Qazi Touqeer Enters Bigg Boss 20 After 21 Years: What Happened to the Fame Gurukul Winner Who Once Competed With Arijit Singh?

For anyone who grew up watching Indian reality television in the mid-2000s, Qazi Touqeer is unlikely to need an introduction. The long hair, unmistakable style and charismatic stage presence turned him into one of Fame Gurukul’s most memorable contestants.

In 2005, Qazi won the popular Sony TV singing reality show alongside Ruprekha Banerjee. Interestingly, another aspiring singer competing that season was Arijit Singh, who eventually finished sixth before going on to become one of Indian cinema’s biggest playback singers.

Now, more than two decades after his breakthrough, Qazi is back where millions first discovered him reality television.

The former Fame Gurukul winner has entered Bigg Boss 20, hosted by Salman Khan, bringing a heavy dose of nostalgia to the latest season.

But where exactly was Qazi Touqeer all these years?

Fame Gurukul Changed Qazi Touqeer’s Life in 2005

Fame Gurukul brought together aspiring performers from across India, but Qazi quickly became one of its biggest talking points.

Despite facing an intense competition, he built a loyal fan following and eventually emerged as a winner alongside Ruprekha Banerjee.

After their victory, Qazi and Ruprekha released the album Qazi-Ruprekha Jodi No-1 in November 2005.

The album featured tracks including Yeh Pal, Karu Kya, Hero and Meri Mehbooba, giving Qazi an immediate opportunity to capitalise on his reality-show popularity.

But music was never his only ambition.

Qazi Wanted to Become an Actor

Qazi has previously revealed that he was always interested in acting and films, and opportunities began arriving almost immediately after Fame Gurukul.

Speaking to Siddharth Kannan in 2024, Qazi recalled being approached for a film titled Piya, which was associated with Ahmed Khan and Bobby Khan.

The project was expected to feature Sneha Ullal as the female lead, and Qazi recalled visiting producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s office as discussions progressed.

However, the film never materialised.

For Qazi, it became one of several early opportunities that looked promising but failed to translate into the major acting career he had imagined.

Ekta Kapoor Also Approached Him

Another major opportunity reportedly came from Ekta Kapoor.

Qazi recalled that Kapoor personally narrated a script to him while, around the same period, Sony was considering introducing him as a rockstar on the popular television series Kaisa Yeh Pyaar Hai.

Suddenly, the 19-year-old Fame Gurukul winner found himself caught between multiple professional opportunities.

And he admits he wasn’t prepared to navigate them.

‘I Was Only 19’

Qazi has said that he was extremely young, new to Mumbai and unfamiliar with contracts, management and the complex professional dealings of the entertainment industry.

According to him, he did not feel comfortable directly refusing Ekta Kapoor when she narrated a project to him.

Things became more complicated when media reports subsequently suggested that he had “ditched” Kapoor.

“I couldn’t say no to Ekta Kapoor in front of her because I was only 19,” Qazi recalled, adding that he did not even realise he had formally been signed for the project.

The experience was particularly difficult because social media did not provide celebrities with the instant communication platforms available today.

Qazi said he had little opportunity to directly explain his side when stories about him appeared in the press.

Javed Akhtar Had Predicted He Would Get Film Offers

Despite those early setbacks, Qazi continued receiving acting opportunities.

He also remembered an encouraging conversation with veteran lyricist and Fame Gurukul judge Javed Akhtar.

According to Qazi, Akhtar told him that once he left the reality show, filmmakers would approach him with offers.

That prediction proved accurate but converting those opportunities into completed films was another story.

Another Film With Rajpal Yadav Was Shelved

After stepping away from the spotlight for around two to three years, Qazi continued to receive offers.

One such project was reportedly a film titled Take Off, which also featured Rajpal Yadav.

Unlike some earlier projects, filming actually began. Qazi said they shot for a few days before the movie was eventually shelved.

Once again, an opportunity that might have established him as a Bollywood actor disappeared before reaching audiences.

Did You Spot Qazi in ‘Afghan Jalebi’?

Years later, Qazi unexpectedly resurfaced in a hugely popular Bollywood song.

He appeared in the music video for Afghan Jalebi from the 2015 film Phantom, featuring Katrina Kaif.

However, Qazi later revealed that his name wasn’t included in the video’s description.

What happened next surprised him.

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Despite the absence of a credit, viewers flooded the comments with references to Qazi, recognising the former Fame Gurukul star years after his reality-show victory.

For Qazi, those comments demonstrated that the audience that had supported him in 2005 hadn’t completely forgotten him.

Why Did Qazi Touqeer Stay Away From the Spotlight?

Qazi did not subsequently appear in many major mainstream entertainment projects, although he remained connected with fans through YouTube and Instagram.

In a 2018 interview, he revealed that he had been rejecting offers because he was concentrating on a project particularly important to him.

More recently, Qazi also revealed that he had written a script based on Kashmir and hoped to eventually make the project.

For someone whose career began with enormous overnight visibility, his journey has therefore been far less straightforward than audiences might have expected after Fame Gurukul.

Is Qazi Touqeer Still Friends With Arijit Singh?

One particularly interesting connection from Qazi’s Fame Gurukul days has survived the passage of time.

Arijit Singh was another contestant on the 2005 reality show and finished in sixth place.

Their careers subsequently followed dramatically different trajectories, but Qazi and Arijit reportedly remained in touch and continued to share a friendship over the years.

It is an intriguing piece of reality-TV history: two young contestants who once competed on the same stage before their lives took very different paths.

Qazi Touqeer Returns With Bigg Boss 20

Now, 21 years after winning Fame Gurukul, Qazi Touqeer has begun another reality television journey.

He is among the contestants on Bigg Boss 20, hosted by superstar Salman Khan. The latest season premiered on September 6, 2026.

His entry is likely to be particularly nostalgic for viewers who remember voting for him during the Fame Gurukul era.

Back then, Qazi was a 19-year-old trying to prove himself as a performer. More than two decades later, he enters the Bigg Boss house carrying an entirely different story one involving sudden fame, missed opportunities, shelved films, years away from the mainstream and an audience that apparently never completely forgot him.

Whether Bigg Boss 20 becomes Qazi Touqeer’s second major breakthrough remains to be seen.