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Kamaal ka KK

The busy singer took time off to make the city dance to his tunes, says J. R. SHRIDHARAN

From a jingle singer to playback singing to stage performance - Krishna Kumar Kunnath (popularly known as KK in the music world) has come a long way. Shedding his boyish image, the effervescent crooner, sporting a Rehman hairdo, enthralled denizens of Vijayawada with melodious numbers from both Hindi and Telugu films. "I realised late in my life that I am a born singer. I never learnt classical music, but I used to spend a lot of my time listening to the legendary playback singer Kishore Kumar," says KK. A native of Kerala, KK was brought up in Delhi. Advertising agencies received the youngster with open arms and soon, his voice began to add a dash of novelty to thousands of ad jingles.

Filmi break

"After carving a niche in the ad world, I thought Delhi was the wrong place to pursue a career in music. In 1994, I shifted to Mumbai and approached Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis for a break," reminisces the crooner.

How did he get his much-needed break in Hindi films? "Music director Vishal Bhardwaj liked the freshness in my voice and I was one of the singers in Gulzar's hit number " Chodh Aaye Hum Who Galiyan... " in Maachis. He also offered me a solo number in "Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke," he says.

In 1999, KK bagged the prestigious Screen Award after being adjudged the best singer solo (non-film) for his album PAL under Sony Music. "PAL gave me the much-needed identity. The album was a runaway success and people still remember the songs," he points out.

Incidentally, KK is working on his second album, which he plans to release in 2007. "I know my limitations as a singer. My strength lies in my ability to emote well, when I sing. As I have had no formal training in music, I do take time off to pick up classical aalaps.

Stage shows

However, I am able to overcome this weakness thanks to my ability to grasp things quickly with true devotion." KK feels that his voice gels well with Sunitha Chouhan, Vasundhara Das and Shreya Ghoshal. "Our voices synchronise well," he maintains.

Telugu film industry recognised the innate talent of KK when music director R. P. Patnaik gave him a break by giving a solo number - Neekosasme Ee Anveshana in Nuvvu Nenu. "I am thankful to RP for introducing me to Telugu audiences. I take lot of care and precaution while singing songs in other languages and strive hard to lend to the song the best of my diction, pronunciation and emotion," he says. KK has his hands full with songs to render in Telugu films. He frequently visits Hyderabad to sing for forthcoming films.

What are his future projects? "I want to concentrate equally on playback singing and stage shows. I was recently in Turkey to perform in a series of shows.

I will be singing all kinds of songs and language is not a barrier," signs off KK, hopping on to the stage at Andhra Loyola College, to rock the crowds.

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