Kumaar

Kumaar is one of the Hindi film music industry’s most popular lyricists, but he got his big break from writing one of the best-known bhangra-pop singles of all-time, Sukhbir’s 1999 smash “Ishq Tera Tadpave”. Kumaar (aka Rakesh Kumar) originally wrote that hit as a sad love song before Sukhbir turned it into an uptempo cut, instantly recognisable from its “Oh ho ho ho” refrain. Perhaps there was something prescient about the way things turned out, because Kumaar evolved into a songwriting specialist for Bollywood dance tunes with memorable hooks. He has his fair share of award-winning, soulful ballads to his name, for sure—taking in “Soch Na Sake” from Airlift (2016) and “Tera Yaar Hoon Main” from Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), as well as “Tera Ban Jaunga” from Kabir Singh (2019). But if there’s a Bollywood music playlist of party tracks, you can be pretty sure Kumaar lent his pen to many of them. “Subha Hone Na De” from Desi Boyz (2011), “Baby Doll” from Ragini MMS 2 (2014) and “Chaleya” from Jawan (2023) are just a few of the floor-fillers he’s helped create. Kumaar has also enjoyed a particularly fruitful association with music director duo Vishal-Shekhar, with whom his long list of hits includes “Desi Girl” from Dostana (2008), “Ghungroo” from War (2019) and “Besharam Rang” from Pathaan (2023).