He was one of the most successful playback singers in the Malayalam film industry during the 1950s and early 1960s, with a good number of hit songs in his kitty.
Many of his early songs were written by Mepalli Balan and Nelson Fernandes, with that special Mattancherry flavour.
Cochin based actor Muthiah recommended Mehboob to music director Dakshinamoorthy, who was looking for a new voice for the film Jeevitha Nouka.
[6][7] He went on to record numerous hit songs for composers M. S. Baburaj, K. Raghavan, G. Devarajan, R. K. Shekhar and many more.
A part of the song "Theerchaayilla Janam", written by Kannan Pareekutty and sung in 1956, was rendered by actor Mohanlal for the 1999 film Ustaad .