BANGALORE: Kunal Ganjawala may not know how to speak in Kannada but has already sung more than 150 songs in that language. Kunal admitted that it is his driver who has taught him a little bit of Kannada that he knows. “Thanks to him, I can at least understand Kannada if not speak it well. But even he is surprised every time he listens to my songs in Kannada. I guess it’s because music has no language,” said Kunal, who will be performing today at the Palace Grounds.
That’s not the only connection the talented singer has with namma Bengaluru.
His sister is married to a Kannadiga and coming to Bangalore is coming home for him. “Performing in Bangalore is special because my sister is here. It’s great to see that people here love me and my music so much,” said Kunal, who was busy performing in Dharwad at the time of this interview.
What does he have in store for the people in Bangalore? “Well, I’ll be singing all my hit songs in Hindi and Kannada,” he said.
“I hope to sing not less than 25 songs,” he added.
Talking about Sau Gram Zindagi, the song from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish that’s getting him rave reviews, Kunal said, “I think Sau Gram Zindagi is one of the best songs of my career.
It was great working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He is someone who tells you what he wants and then leaves you.
There is no ego on his sets and he does not force you to do what he wants.” But what about those who do ‘force’ and dictate terms on their sets? “I know there are filmmakers who interfere with your work but there is nothing you can do about it. In such situations, I assume that the other person knows better than me and has different plans for the project we are working for. Like in Guzaarish, Sanjay wanted me to laugh in one of the versions of Sau Gram... which I didn’t understand.
Later, I got to know that it’s because Hrithik laughed the same way throughout the film. And it worked. There have been cases when the song flops because you as a singer, are not allowed to do what you wanted to. A film is a very big canvas of which you are just a small part. If your song flops, there are other songs in the film that might help the filmmaker in making money. You have to learn to accept what comes your way; success or failure. All kinds of people get into filmmaking. Those you know what they are doing make history but those you don’t, end up making a film with not much creativity involved. You have to work with both of them so no complaints,” he pointed out.
Kunal’s other projects include a bhangra number for a Bollywood film, The Lifestyle, featuring Drew Barrymore.
He has also sung for American- Marathi film, Mala Aai Vhhaychy, based on surrogacy. The film was selected to be shown to President Obama.
“President Pratibha Patil has selected the film, which speaks about foreigners using Indian women as surrogate mothers. My song revolves around the emotions of a surrogate mother who gives birth to a child who looks like a foreigner. It’s gratifying when people like what you’ve done with sincerity and honesty,” he said.
Is he planning another album after Chana Ve? “There is a lot to express but I’m not sure how I’m going to do that. It could be an album or a film but something will come out for sure.
That’s going to be something closer to what Kunal Ganjawala is in real life, what he thinks and what he wants to say through his music,” he signed off.
