For many, KK’s songs defined the Tamil film music era in 2000s

His first hit in Tamil was the evergreen song, ‘Kalloori Salai’, in Kadhal Desam

Krishnakumar Kunnath during his performance at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata on Tuesday | Photo Credit: PTI

Singer Krishnakumar Kunnath’s (KK) untimely death after a concert in Kolkata on May 31 has shocked the film fraternity across India. He was 53. Known as KK, he had sung terrific hit numbers not just in Hindi, but also in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and other languages. 

KK had several important hits that became a part of Tamil pop-culture.

He had sung the Tamil hit number, ‘Appadi Podu’, from Ghilli in 2004, which became a pan-India hit and was played at clubs and weddings in far-flung areas.

Having started his career as a singer with A. R. Rahman in the 90s, KK’s first hit in Tamil was the evergreen song, ‘Kalloori Salai’, in Kadhal Desam (A.R. Rahman). Then came the smash hit, ‘Strawberry Kanne’ from Minsara Kanavu composed by A. R. Rahman and featuring Prabhudeva, Arvind Swami and Kajol in 1997. 

However, his collaborations with upcoming music directors — Harris Jayaraj and Yuvan Shankar Raja — resulted in several major hits that became a inseparable part of Tamil pop culture in the 2000s.

The next decade saw KK deliver hit after hit. In 2001, he sang the enjoyable ‘Love Pannu’ for Harris Jayaraj in the movie 12B, featuring Simran and Jyothika.

 He then followed it up with ‘Kadhal Oru Thani Katchi’ in actor Vijay’s Shah Jahan and ‘Gundu Gundu Ponne’ from Dhool starring Vikram and Jyothika. 

In 2003, he had two major hits composed by Harris Jayaraj — ‘Uyirin Uyire’ from Kaakha Kaakha , a fast-paced song about love, which launched the career of Suriya as a full-fledged action hero and ‘Kalyanam Dhaan Kattitkittu’ from the movie Saamy, starring Vikram and Trisha. While ‘Uyirin Uyire’ was a hit among the city folk, the other one was a hit across Tamil Nadu. 

KK also sang the smash hit, ‘Kadhal Valarthen’, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja from the movie, Manmadhan. 

His association with Harris Jayaraj and Yuvan Shankar Raja resulted in two more hits — ‘Kadhalikkum Aasai’ from Chellamey and the melodious, ‘Ninaithu Ninaithu’ from 7G Rainbow Colony.

 He also sang ‘Annanoda Paatu’ in Chandramukhi, which was superstar Rajinikanth’s comeback film after Baba. 

In 2005, he once delivered a smash hit in ‘Andankaaka Kondaikaari’ in Anniyan, again composed by Harris Jayaraj. 

KK also sang the enjoyable, ‘Pani Thuli’ from Kanda Naal Mudhal. 

After a long gap, he lent his voice to Legend Saravanan in the movie The Legend.