Kamāl Khan (born 25 April 1989) is an Indian singer known for his work as a

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films. He won the reality singing competition ''

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar ''Hero Honda - Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar'' is the 4th installment of the ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'' Challenge series which premiered on 13 August 2010 on Zee TV. This series is hosted by Manish Paul, although the first shows were hosted by Purab ...

'' in 2010. Later he won the

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went internat ...

"Fresh Singing Talent 2012 (Male)" for the song "Ishq Sufiyana" from the film ''

The Dirty Picture ''The Dirty Picture'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language biographical musical drama film inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, an Indian actress noted for her erotic roles. The filmmakers have clarified that the story is not officially or literall ...

'' (2012). In 2017, he released the Punjabi song "Dili Sara", featuring Kuwar Virk, as a single. The song became a super hit overnight. The video has over 150 million views on YouTube as of May 2022.

Early life and career

Kamal was born and brought up in Reeth kheri village, near

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

, Punjab, to Zafar Khan and Sakina Ali, who is an employee health department in Patiala. Kamal started learning music at age five from his uncle (Mama ji) Ustad Shauqat Ali Deewana ji, who became his musical mentor. His mother is also a music lover. Later he left his studies because he started taking part in singing competitions and musical shows. Until he appeared in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, his father did not want him to become a singer. He mentioned in one of the episodes of the show, wherein his father gave a guest and surprising appearance, that upon his father's advice, he started working in a factory where his daily wage was only Rs. 40 a day. On his payday, he requested his father to collect his first salary. When his dad went there to get Kamal's first salary, he cried and realised that he should let Kamal pursue his singing. Kamal got his surname "Khan" from their listeners and friends when he was a contestant of ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'' because he likes Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's songs and he sings his song like him.

Career

His career turnaround came when in 2010, he was selected as a contestant on the singing reality show ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar''. He had music director duo of

Vishal–Shekhar Vishal–Shekhar are an Indian music composer, production, singing and songwriting duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani from Mumbai. Known predominantly for their work as music composers in Hindi cinema, Vishal–Shekhar have a ...

as mentor-judge. At the grand finale, held at

Andheri Sports Complex The Andheri Sports Complex also known as Shahaji Raje Krida Sankul is a multi-purpose facility located on Veera Desai Road in Andheri West, Mumbai, India. It was built in 1988 at Rs. 30 crore for schools that lacked the necessary infrastructur ...

, Mumbai, on 25 December 2010, he went on to win the show, also getting a Grande MK II car and a Hero ZMR bike. Composer duo

, who were also mentors on the show, became his real-life mentors and eventually offered him his debut playback song, "Wallah Re Wallah" in ''

Tees Maar Khan Tees Maar Khan () may refer to: *Mahboob Ali Khan Asaf Jah VI, also known as, Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi (17 August 1866 – 29 August 1911) was the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad state, one of the Princely states in ...

'' (2010), released a day before the show ended. Later they also gave him his big break with the hit "Ishk Sufiana''"'' for ''

'' (2012). In 2013, he rose to prominence with the song "Jhooth Bolliya" from ''

Jolly LLB ''Jolly LLB'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film written and directed by Subhash Kapoor and produced by Fox Star Studios. The film stars Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Amrita Rao. The theatrical trailer was revealed on 8 January 2 ...

''. His 2017 song "Dilli Sara" was also popular.

Albums & singles

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Kamal Living people Bollywood playback singers 1989 births Musicians from Patiala Sa Re Ga Ma Pa participants Singing talent show winners Punjabi-language singers Indian male playback singers Punjabi people