Kunal, the new star

With popular songs like Bheege Hoth Tere and O Humdum..., Kunal is the flavour of the season.

Kunal Ganjawalla is the flavour of the season following his soft, sensuous and dulcet voice, which lent a new meaning to the song Bheege Hoth Tere (Murder). Not to miss the equally pulsating O Humdum Suniyo Re (Saathiya).

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One who never sang beyond his bathroom, Kunal is the most sought after and an upcoming singer in Bollywood today. His is the most soothing voice to hit the silver screen off late.

“I never thought I could sing. In fact when I was in college at Elphinstone, some of my seniors ragged me to sing and that’s when I discovered I had a voice, which can give me my destiny. It was only later that I started participating in competitions and during one such event at Malhar, playback singer Poornima noticed me and encouraged me to take up singing professionally. So I started learning music at Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan as I had no background in classical music,” says Kunal.

His first brush with fame came with the commercial Doodh Doodh Doodh jingle,which he sang for Leslie Lewis. “That made me a regular in the jingle industry” says he.

Following a few jingles, he soon graduated to do albums and film songs. “Through Ranjit Barot and Rajat Dholakia I got to meet a lot of film composers who used me for various songs,” informs Kunal adding that besides these two, lyricist Mehboob also helped him establish his feet in the industry.

“Mehboob sahib introduced me to A R Rahman who gave me an opportunity to sing O Humdum Suniyo Re in Saathiya and also used me for Lakeer. I will always be grateful to Mehboob sahib for trusting my voice” says he.

Kunal’s list of songs is impressive. He has sung for films like Saathiya, Rules Pyar Ka Superhit Formula, Mumbai Matinee, Khakee, Run, Lakeer, Rudraksh, Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai, Fun2shh, I Proud to be Indian, Ab Ke Baras, Saaya, Badhai Ho Badhai and many more. Amongst the recent releases that Kunal has had include Bheege Hoth Tere (Murder), Janabe Aali (Bardaasht) and Shehzadi (Uuf Kya Jaadoo Mohabbat Hai). Kunal’s voice will also be heard in the soundtracks of Lakshya, Gayab, Naach, Dhoom, Kyon Ho Gaya Na and Rewind amongst many other films.

A R Rahman, Anu Malik, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sandesh Shandilya, Ram Sampath, Himesh Reshimmaiya, Ranjit Barot, Amar Mohile and many more comprise the list of composers that Kunal has worked with or is working with.

Other than film songs Kunal has also done a few private albums, which include Ek Cutting Chai, which he recorded for Saregama-HMV in 1999. Thereafter he has sung for Jalwa III (Hai Re Hai Tere Ghungta), Absolute Mix (Bindu Re Bindu) and Honey Honey (featuring Salman Khan in the video).

Over 1000 jingles, few hit private albums and a gamut of Hindi film hits is what his resume reads like. The freshness of his voice and the strength of his range are certainly bound to take Kunal places in Bollywood.