Language is no bar for me: Charles Antony

Kochiite Charles Antony rose to fame when he crooned a Spanish number for footballer Diego Maradona during his visit to Kerala last year. But it’s not just Spanish songs that Charles is an expert at singing. He can sing in 14 international languages, and that is what sets him apart from his counterparts in the highly competitive music industry.
Spanish, Italian, French, German, Mexican, Russian, African, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Sinhala, Indonesian and Malaysian — you name it and Charles will readily sing a song in that language.
Interestingly, he did not have to travel to these countries nor attend any language classes to hone his proficiency in foreign languages. “The world came to me instead,” quips Charles, who kickstarted his career with a two-piece band, Collins & Charles, with his friend Collins, and eventually started performing solo when Collins left for abroad.
“I used to perform solo at hotels in Kochi. That’s how I got acquainted with tourists from all over the world and eventually learnt a few songs in their respective languages. I even got some of my Korean and Japanese students to teach me a few of their traditional songs,” he recalls. “Though it took me about five to eight years, it was worth the effort,” he adds. Charles sings to the accompaniment of a mouth organ and an acoustic guitar. However, he says he is not trained in any musical instrument. “Initially, I didn’t even have access to the internet or video-sharing sites. I consider my brothers, Jose Edward and violinist John Bosco, as my gurus. It was with their help that I started playing the guitar when I was in class IV. Gradually, I mastered the art of playing the guitar and mouth organ simultaneously,” he says.
In addition to the foreign language songs, Charles enjoys belting out old English classics by Jim Reeves, John Denver, Harry Belafonte, Neil Young, the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Hindi classics by Kishore Kumar, Jagjit Singh and Mohammed Rafi, and a few Malayalam all-time favourite hits such as Alliyambal and Manikyaveenayumayi continue to top his list.
It was just not the Maradona effect that gave a boost to his musical career. After singing at a party organised by His Highness Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Charles was invited to his palace for a performance, which he considers a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’.
“I’ve performed at Sharm el-Sheikh, a famous tourist destination in Egypt, which had eminent English bands and artistes in attendance. After hearing me sing in foreign languages, many from the audience walked up to me and congratulated me for handling so many language with ease. They were indeed amused to see an Indian handling so many languages with the right accent and pronunciation,” recalls Charles.