Back for a second innings

Out of action for sometime after he hit a lean patch, singer AMIT KUMAR has much to look forward to now that his songs in `Raju Chacha' have got him rave review. K. KANNAN talks to him....

In 1994, when Amit Kumar cut his fourth disc titled ``Mad'', music director R.D.Burman told him not to worry if his albums were not doing well. ``Amit, you are 15 years ahead of your times,'' the music director said just 15 days before he died.

Almost seven years later, Amit still recalls Pancham Da's words even as the Jatin-Lalit duo have tried to exploit his singing abilities to the hilt in the recently released ``Raju Chacha'' . While he has been singing off and on like in ``Bade Miya, Chhote Miya'' and ``Silsile Pyaar Ke'' , he has been overtaken by other playback singers.

``It is a cycle. You go up and then come down. But there is always a second innings,'' says this son of the legendary Kishore Kumar, who made his debut in 1973 with the immensely hummable ``Bade Acche Lagte Hai'' number in ``Balika Badhu''.

While Amit sang for a large number of music directors including Salil Chaudhary, Rajesh Roshan and R. D. Burman, he had to wait till 1981 for ``Love Story'' to be recognised as a singer in his own right. ``Those were the days when father used to encourage me a lot. He criticised me often when I went wrong. He used to say, when I am not here, nobody will criticise you,'' Amit reminisces.

Early on in his career, Amit realised that banking on films alone was not going to take him far. So, he diversified into doing albums. ``My first album was `O Sweet Heart'. This was followed by `Disco Flight'. Then came `Dum Dama Dum' and finally, `Mad' which was released in 1994. Not only did I sing in these albums, I included my own compositions too,'' he says.

However, the four albums did not do too well and a discouraged Amit put the rest of his compositions in cold storage. ``I recorded an album ten years ago in which the lyrics were written by Leena Chandravarkar. They are still in my cupboard,'' he says.

With the song ``Dil, Dil Ka Ye Kaam Hai'' from the film ``Raju Chacha'' getting rave reviews, Amit is excited about a comeback. ``I am singing for a few films in which Jatin-Lalit are giving music,'' he says. ``I will also be doing two more albums this year.''

While he has done a large number of stage shows in India and abroad, he still feels that stars play a very big role in shaping the destinies of men. ``I recorded some songs for the film `Lovaria' which was being made by Kundan Shah. This film has now been put in cold storage due to the recent happenings in Bollywood,'' he reveals.

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