Kumar Sanu says he stepped out of Kishore Kumar's shadow with 'Aashiqui', says album established his identity as performer

Mumbai, Nov 9 (IANS) Legendary playback singer Kumar Sanu has shared when he first noticed the shift in his singing style. The veteran singer has sung over 25, 000 songs, and was often told that his singing style is similar to that of Kishore Kumar.

The veteran singer spoke with IANS at his house in the Andheri West area of Mumbai during the promotions of his new song ‘Suniyo Zara’.

He said that people were right about calling his singing style similar to the late singer because he used to sing cover versions of his songs. Hence, it was imperative for him to maintain the essence of Kishore Kumar’s voice.

However, this changed after the chartbuster album of ‘Aashiqui’, as it established his distinctive singing style in Hindi film music.

He told IANS, “For me, the most important thing was the style of singing. In my earlier songs, you must have felt that there is a touch of Kishore Da.

People said initially that this is a copy of Kishore Da or a clone of Kishore Da. I got to hear this from the beginning. So when I got to hear it, I took it positively and found a way to tackle it. I tried a lot to separate myself from Kishore Da with ‘Aashiqui’. Before that, I was dubbing all the songs of Kishore Da as I was doing their cover versions. I thought if I follow the footsteps of Kishore Da, then I can only go to a limit. I had to achieve something of my own to go beyond the boundaries”.

He further mentioned that all legendary singers initially followed their idols, and later made their own identity.

“How did they make their identity? When they got the right opportunity, they showed what they can do with their voice and talent. I accepted it. I sang for ‘Aashiqui’, it became a super hit. In ‘Aashiqui’ sometimes it sounds like Kishore Da, sometimes it looks like Kumar Sanu. I tried very hard to establish this. Many people liked it and it became a super hit”, he added.

--IANS

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