NOT JUST A YA ALI SINGER IN BOLLYWOOD!

Zubeen Garg’s contributions to Bollywood between 1997 and 2006 reveal a systematic pattern of sonic erasure in the Hindi film industry: an intentional sidelining of regional voices whose labour is consumed yet left unacknowledged. Through Zubeen’s largely invisible vocal presence, Bollywood’s cultural machinery both exploits and suppresses non-mainstream artistic identities. For the Hindi-speaking belt, the name Zubeen Garg is almost exclusively synonymous with “Ya Ali” from Gangster (2006). This limited recognition constructs a reductive narrative—one that collapses a decade-long musical career into a single hit. Such a narrative not only misrepresents Zubeen’s artistic trajectory but also exposes a larger cultural bias within Bollywood: the tendency to homogenise regional talent under a single, marketable label. Zubeen’s entry into Hindi cinema began with Purani Kabar (1997). Over the next nine years, he contributed to a remarkable range of projects through background humming, soprano-range inserts, and tonal ornamentations. Yet many of these contributions were uncredited, functioning within what may be called the “invisible voice paradigm.” This invisibility was not accidental—it was structural. The Bollywood playback system historically prioritised a fixed set of voices, marginalising those who did not fit industry stereotypes of linguistic, regional, and cultural centrality. Some key examples include:

• Dil Se (1998) – Background song “Pakhi Pakhi Bidekhi”.

• Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1998) – Humming sequences.

• Fiza (1999) – Vocal contribution to “Meri Watan.”

• Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai (2001) – Opening segment of “Guncha Hai Gul Hai.”

• Asoka (2001) – Introductory vocals in “Roshni Se.”

• Ye Hai Jalwa (2002) – Vocal insert in “Dhire Dhire.”

• Kaante (2002) – Multiple vocal interventions in “Rama Re,” “Socha Nahi Tha,” and “Mahi Ve.”

  
  

Across these films, Zubeen’s voice operates like an aural watermark—present yet uncredited, heard yet unseen.

Zubeen once openly discussed the creative tension between him and Himesh Reshammiya, a telling episode that demonstrates Bollywood’s discomfort when a peripheral voice asserts agency. When Zubeen questioned being brought in only for humming, it revealed how the industry constructs hierarchies of value: the melody may require him, but the credit system does not. This friction embodies a broader problem—Bollywood’s extraction of vocal labour without a corresponding recognition of artistic authorship.

During the period from 1997–2006, Zubeen’s contributions spanned an impressive catalogue that includes Jaal – The Trap (2002), Hathya (2002), Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (2003), Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003), Agnipankh (2004), Aan: Men at Work (2004), Garv (2004), Ek Hasina Thi (2004), Fareb (2005), and Bas Ek Pal (2006).

What emerges from these scattered traces is a counter-history of Bollywood music—one built not on official credit rolls but on auditory memory, listener recognition, and fan-based archival recovery. In other words, Zubeen’s Hindi career can only be reconstructed by listening between the official narratives.

The massive success of “Ya Ali” (2006) temporarily broke this erasure. Zubeen received the Global Indian Film Award (GIFA) for Best Playback Singer (Male)—a rare moment when Bollywood’s centre was forced to acknowledge a voice from its margins.

Yet even this recognition raises critical questions:

• Why did it take a chart-topping blockbuster to acknowledge a decade of labour?

• Why were his earlier vocal contributions systematically muted in public discourse?

• Does Bollywood only validate regional artists after they become marketable?

  
  

These questions reveal the cultural politics embedded in the industry’s recognition systems.

Zubeen Garg’s Hindi playback career is not merely a musical history; it is a narrative of cultural marginalisation. His scattered, uncredited vocal traces expose a structural imbalance in Bollywood’s production of musical fame—where regional voices are consumed but not celebrated. Rewriting this history is crucial. It not only restores Zubeen’s rightful place within the Indian musical archive but also challenges the cultural hierarchy that governs recognition in Bollywood.

@Chhayashree