Malaysian PM sings Bollywood song

NEW DELHI: Amid political speeches and declarations at the 18th BRICS summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has grabbed some attention after he sang a classic bollywood song during an event.

Hours before the Prime Minister hosted gala dinner on Saturday evening, Ibrahim sang Kishore Kumar’s iconic number, ‘Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat’ from the Hindi film Teen Devian, turning himself into a viral sensation across social media platforms and striking a chord with audiences in India.

The Malaysian leader shared a clip of his performance on social media. In the caption, he wrote, “Guru mintak izin nyanyi kejap ok!”. It roughly translates to ‘Teacher, may I sing for a moment?’. In the video shared on X, the leader is seen singing the popular song from the 1960s Hindi film Teen Devian, starring Dev Anand. The clip has garnered more than a million views already and is being widely shared.

Throughout the BRICS proceedings, Ibrahim appeared to be in a particularly light-hearted mood. At one point, he also made a remark to Prime Minister Modi about his popularity.

Known to be an ardent fan of Bollywood legends Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, Ibrahim has often sung some of their famous Hindi songs in Malaysia during his private leisure time, said sources. Despite not knowing the language, the leader manages to pronounce a few Hindi words in his distinctive accent, they added.

After the event, Ibrahim also met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday over a breakfast meeting and discussed India-Malaysia ties.