Anwar Ibrahim sings Kishore Kumar song at piano, wins hearts online

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has won hearts online after a video showed him singing Kishore Kumar's Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat to a piano tune. The clip, shared on X, has crossed a million views and is widely circulating

New Delhi: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim breaking into Kishore Kumar’s famous number, Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat, is winning hearts on the internet.

On Saturday night, the Malaysian Prime Minister shared a video on X of himself singing the 1960s Hindi film song from the Dev Anand-starrer Teen Devian. Dressed in a crisp grey suit, he sings to a piano tune played by an accompanist. The clip has garnered more than a million views and is being widely shared.

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However, it was not immediately known exactly when or where the video was shot.

Ibrahim attended the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, hosted under India’s chairship on September 12 and 13 at the Bharat Mandapam complex.

Shahrizan Salian, a news editor at Malaysia’s more than 100-year-old publication, New Straits Times, who is in India to cover the BRICS Summit, said the video appeared to have been shot during the Malaysian Prime Minister’s stay at a luxury hotel in Delhi. A colleague from his government wearing a BRICS Summit badge can be seen standing next to him and enjoying the moment.

“Prime Minister Ibrahim has in the past confessed to being a fan of Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, both Indian singing legends,” Salian told PTI.

The journalist explained that Ibrahim does not know Hindi, yet managed to sing along to the piano tune without any visual aid for the lyrics.

“It all came from his heart. Music has no language,” he said.

Sharing the video on his X handle, Ibrahim wrote in Malay: “Guru mintak izin nyanyi kejap ok!” It translates to “Guru, allow me to sing a little bit, ok,” Salian said.

Yasmin Natasha, another Malaysian journalist in Delhi to cover the BRICS Summit, said Prime Minister Ibrahim had shown that even amid a hectic schedule of official business, a leader can find time to “do something to his or her heart’s content” while connecting people from different countries and cultures.

In the video, Ibrahim is seen standing next to an accompanist playing a tune on the piano. The Malaysian leader then impromptu joins the musician to perform the popular Kishore Kumar number.

He receives a round of applause from people around him at the end.

Natasha, who works at Astro Awani network as a broadcaster, said, “Our PM attended the summit, but what he did shows that he also found an opportunity to have a fun moment too” and connect with the masses in India and Malaysia.

“People expect leaders to be all stiff and very serious all the time, even during the sidelines of such mega events. But, I think it’s ok to listen to one’s heart, too,” she told PTI at the International Media Centre hosted at the Bharat Mandapam complex here.

India hosted the BRICS Summit at the sprawling venue in central Delhi, which was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and several other heads of state, among other top dignitaries.

BRICS, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.