*~*~*~*The K.K fan club*~*~*~*

FAME GAME

As a child he wanted to be a doctor. Destiny made him a singer instead. Krishna Kumar Kunnath better known as K K is on a high note in his singing career and today needs no inroduction. A commerce graduate from Delhi University, K K realised very late in life that he could make singing as his career. A die-hard fan of kishore Kumar, K K switched from Hindi to English songs during his teens. His versatile voice was soon tapped by various ad agencies in Delhi for jingles. He even formed a rock band with his friends and played drums for two other rock bands and did vocals. After college, K K did a brief stint as a marketing executive but after eight months gave up the job. Having married his childhood sweetheart Jyothy in 1991, as destined for the big time K K arrived in Mumbai in 1994 finally. K K gave his demo tape to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis to get a break in the music scene.

In 1994, UTV gave him his first break in Mumbai and since then he has never looked back. He worked with his mentor Leslie Lewis in his first jingle in Mumbai and success soon followed him. In a span of four years, he has to his credit more that 3500 jingles in 11 Indian languages. Vishal Bhardwaj, who noticed this new talent, gave him the much-needed break in Hindi cinema in MAACHIS. "I was one of the playback singer in Gulzar's hit number 'Chhod aaye hum woh galiyaan...'" he says. Vishal Bhardwaj also gave him his first solo number in HUM PAANCHI EK DAAL KE. In 1999, K K bagged the prestigious SCREEN Award as the Best Singer for his solo (non-filmy) album PAL under SONY MUSIC. He teamed up with his mentor Leslie Lewis for PAL.

K K surely has come a long way since 'Chhod aaye hum woh galiyan...' and 'Chappa chappa...' (MAACHIS). In SAPNAY, he gave a memorable song 'Strawberry ankhen..' and worked with none other that A R Rahmen. With 'Tadap tadap ke is dil se aah nikalti rahi...' (HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM), he registered himself as a singer to reckon with and shared a beautiful bonding with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ismail Darbar. He has given popular hits like 'Mujhe kuch kehna hai...', 'Pyar re...' (MUJHE KUCH KHENA HAI), 'Aaja gufaon mein aa...', ' Bandaa yeh bindaas hai...' (AKS), 'Koi kahe kehta rahe...' (DIL CHAHTA HAI), 'Bardaasht nahin kar sakta...'(HUMRAAZ), 'Dola re dola...' (DEVDAS), 'Chhal...'(CHHAL, ), 'Dole re...' (AGNIVARSHA), and 'Toofan sa...' (ROAD).

K K has worked with all the top most music directors like A R Rahman, Rajesh Roshan, Ismail Darbar, Nadeem-Shravan, Uttam Singh, Anu Malik, Shankar Ehsaan and Loy, Himmesh Reshammiya, Sandesh, M M Kreem and Jatin-Lalit. K K has lent his voice for most of the top stars in the industry from Amitabh Bachchan to Hirthik Roshan and Tusshar Kapoor to Akshaye Khanna. Down South, he has worked with well-known maestro llayaraj, Harris Jayraj, Deva, Vidyasagar and Mani Sharma.

Apart from his latest films like JISM's hit song 'Awara pan banjara pan...', SAATHIYA, EK AUR EK GYARAH, STUMPED, FREAKY CHAKRA, KHWAHISH, JHANKAR BEATS, K K has sung near about 250 songs in Hindi and more that 50 songs in Telgu, Tamil and Kannada languages in a short span. However, he says, "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." His latest films like PAANCH, SAYYA, MAIN HOON NAA, KYON, Vikram Bhatt's next and Vikas Deasi's untitled venture, all have beautiful numbers.

K K says, " 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. "Happily married, K K has a 9-year-old son Nakul and a 5-year-old daughter Taamara. Jyothy, his wife is a painter and designer by profession. Unlike other singers, K K has gauged his strength and weakness as a singer and says, "I know my limitations as a singer. My strength lies in my ability to emote well, when I sing. Since, I have had no formal training in music, I do take time to pick up classical aalaps. However, I overcome this weakness by my ability to pick up things quick and with true devotion." He concludes, "I least expected to be a playback singer in my life. Destiny surely shaped me up to be one and I have taken GOD's choice in my stride with great humility."