Abhijeet Bhattacharya on KK: He was the last playback singer we had whose style was copied by a many – Times of India

KK captivated music lovers with his charming voice and his chartbusters from the 90s are still a hot favourite. His untimely demise has left the entire nation emotional and the music fraternity is at a loss of words. ETimes spoke to singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who had a tough time accepting that his frequent collaborator was no more, “I was at home when a local channel from Kolkata called to inform me about this. I refused to believe it and checked all the channels at home. There were debates going on and then suddenly news of his demise flashed. I was shocked. Just 15 days back I had performed at the same auditorium, Nazrul Mancha, for another college fest, and this happened.”

Recalling KK as a path-breaking singer who owned the music space with his unique talent, Abhijeet adds, “KK was a trendsetting singer, which still continues. KK entered the scene when (Kumar) Sanu, Udit (Narayan), Sonu (Nigam) and I were the main singers. We were literally shocked with his voice and singing skills and I became his fan. I have a few songs which I feel are written for me, but suddenly he arrives and my tension increases. It was because of him that music directors started making music on a different pitch. He brought a western, youthful change in music. He was a voice for actors like Shah Rukh Khan and even for the new age heroes. KK was the last playback singer we had… those who came after him, I don’t count them as playback singers. His songs were written for the screen and heroes. Those who came after him, were all about remixes, singing our songs or singing anything at home. All these people have copied KK.”

Recalling their interactions during Durga Puja, the singer adds, “I never praise a singer till the time I feel it. Everyone knows that I host a huge Durga Puja in Mumbai and every time KK attended, I would be the first one sitting in the audience, right in front. Before he could tell me, ‘Dada I am your big fan’, I would shut his mouth at ‘big’ and tell him, ‘KK, I am your very big fan’. I have a different kind of respect for him. You would never see him on reality shows, commenting on social media or getting into controversies. He was a straight, honest man who went to the recording studio and was back home. Everyone may say that he was 53, but I feel he was still in his 30s-40s, such was his talent.”

Soon after KK’s demise, several backstage videos of the singer surfaced in which he is seen sweating profusely and using a towel in between performances. Social media users have blamed the AC conditions at the auditorium. Countering the same, Abhijeet Bhattacharya says, “This is all rubbish. Singers like us have towels because we have 100s of hit songs. We don’t go on the stage for four songs. Those who have 100s of songs, they are not allowed to leave the stage so soon and we too are in no hurry to exit. We are fans of our fans, so singers who have a caliber like KK, despite the agreement of 1 hour, people don’t leave us and we also don’t want to leave the stage. Towels, water, everything is always available for us. And Nazrul Mancha, where the show was held, I just performed there last month and it was the hottest time. In fact Nazrul Mancha has improved in the past few years, previously there was no AC there. So this is wrong. It’s true that the crowd was huge, it may have been full over the capacity of the auditorium. There are people backstage, there is a queue outside the greenroom.”