Weaving magic with his voice

He has been a singing sensation ever since he set foot in the music industry. Kunal Ganjawala has woven magic with his voice in different languages — Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and more.

And has given us some evergreen songs like ‘O Humdum Soniye Re’, ‘Dil Na Diya’ and ‘Tumse Yun Milenge’. His husky voice has captured the heart and imagination of a lot of music lover. In a chat with ‘Metrolife’, he talks about his concert at the Concorde Euphoria at Napa Valley today and about his journey in the music industry.

A glimpse into your childhood...

I had a fantastic childhood by God’s grace, lots of fun, vacations and get togethers. It was a blessed childhood, I would say. But there was no music; I was an avid listener but I had no clue that I could sing nor did I have any inclination to sing. My father played the harmonica and each time we went out for vacations he would drive and play it.

You are performing at Concorde Euphoria, Napa Valley in Bengaluru... Tell us about the concert.

I am looking forward to the concert today. I have about 35 chart toppers and will be singing almost all of them. Besides that I will be singing some popular Kannada songs. I am pretty excited and I’m hoping for a great audience.  

What can people expect from the concert?

People always look forward to a good time at any concert. They want to see performances that are worth the money they have paid. They can see me performing songs like ‘Dil keh raha hai’ and ‘Onde ondu sari’ from ‘Mungaru Male’. And of course, the playlist will change depending on what the audience wants to listen to. It’s a vibe and it comes from the heart, you cannot really have a set plan.

What are the top five songs on your playlist?

I always have ‘U2’ playing on my playlist. Apart from that, I have ‘Coldplay’ and a lot of songs from popular musicians like Lataji, Ashaji, Kishorji and Rafi saheb. These songs keep playing on shuffle.

How did you get into music?

I was in my first year of college, I got bullied and ragged by a few seniors. I joint the acting school, and you know how it is, when you are in college and you want to hang out with your friends, and you and don’t feel like coming back home. I remember this one time when I was whistling something and a few seniors started bullying me. One of them caught me by the collar and said if I can whistle I can sing also. That was the moment when I realised that I could sing. I was always an avid listener but I never thought of singing before this incident.  

If one morning, you wake up and find yourself in the middle of a desert, what would you do?

This is a tough one (laughs). I would probably look for some water or ways to get out. And of course, I would be singing ‘We are the world we are the children...’ And I’d apologise to God for all the mistakes I made and ask him to take me out of the desert. Or make me realise that it was just a dream.

If you were a musical instrument, which one would you be?

I would like to be a mandolin. I wish I could be played by Mandolin Rajesh and Mandolin Srinivas.

If not a singer what would you have aspired to be?

A cricketer or a businessman.

(As told to Surupasree Sarmmah)