Zubeen Garg

Zubeen Garg (1972–2025) exemplified the idea of a multi-hyphenate, polyglot performer. Garg was a singer, lyricist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, music director, scriptwriter and filmmaker. For his legions of fans, he was the leading voice of contemporary Assamese music. His vast discography—said to comprise thousands of songs—spans pop, folk, film and devotional music, primarily in Assamese, with a significant body of work in Hindi and Bengali and recordings in more than two dozen other languages, including several north-east Indian dialects. Garg’s debut Assamese-language album, 1992’s Anamika, revitalised the music scene in his home state. At the turn of the next decade, he entered the Assamese film industry as a music director with the blockbuster Hiya Diya Niya (2000), and as an actor, scriptwriter and director with Tumi Mur Mathu Mur (2000), for which he also composed the soundtrack. By the time he moved into Bollywood, he was recording prolifically in Assam. He made his Hindi film debut with “Rama Re” from Anand Raj Anand’s soundtrack for Kaante (2002), but is best known for “Ya Ali” from Pritam’s score for Gangster (2006), which earned him a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Male Playback Singer. In 2009, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction (Non-Feature Film) for Assamese director Reema Borah’s Echoes of Silence (2006), a student project he worked on without charge. In addition to writing, directing and scoring films, Garg produced them, often in collaboration with his wife, Garima Saikia Garg. His self-financed projects include Mission China (2017), Kanchanjangha (2019) and the posthumously released Roi Roi Binale (2025), all among the highest-grossing Assamese films of their time. He was also an outspoken figure who addressed socio-political themes in his lyrics and supported causes including environmental and wildlife conservation. Widely regarded as a cultural figurehead in Assam, he commanded a devoted following. In 2020, a bridge across the Na Dihing river in Assam’s Tinsukia district was named in his honour. Garg died tragically during a trip to Singapore in September 2025. Thousands gathered in Guwahati for his funeral procession, in a large public expression of grief.