Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar – Music couple from Malayalam film industry

Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar are budding music talents belonging to Malayalam film industry. Faisal Razi is a singer-composer who shot to instant fame with his debut song, “Njanum Njanumentallum” of Poomaram released in 2018. He composed 50-year old song of Maharajas campus, and also rendered his voice for Kalidas Jayaram who marked his screen debut in a lead role. His wife Shikha Prabhakar is quite familiar to Malayalis through singing reality shows on television. Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar got married to late 2019.

A brief note on the family and early life of Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar

Faisal Razi hails from Koratty, Thrissur. Now he resides in Kakkanad, Kochi. He has one younger sister. Shikha Prabhakar too belongs to Thrissur district. Paliyekkara is her native place. Both were introduced to the world of music during early childhood.

Faisal initially presented Mappilla songs on stage. Later he completed 3-year diploma in Sound Engineering before joining B. A. Music. He learnt drums and guitar while doing his diploma. Since young he has always dreamt about cine world. He was not specific about music, and just wanted to become a part of the magic world. “Njanum Njanumentallum” song unexpectedly completely changed his life. This entry was much beyond his expectations.

Shikha started learning music from class two and started appearing on stage from class 5. Slowly she did a few albums, stage shows and finally joined reality shows. She became the runner-up of singing reality shows – Gandharva Sangeetham, Raagalayam and Megstar. She also reached semi-finals of Star Singer, after which people started recognising her.

College days at Maharaja’s College brought them together

Initially Shikha completed graduation in English before enrolling for B. A. Music at Maharaja’s college, Ernakulam. Faisal was second year student then. Later they became a part of same gang, and their bond grew faster. Faisal started a Sufi band named “Cafe Qawwali” while studying there. When director Abrid Shine reached college campus with his movie, Poomaram, Faisal dreamt to become a part of the movie irrespective of the role. The movie was a campus oriented one.

When Faisal sang, “Njanum Njanumentallum” song to Abrid he instantly liked it, and asked if he has recited this song to anyone else. Faisal replied that this song is familiar to everyone, though this version is familiar to close friends circle only. Abrid asked him never to sing this song to anyone and he readily accepted the song for the movie. Faisal played a brief role of Kalidas’ friend in the movie, and Shikha too played a brief role of heroine’s friend.

The song “Njanum Njanumentallum” became immensely popular among Malayalis. It became a massive hit and Faisal shot to instant fame. Faisal tied knot with Shikha in November 2019 after 5 years of courtship with the blessings of their parents. They had a Hindu wedding and one day later had a reception with Muslim wedding costumes.

Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar – Present days

Faisal now owns a music band in Kochi, and after marriage, Shikha also joined it. The power couple wants to pursue a musical career together. Apart from Poomaram, Shikha has rendered her voice for ‘Nalla Pattukari’ movie. She has also marked her Tamil debut singing for Prabhudeva starrer ‘Pon Manikyavel’.

Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Shikha Prabhakar rendered her voice for Carnatic classic, “Desh Raga Thilana” for Poomaram, which marked debut of Faisal Razi. The song was originally composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman.

2. As Faisal Razi and Shikha Prabhakar belongs to different religious groups, their respective families exploded with the news. Finally both convinced their parents and their marriage happened with the blessings of both families.

3. Faisal Razi and his family used to frequently watch Shikha’s performance in reality shows and adored her. Later both studied together in Maharaja’s college and became close friends which paved way to love and commitment.

4. Faisal has once met Shilpa at a recording studio in Thrissur, long before they enrolled for music at Maharaja’s college. Interestingly Shilpa has forgotten that meeting.