“I can’t imagine anyone else singing Tadap Tadap Ke in Hum…Dil De Chuke Sanam. What a singer! His voice had the throw of a pro. I remember when composer Ismail Darbar had come to me with the song Tadap tadap ke it was in KK’s voice. Normally scratch recordings (sample recordings) are done in temporary voices. But when I heard the song, my first response was, ‘Oh my God! What a voice? Who’s this? Where did you find him?’ Ismail said it was the voice of a singer named KK and he had heard him sing a song Chhod aaye hum woh galiyan for Vishal Bhardwaj. I told Ismail that I loved the song Tadap tadak ke. But the voice must remain. I couldn’t imagine anyone else singing Tadap tadap ke,” says Sanjay Bhansali.
Krishnakumar Kunnath whose baritone boomed across the airwaves with a velocity that defied the prevalent mood of mediocrity in music during this millennium. KK’s voice was the touchstone that reassured us that all was well in the rapidly declining music industry. The voice has been stilled right after a concert in Kolkata.
Years ago the singer Mukesh had passed away during a concert abroad.
What better send-off for a singer than to go after a performance? KK deserved a lot more than he got from the Mumbai film industry. In the South, he was the King having sung some of his biggest hits in Tamil. In Hindi, his success was sporadic and to large extent a victim of the vicious politics that runs through the Mumbai music industry.
KK would have none of that. “I can’t sing any and every song that comes my way. I can’t be part of the rat race. This gift that I’ve received from God must not be misused. I have a spiritual connect with my audience. I can never take that for granted.”
KK wanted to be a doctor initially. Eventually, his music did all the healing. But KK could never run after success. He couldn’t be part of any ‘camp’. Groupism was anathema to the singer. There was an element of the gypsy in KK’s singing. Listen to his most famous Tadap Tadap ke iss dil se aah nikalti rahi in Hum…Dil De Chuke Sanam or the less famous though equally accomplished title song from the film Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai: KK’s voice soars beyond the skies.
In Mumbai, KK lost an anchor when composer Pritam switched loyalties from KK to Arijit Singh, who in my opinion, lacks the unlimited range of KK.
KK could do anything with his voice. Now, it has been stilled. His son and daughter are into careers in music. They have the perfect footsteps to follow. His favourite song was Kishore Kumar’s Zindagi ka safar yeh hai kaisa safar koi samjha nahin koi jaana nahin.
No truer words were sung.
