the wedding planning agency throughout the discussions They had made me sign an NDA non disclosure agreement so I didnrsquot know who I was playing forrdquo says the 33yearold No sooner was he behind the console than a host of high profile guests started trooping inmdashcricketers actors and politicians ldquoIt finally dawned on me that I was at skipper Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharmarsquos weddingrdquo he laughsBeing a diehard cricket fan Shah admits it was overwhelming to see Shikhar Dhawan Gautam Gambhir Zaheer Khan Suresh Raina and Kohli get to the dancefloor ldquoSachin Tendulkar too danced for a bit I remember it was a wild fun nightrdquoThe ChopraJonas wedding party was more a meetandgreet the couple eveningThis was the first of many to come Since then Shah has played at Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonasrsquo reception in Mumbai Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehtarsquos prewedding celebration at St Moritz Switzerland Isha Ambani and Anand Piramalrsquos prewedding function at Italyrsquos Lake Como Parth Jindal and Anushree Jasanrsquos wedding in Jodhpur and Austria and Rhea Kapoor and Karan Boolanirsquos wedding in Mumbai ldquoFunnily I am not a Bollywood fan and never was I was big on English music Techno House and hiphop But when I started receiving calls to perform at weddings I didnrsquot see it as a big deal because if your foundation is strong you can mix all kinds of music to keep people glued to the dance floorrdquo The cardinal rule to segue to the next level of mixing is knowing your audience thinks Shah While he makes it a point to ask for a detailed brief from clients what ultimately unfolds is a deviation from the rulebook ldquoEvery gig is different every crowd is different The bride and groom might ask you to play hiphop or pop but the crowd always wants Bollywood Itrsquos a nobrainer At the end of the day you want your guests to have a good time so your tracks are tilted in favour of the audiencerdquo At the ChopraJonas wedding party which was more a meetandgreet the couple evening the guests were on the dance floor for only halfanhour which Shah says left him little room for experimentation But usually Shah finds himself playing uninterrupted till the wee hours of morning ldquoThe Ambani family is a fun group to play for They love to party Itrsquos challenging for a DJ to amp up the vibe if the guests are listlessrdquo he saysVirat Kohli and Anushka Sharma during their wedding reception at St Regis Lower Parel on December 26 2017 PicsGetty ImagesDespite being a regular at high profile weddings Shah has a hard time identifying the Page 3 crowd ldquoI was recently playing for Masoom Minawala of Style Fiesta and had no clue she was a leading style blogger I realised it when she shared my story on Instagram and it got a bazillion viewsrdquoRhea Kapoor and Karan Boolani at their wedding party PicInstagramFor three years straight since 2018 Shah bagged the Best Wedding DJ award from Wedding Sutra His work takes him across the globemdashDubai Lebanon Spain Maldives Ibiza and Birmingham Techno is slowly gaining ground at Indian weddings he observes ldquoHiphop has become a norm at HNI Highnetworth individuals weddings where the bride and groom are usually schooled in the west the wedding is at an exotic location and you have international DJs being flown downrdquoApart from DJing Shah also runs FullStop Entertainment a digital marketing agency But he hadnrsquot set out to do either ldquoI was to become a doctor because thatrsquos what my parents wanted but I gave it up because I had zero interest in the profession Then came chartered accountancyrdquo His interest in disc jockeying started at age 15 when he began playing at college festivals winning the National Level College War of DJs competition three years in a row Right after he segued to Ra Matahaari V Lounge Dome Asilo and Aer nightclubs ldquoIn my initial days of DJing my parents were against the idea of me playing commercially I even got caught But today they are just as proud of my craft as Irdquo