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Shabbir Kumar (born 26 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer, notable for his work in Bollywood. He became famous as an imitator of Mohammed Rafi, and sang several hit songs in the 1980s.

Early life

Shabbir Kumar was born Shaikh Shabbeer Ahmed,[1] on 26 October 1954 in Baroda, Gujarat.[2] He was eldest of the ten siblings,[3] and had no formal training in music.[2] He became interested in singing as a child, and gained attention for imitating the voice of Mohammed Rafi.[4] By his early 20s, his stage shows became popular in Gujarat. He personally met Rafi in 1972 at a recording session, and drew a pencil sketch of Rafi. In 1974, he met Rafi at a stage show in Ahmedabad, where he was introduced as the “local Rafi”.[3] He claims that when police attempted to disperse the crowd at Rafi’s funeral in 1980, his wristwatch and pen fell into Rafi’s open grave and were buried there.[5]

After Rafi’s death in 1980, Shabbir Kumar sang Rafi’s songs at Ek Raat Rafi Ke Naam, an event organized to honor Rafi. This made Shabbir Kumar more popular, and he started doing several stage shows.[4]

Bollywood career

Music director Usha Khanna noticed Shabbir Kumar, and called him for an audition, where she asked him to sing two of Rafi’s songs – Teri Galiyon Mein and Main Yeh Soch Kar. She offered him a song in the 1981 movie Tajurba. The song featured only three lines by Shabbir Kumar; the other singers were Amit Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar, and Usha Mangeshkar. Usha Khanna promoted him in the film industry, and he got a chance to sing his first solo for the movie Sardar.[3]

Manmohan Desai, the director of the movie Coolie (1983), wanted someone with Rafi’s voice to sing the songs for the movie.[6] Usha Khanna recommended Shabbir Kumar to him, and the movie’s music director Laxmikant invited Shabbir Kumar to Mumbai for an audition. The Coolie songs, filmed on Amitabh Bachchan, gave Shabbir Kumar his big break.[3]

Subsequently, R.D. Burman offered him songs in the movie Betaab (1983). While recording a duet he became nervous, and his co-singer Lata Mangeshkar paused the recording to calm him down before a retake.[7] The duet – Jab Hum Jawan Honge – became a hit.[8] He went on to with other notable music directors, including Chitragupta, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik, and Jatin-Lalit. He sang in several languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri and Gujarati.[4]

Shabbikr Kumar sang around 3700 songs for about 250 movies.[9] His popular songs include Zindagi Har Kadam from Meri Jung (1985),[10] Tumse Milkar Na Jane Kyun from Pyar Jhukta Nahin (1985), Zihale Maskin from Ghulami (1985)[11] and Gori Hain Kalaiyan from Aaj Ka Arjun (1990).[8]

Gradually, Shabbir Kumar’s career declined as Mohammed Aziz and Anwar became more popular as imitators of Mohammad Rafi. He then focused on stage singing, performing in the US, UAE, Europe and South Africa, besides India.[4] In the 1990s, he tried to shed his image of being a Rafi clone.[3] Occasionally, he sang for Hindi films, including the 2010 movie Housefull.[12] In 2012, he became involved in a controversy with Lata Mangeshkar, when he challenged her claim that Rafi had written her a letter of apology.[4][13] In 2023, he appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show.[14]

Shabbir Kumar’s music certifications include 34 Gold Discs and 16 Platinum Discs.[15]

Personal life

Shabbir Kumar is also a painter and sketcher.[16] His wife Mehtaab died on 9 May 2021, a month before their 49th wedding anniversary.[17] His son Dilshaad Shaikh is a music director;[18] he has two daughters – Tehzim [19] and Rubina Mallick.[15]

Discography

References

  1. ^ “Shabbir Wants To Sound Like His Singing Idol”. New Straits Times. 9 October 1992. p. 3.
  2. ^ a b Virendra Mishra (25 October 2023). “Shabbir Kumar Interview: जब मनमोहन देसाई की जिद ने बदल दी गुमनाम गायक की तकदीर, शब्बीर यूं बने सिंगर नंबर वन”. Amar Ujala (in Hindi).
  3. ^ a b c d e Zieman (3 October 1992). “Shabbir Wants To Sound Like His Singing Idol”. New Straits Times. p. 3.
  4. ^ a b c d e “রফির ‘নকল’ করে সুপারহিট! লতার সঙ্গে বচসা… ছ’হাজার গান গাওয়া শব্বির এখন বেকার”. Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). 22 January 2023.
  5. ^ “महान गायक मो. रफी के कब्र में दफन है मेरी कलम और घड़ी : शब्बीर कुमार”. Amar Ujala. 1 December 2024.
  6. ^ Guru Swarup Mishra (18 February 2025). “मेलोडी किंग शब्बीर कुमार की आवाज में ‘ऐसा अपना याराना’ गीत रिकॉर्ड, क्या बोले डायरेक्टर एजाज अहमद?” (in Hindi). Prabhat Khabar.
  7. ^ “शब्बीर कुमार ने लता मंगेशकर के साथ पहले गाने की रिकॉर्डिग को याद किया” (in Hindi). News Nation. 8 January 2023.
  8. ^ a b “Would love to do regular shows in Vadodara: Shabbir Kumar”. The Times of India. 13 January 2017.
  9. ^ Vikas Srivastava (12 October 2019). “अमिताभ का बर्थडे मना बोले शब्‍बीर कुमार -फिर लौटेगा संगीत का स्वर्णिम युग”. Dainik Jagran (in Hindi).
  10. ^ “शब्बीर कुमार, जिनकी किस्मत मोहम्मद रफी के जनाजे में लिखी गई थी!” (in Hindi). News 18. 27 August 2017.
  11. ^ “Bollywood singer Shabbir Kumar regaled Tricity audience with his golden hits”. The Tribune. 3 December 2024.
  12. ^ “Shabbir Kumar makes comeback in Housefull”. Hindustan Times. 16 May 2012.
  13. ^ “Singer Shabbir Kumar challenges Lata Mangeshkar to show Rafi’s letter”. NDTV. 18 October 2012.
  14. ^ “From singing with his idol Lata Mangeshkar to getting a chance in Bollywood as his voice suited Big B: singer Shabbir Kumar shares amusing anecdotes in TKSS”. The Times of India. 8 January 2023.
  15. ^ a b “Shabbir Kumar, Omer Sharif join hands for show in Dubai”. Khaleej Times. 23 July 2024.
  16. ^ “सूरज, चांद, सितारों से की लता मंगेशकर की तुलना, शब्बीर ने गाए 48 गाने, सिंगर ने याद किया किस्सा” (in Hindi). Aaj Tak. 13 February 2022.
  17. ^ “Indian Idol 12: Singer Shabbir Kumar appears on show a month after his wife’s death, watch”. The Indian Express. 14 June 2021.
  18. ^ “Rahman’s assistant for 13 years scores music for Indo-Iranian film”. The Asian Age. 23 March 2017.
  19. ^ “Prominent Indian playback singer to perform in Dubai”. Gulf News. 25 July 2019.