Who is Stebin Ben? Nupur Sanon’s husband, Kriti Sanon’s new brother-in-law, and widely known as ‘India’s Atif Aslam’

While he was inclined to become a musician right since school, his conservative parents wanted him to get a degree first. So, he did a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from LNCT College, Bhopal, and is an engineer by qualification just like his sister-in-law Kriti. He’d sing at Bhopal cafes on the side to earn enough money to relocate to Mumbai. He managed to do that eventually, but with just Rs 20,000 in his pocket when he first moved to Mumbai. He had to share his small apartment with nine men to make his ends meet.

Stebin Ben’s big break

Ben credits popular albums of Bollywood romantic blockbusters like Karan Johar’s directorial debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Hrithik Roshan’s debut movie, Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (2000) as his early musical influences. He’d look up to music composers like Jatin-Lalit and Rajesh Roshan, and lyricists like Anand Bakshi, Javed Akhtar, and Ibrahim Ashk.

 

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Thus, it was no surprise that his break in music came with the rehashed version of a cult ’90s Bollywood romantic song — “Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Pagal Hai” from Lawrence D’Souza’s 1991 romantic film Saajan. While the original track was rendered by Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik, composed by Nadeem-Shravan, and written by Sameer, Stebin’s rehashed version soared to popularity in 2018.

Steben as “India’s Atif Aslam”

He has subsequently sang “Selfish (Solo)”, written by Salman Khan and composed by Vishal Mishra. The primary track was sung by Pakistani singer Atif Aslam, which also set the ball rolling for the comparisons between their voices. On being widely hailed as “India’s Atif Aslam,” Stebin told The Print last year, “Our vocal tones do share that high and mid-range quality. When I sing his songs, of course, a bit of his andaaz (style) creeps in. That’s natural when you’ve grown up learning from them.”

While Stebin went on to lend his voice to several Bollywood albums like Jersey (2022), Raksha Bandhan (2022), Selfiee (2023), and Baaghi 4 last year, his identity was shaped by the success of his independent music. Singles like “Sahiba”, “Rula Ke Gaya Ishq”, “Bhula Na Teri Baatein”, “Thoda Thoda Pyaar”, “Sirf Tu”, “Humnava”, “Ishq Da Dariyaa”, and “Tumhari Mohabbat” have allowed him to solidify his place in the independent music scene and sell out concerts across the country.

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“Bollywood is the dream, but I go with the flow. I’ve worked on both film and independent music—and honestly, my indie tracks have performed better,” he told The Print. “Every one of my songs first blew up on reels before taking over everywhere else,” he added, crediting his 15.6 million Instagram following for the wide reach of his independent singles.