"When I sing, I give my heart and soul"

Krishna Kumar Kunnath better known as K K is on a high note in his singing career. He surely has come a long way since ‘Chodh aaye hum who galiyan…’ and ‘Chappa chappa…’ (MAACHIS).

K K has worked with all the top music directors including A R Rahman, Ismail Darbar, Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, Shankar Ehsaan & Loy, Himmesh Reshammiya, Sandesh, M M Kreem, Jatin-Lalit, Vishal Shekhar, Pritam and Saleem Suleman. K K has also lent his voice for most of the top stars in the industry from Amitabh Bachchan to Hrithik Roshan and Tusshar Kapoor to Akshaye Khanna.

Down South, he has worked with well-known maestro Ilayaraja, Harris Jayraj, Deva, Vidyasagar and Mani Sharma.

KK shares his views and experience:

What was your childhood aspiration?

As a child I wanted to be a doctor. Destiny made me a singer instead. I am a commerce graduate from Delhi University. I realized very late in my life that I could make singing as my career. I am a die-hard fan of Kishore Kumar. I switched from Hindi to English songs during my teens. I got offers from various ad agencies in Delhi for jingles. I formed a rock band with my friends and played drums for two other rock bands and did vocals.

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How did you enter the films?

After college I did a brief stint as a marketing executive but after eight months I gave up the job. I then married my childhood sweetheart Jyothy in 1991. I came to Mumbai in 1994 and gave my demo tape to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis to get a break in the music scene.

In 1994, UTV gave me his first break in Mumbai and since then I have never looked back. I worked with my mentor Leslie Lewis in my first jingle in Mumbai and success followed soon. In a span of four years, I sang around 3500 jingles in 11 Indian languages. Vishal Bhardwaj, who noticed me, gave me the much-needed break in Hindi cinema in MAACHIS. I was one of the playback singers in Gulzar’s hit number 'Chodh aaye hum woh galiyan'…and Vishal Bhardwaj also gave me his first solo number in HUM PAANCHI EK DAAL KE.

Any awards?

In 1999, I got the prestigious SCREEN Award as the Best Singer for my solo (non – filmy) album PAL under SONY MUSIC. I teamed up with his mentor Leslie Lewis for PAL.

Tell us about your songs in various languages and concerts.

I have sung near about 400 songs in Hindi and more than 100 songs in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada languages in a short span. I have performed live concerts for Corporate Giants like Hero Honda, Toyota, Glaxo, Seagram’s, IBM, Sun Microsoft, Microsoft, Fidelity, Citibank, INLFS, LG, Sony Eriksson, Air Sahara, Ultra Tech Cement, JP Cement, and many more. I have also performed for schools, Colleges, and other educational institute like IIT Kanpur, IIT Khadakpur, IIT Rurki, IIT Chennai, MDI-Gurgaon, IIMS-Lucknow, and HT Youth Nexus.

How do you feel to be a busy singer?

I really get drain out if I have to sing more than two songs a day. When I sing, I give my heart and soul to give that emotional touch to each song. It’s very important for me to understand what are the scenes and emotions attached before and after the song. It helps.

How do you balance your personal and professional lives?

I have been very fortunate to have worked with all the best people in the industry. I prefer to spend some quality time with my family. I work less because I want to enjoy my work and life to my heart’s content.”

Can you tell about your strength and weakness?

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