Yazin Nizar

An emotive and versatile artist who’s worked across five languages, Yazin Nizar is one of India’s most prolific and respected playback singers. • A keen disciple of traditional Hindustani and Carnatic music from a young age growing up in Kollam, Nizar was a prodigious talent, scooping the top prize in TV singing contest Gandharva Sangeetham when he was just 12. • He enjoyed further success in other talent shows, winning Sangeetha Maha Yudham and Apple Mega Stars, but had to wait a bit longer for his Bollywood break. • In 2012, his soaring, uplifting track “Hayyo” on the soundtrack for Spanish Masala—which blended slick pop with vibrant Indian instrumentation—became his first big playback hit. • Nizar has enjoyed a meteoric rise, collaborating with legends of the industry like A. R. Rahman as well as contemporaries such as G. V. Prakash Kumar. • Nizar made history in 2014 with his Malayalam song “Kolussu Thenni Thenni” which, with a budget of ₹ 1cr, became the most expensive Malayalam song ever produced. The dazzling video for the song, from the Cousins soundtrack, is a symphony in colour and reportedly took over 80 hours to shoot. • Nizar’s ability to channel his sharp pop sensibility across Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi has made him one of the most in-demand playback singers in Bollywood, but he’s also toured extensively throughout India and overseas.