Kabir Rafi is an Indian music composer, playback singer, independent pop artist, and background score artist. He has produced music for more than 200 international films. Rafi made his music debut with his first multilingual feature film, titled #PK, which was dubbed in multiple languages, and released in August 2022. Several of his productions have gained critical acclaim, such as Mana Mugguri Love Story and Mrs Subbalaxmi. He composed the music for his first Kannada commercial debut film Sugar Factory, released in November 2023.
Kabir Rafi was born to an Indian army soldier, Shaik Abdul Khader, in Vishakapatna, India. He lived in and travelled to various cities within India, including Gujarat (Bhuj), Bengaluru, Assam (Silchar) and Mumbai, before settling in Hyderabad. His family has an expansive military background, with his great-grandfather being a former freedom fighter. Both his father and grandfather also served in the Indian army, where the former acted as a Subedar major. During his time in the military, his father had an appreciation of playback singer Mohammed Rafi, from whom his name is derived.
Rafi's interest in composing music began in his childhood. With his mother's encouragement, Rafi started performing at the age of 12 in various musical stage shows, learning Hindustani classical music as a vocalist and tabla player. When his father was transferred to Mumbai by the Indian military, Rafi started his musical career, mainly as a soundtrack recordist and singer for music directors such as Dilip Sen. He left Mumbai for two years, living in his uncle's home while struggling to find employment. He attempted to enter the entertainment industry by acting in small roles under Balaji Telefilms Ltd and singing several jingles for commercials and dubbing songs. In 2006, Rafi's father was transferred a second time from Mumbai to Hyderabad. He insisted that Rafi join him and focus on his studies, suggesting he further his musical career by auditioning for a position in the Telugu film industry (informally known as "Tollywood") in Hyderabad.
Career
In Hyderabad, Rafi was given several jobs in the production of film soundtracks for various film and music directors. He also worked as a vocalist. The composer and singer Chakri allegedly encouraged Rafi early in his career. In 2009, Rafi collaborated with composer Jeevan Thomas for four years in music production.
From 2011 to 2015, Rafi was placed under observation,[vague] and worked as a member of the team led by music director Jeevan Thomas in the soundtrack production of the movies Kuberulu, First love (2013) and Yavvanam Oka Fantasy (2015). He was also presented with the opportunity to record tracks in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi as a playback singer for a few movies.
Rafi gave stage performances as a singer for numerous events. In 2014, he completed his first movie, Manasu Palike Maya Prema, and released the audio track of the feature. In 2016, his independent film Parinayam was released. The audio of his second feature film, Komali, was released in 2017 in Kannada. As of 2025, Rafi has completed over 200 projects, spanning short films, independent films, web series, feature films, and commercials. Several of his productions have gained critical acclaim, such as: Mana Mugguri Love Story, Mrs Subbalaxmi, Konchan Istam Chaala Kastam, I Hate You, Aa Gang Repu (Part 1 and 2), Maa Naana Kosam, Pilli Kalla Papa, Oye Nandu, and Atu itu nuvvey. Some of his most popular short films include: She, Musalman, Papa, Anandmaaye, Chotu, and Karmama.
Rafi's upcoming projects that are yet to be released include Akara and Love Again.
