Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim sings Kishore Kumar classic at BRICS gala dinner in New Delhi
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim broke into a Kishore Kumar favourite at a BRICS gala dinner in New Delhi on Saturday, turning a formal summit
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim broke into a Kishore Kumar favourite at a BRICS gala dinner in New Delhi on Saturday, turning a formal summit evening into a brief Bollywood moment. He sang Khwaab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat as a pianist played along at Bharat Mandapam, with the clip later posted by Ibrahim on his X account.
The song choice landed quickly with Indian audiences. It also carried a neat personal touch: Ibrahim has spoken before about his admiration for Kishore Kumar and had sung the same number during an interview in India in 2024. The tune, from the 1965 film Teen Devian, was composed by S D Burman with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
A summit night with a lighter note
The performance came after Ibrahim’s bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit. During that interaction, the Malaysian leader praised Modi’s reach well beyond India’s borders.
“See, Prime Minister Modi is so popular; I got so many messages to pass on regards to him,” Ibrahim said.
Malaysia is taking part in the BRICS gathering in New Delhi, where diplomacy and protocol have dominated the agenda. But this was the clip that spread fastest. A visiting head of government singing a classic Hindi film song, in public, with a piano accompaniment — simple, unforced, and very much in tune with the evening’s mood.
A familiar song, a wider audience
Khwaab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat has long outlived its original screen moment. Kishore Kumar’s voice and the song’s melody have kept it alive for decades, and Ibrahim’s performance placed it once more in front of a global audience that may not follow Indian cinema closely but recognises the pull of a shared cultural memory.
That cultural note mattered. BRICS summits usually generate headlines from communiqués, trade talks and bilateral meetings. This time, a song from a 1965 Hindi film did part of the talking.
Ibrahim shared the video with a short caption in Malay: “Guru asking permission to sing for a bit, okay!”
