Shabnam – Less-known Malayalam playback singer of 1990s with ‘Sukriya’ and ‘Vennila Chandana Kinnam’ songs to her credit

Shabnam is a very talented singer from Kerala, who has sung a few popular songs of Malayalam cinema since mid-1990s. As a playback singer, she is best known for her debut song – ‘Vennila Chandana Kinnam’ from 1996 movie ‘Azhakiya Raavanam’ as a child singer and the chartbuster ‘Sukriya’ from 1999 movie ‘Niram’, both directed by Kamal. Interestingly both were duets which she sung aside veteran singer K. J. Yesudas, and also composed by Vidyasagar. She is married to less-known actor and businessman Riyaz who played lead role in 1999 horror thriller, Aakashaganga.

Shabnam joined film industry as a playback singer with 1996 Kamal movie, Azhakiya Ravanan. The movie also marked Vidyasagar’s Malayalam film entry, which gave him state award. The nostalgic song – ‘Vennila Chandana Kinnam’ penned by Kaithapram was rendered by Yesudas and Shabnam. Shabnam was only 10 years old when she got the magical entry to playback singing. After three years, she rendered her voice for Shalini for the chartbuster – “Shukiriya Shukiriya” song for the romantic film – Niram. The song had two duet versions of Shabnam – one with Yesudas and the second one with Vidhu Prathap.

Though she tasted success at a very young age, she didn’t get much opportunities from Malayalam cinema later. Though she sang for 15 films later, her songs went unnoticed. However she remained active with her stage shows and musical concerts. In 2019 she came to limelight after a long time, after a cover version of ‘Puthumazhayaay’ song of Akasha Ganga got released, and the song garnered attention within a short period. Interestingly she is married to Riyaz, who played the lead character Unnikuttan in the original, and also reprises his role in the sequel which had a theatre release in 2019, 20 years after the release of its sequel. Movie also marks the comeback of Riyaz to silver screen nearly after two decades.  

Playback singer Shabnam – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She is a trained classical singer.

2. She started her singing career at the age of 7 for a light music album, aside playback singer Unni Menon. Later this album and its songs became instrumental in getting her first break to films. It was quite unbelievable for her, when she got the offer.

3. Both her chartbuster songs – ‘Sukriya’ and ‘Vennila Chandana Kinnam’ of 1990s were composed by Vidyasagar, and both were duets which she sang aside Yesudas. Interestingly both films were directed by Kamal.

4. She is the lead voice of India’s first female qawwali musical band – Layali Sufia, which believes in rendition of pure qawwali music rather than fusions, which is very rare nowadays. The band has 5 members.

5. She is the great-granddaughter of Vava Aasan Bhagavathar, a qawwali singer, who has received honours and precious gifts including gold from King Marthanda Varma for his renditions of qawwali and Hindustani music.

6. Shabnam is the voice behind the title track of the horror series, Nizhalukal, scripted and directed by Ranjith Shankar.

7. When her chartbuster song – Shukriya got release in 1999, many felt that she had both face and voice resemblance with the actress Shalini, for whom she became the ghost voice, though Shabnam was much younger than her.

8. She sang for more than 15 films after Shukriya song. But Malayalis didn’t hear her songs that much. She sang for ‘Madamma’ movie, which shined at Film festivals. In fact as she was a bit lazy, she never went in search of opportunities.

9. Apart from a few devotional albums in Malayalam, she also sang for Tamil albums and also remained a celebrity judge for reality shows like Mailanchi, Patturumaal etc.

10. She has anchored ‘Sa Re Ga ma Pa’ program for Asianet aside M. G. Sreekumar in the early 2000s. Music Buzz Live (Asianet Plus), Swargamalika (Jaihind) and Gandharvasangeetham (Kairali) are other musical shows for which she appeared as an anchor before the camera.

11. She married actor Riyaz in 2005, and the couple has two children.

12. Though she came to capital city to take post-graduation in Carnatic music, she got into the world of Sufi music and qawwali. After completing PG in Carnatic music, she later published a book in Malayalam about Sufi music, which she completed as a thesis as a part of her studies.

13. She holds honours in piano from Trinity College of Music, London.

14. Her cover version of ‘Puthumazhayaay’ song of Akasha Ganga was used as the official lyrical video of the sequel released in 2019, as the filmmakers were impressed by her rendition. However the original version in Chithra’s voice was retained in the movie.