Singer
KK passed away on Tuesday night, leaving the whole nation – including
Tollywood
celebs – mourning for him.
Born as Krishnakumar Kunnath, he was popularly known as KK or
Kay Kay
through his career. An association that began with Bollywood in 1996 saw him roped into several other film industries including Tollywood. Through his illustrious career, he had sung not just hit Hindi
songs
, but also numbers in
Telugu
, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati. He was performing at a concert in Kolkata and had complained of heat and humidity before being rushed out to a hospital. The singer was declared ‘brought dead’ leaving legions of fans heartbroken.
From 1996 to 2014, KK had recorded numerous songs in Telugu, many of which became hits. He had worked with the likes of
AR Rahman
,
Mani Sharma, Devi Sri Prasad and Thaman S for actors like
Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun, Ravi Teja and more. Take a look at five classic numbers of his that remain popular even today:
Hello Doctor – Prema Desam (1996) While the film directed by Kathir and starring Tabu, Vineeth and Abbas in the lead roles was a dubbed Tamil film, the soundtrack composed by AR Rahman was a massive hit in a united AP. This song, apart from College Style, introduced KK to the Telugu crowd and there was no looking back after.
Ye Mera Jaha – Kushi (2000) This song by Mani Sharma in the SJ Suryah directorial Pawan Kalyan and Bhumika Chawla was such a massive hit when it released, it was nothing less than a youth anthem back then. Even Pawan remembered how crucial KK’s vocals were for the song’s cult status.
Paataku Pranam – Vasu (2001) KK had a particularly good year in Tollywood in 2001 when he delivered massive hits but the soundtrack of Vasu, composed by Harris Jayaraj, provided a whole new sound. Directed by A Karunakaran, the film starred Venkatesh and Bhumika Chawla with KK’s songs turning out to be chartbusters.
Devude Digi Vachina – Santosham (2001) RP Patnaik was at the peak of his career and had roped in KK for this massive number that was an instant hit. The film directed by Dasaradh, starring Nagarjuna, Gracy Singh and Shriya Saran had a good OST.
Daayi Daayi Damma – Indra (2002) The moment you think of this song, you can’t help but remember KK’s peppy vocals apart from Chiranjeevi and Sonali Bendre’s dance moves. The B Gopal directorial had music by Mani Sharma with this song in particular playing everywhere.
Special mentions: Uday Kiran and
Tarun
were two of the most sought-after heroes in the early 2000s and while their acting aided well to their films becoming hits, so did the soundtracks, especially numbers sung by KK.