Rendering his favourite songs
Nagesh G A can mimic over 80 personalities as well as anchor and sing in many languages
Visua
lly challenged Nagesh G A is multi-faceted. Not only can he mimic over 80 personalities including actors, politicians and cricketers, but he can also anchor in three languages and sing both old and new film hits in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. He can even sing in voices of R D Burman, Kumar Sanu and many other popular singers. The talented artist speaks to Metrolife on his passion for anchoring, mimicry and singing.
“I have been blind since birth, yet my parents gave me everything I needed,” he starts. “But it was only when I started degree in National College, Basavanagudi that my life began,” he adds. “After completing my post graduation in Economics from Bangalore University, I wanted to become a lecturer but couldn’t clear the tests.” That’s when Nagesh came across an institute conducting training in voice modulation, which included mimicry and anchoring. Later, with NGO Samarthanam Trust, he even went thrice to the USA. “I went twice within a year and had the opportunity to perform in places like the World Bank. During these performances, I learnt about karaoke.”
However, Nagesh’s most memorable moment was when he performed in front of veteran K J Yesudas. “I even created a mimicry item on the spot. He personally came to congratulate me and I even took a picture with him,” he says happily. Another instance, that Nagesh is proud of is the time when the Indian High Commissioner to England, A K Mukherjee served him food at the Indian High Commission office. “He was impressed with my rendition of his favourite song Mera Joota Hai Japani,” he laughs. How does Nagesh manage time juggling so many passions at once? “It’s my life,” he is quick to answer. “And I desire to learn more and more.”
Nagesh even released an album last year, and is a part of two bands — Kaveri Swaranjali, a band that sings Kannada songs and Universal Star Melodies, that performs hits in other languages. Recently, he also recorded a song for the film Abhilasha.
“I have a collection of 10,000 songs, and can remember 2,500 songs in four different languages,” he boasts. A huge fan of Kishore Kumar, R D Burman and S P Balusubramanium, Nagesh’s favourite song to perform on stage is Kishore’s evergreen classic, Aa Chalke Tujhe. He plans to bring out more albums in future, including a remix album of Kishore Kumar’s hit duets.
He is also planning to start an NGO called Suprabhata with a care centre for HIV affected people, rehabilitation centre for underprivileged children and a shelter for women. “It’s the duty of every citizen to bring underprivileged people to the mainstream,” he believes. The artist will be performing on July 4 at 6.45 pm at Jeevanahalli, Cox Town for a musical evening organised by NGO Snehade.
