Arslan Nizami

If he had chosen a different path, Arslan Nizami would be building bridges instead of composing them. The musician—who trained under his father, renowned Kashmiri vocalist Qaiser Nizami—had already found some success in his hometown of Srinagar while working as a civil engineer when, along with close friend and fellow singer-songwriter Faheem Abdullah, he decided to take a leap of faith and visit Mumbai for a fortnight to explore becoming a full-time musician. On the last day of their 14-day trip, the pair met Hindi film music director Tanishk Bagchi, who went on to mentor them and give them their big break when he put them in touch with Bollywood director Mohit Suri. The filmmaker used Bagchi’s reworking of one of their compositions as the title track of his romantic drama Saiyaara, which became one of the most-streamed songs of 2025. The same year saw the release of Nizami’s debut album Riqqat, folloiwing a string of folk and Sufi music-influenced pop singles since 2022. The collection features playback and ghazal singing star Rekha Bhardwaj, as well as several Kashmiri acts including Abdullah.