"Tadap Tadap", "Beete Lamhein", "Tu hi meri Shab hai", "Zara Sa", "Aankhon mein teri", "Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai", "Aashayein", "Soniye", "Alvida Alvida", and many more. All the above mentioned songs might have managed to click in some corner of our minds and with the audience in general. The immense popularity of these songs have resulted in its sales worth crores of rupees and have become a boon to the films, actors, production companies, etc to which these superhits belong to. Have you ever wondered whose is the magical voice behind them? The face of this singer is not as popular as that of Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Himesh Reshammiya, Kunal Ganjawala or yesteryear singers such as Kishore Kumar or Mohd Rafi.
Well, he’s none other than Kay Kay( not to be confused with actor Kay Kay Menon or any other singer with such initials).His real name is Krishna Kumar Kunnath. He was first seen over a decade ago when his debut music album Pal had released. It had popular tracks such as the title song Pal as well as Aapki dua, Yaaron and so on. This happened before he turned a professional playback singer in Bollywood. Then came the superhit "Tadap -Tadap ke is dil" from the Salman Khan, Ash and Ajay Devgan starrer Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam(1999). It was this song which gave him recognition - his first big break in Bollywood.
Born in Thrissur, Kerela, Kay Kay was brought up in New Delhi. A product of Mount St Mary’s School, Delhi Cantt and a graduate of Delhi University. He waited at tables for six months before he got his first break, singing in a jingle for a commercial. He appeared in "Josh of India" song for the support of the Indian Cricket team during the World Cup 1999.
His work has won him quite a lot of awards for the best plyback singer consecutively for many years. The smash hit from Bachna Ae Haseeno - "Khuda Jaane" won him the Star Screen Award for the same. His distinctly clear voice and excellent throw made him the favourite of music directors such as Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar and others. His second album Humsafar released in early 2008. Although, it did not perform well at the box office, it was considered a hit mainly among the youth.He has also sung in South Indian languages such as Tamil and Telegu.
Like many, Kay Kay too keeps a low profile but is not given the kind of publicity for a singer with a very successful career in Bollywood. He was last seen as a judge in Sony’s reality show Fame Gurukul in 2005.All that can be described about this singer is that his voice manages to click mainly among the youth of this nation or in other words, has a very youthful voice. However, he has remained my personal favourite for the past many years and his voice is a sure recommendation for all music lovers.