In his Footsteps

Amit Kumar almost sounds sarcastic when he says that he is unemployed these days. “That’s the truth. I have no desire or mood to sing for films. My father used to say that if you have to be in this industry,then wear a mask. It’s a superficial place,not for sentimental fools,” says Amit,the son of legendary singer Kishore Kumar,who adds that it’s not easy,to carry the back breaking burden of being a genius’ son. “I’ve faced my demons,crossed the hurdles and have taken everything with a pinch of salt. I have come to terms with the fact that not everyone is born to be successful,and in my own way,I have made my place,” says Amit with an unabashed honesty. He was in Chandigarh with his 29-year-old half brother Sumit for a performance at Chandigarh Carnival. Sumit is Leela Chandravarkar’s son. “They say I am more like my father,very moody. I think I am more of a misfit as I really don’t like being pressured,” says Sumit.

Talking about old days,Sumit says that things have changed a lot as compared to how they were when his father and his uncles entered the industry. “My father,my uncles Ashok and Anup,were the first ones to come into this industry. They had the passion,a hunger to make it big. We,on the other hand,were born into it and were always more secure,” says Sumit,who adds that for him,Amit’s always been the mentor,and he in turn carried out his father’s wishes of making Sumit learn the piano. “Baba wanted Sumit to play at the Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna,” tells Amit.

The brothers are extremely excited about their recent project though. “We’ve just launched our new website and it will have all our music,compositions,never heard before compositions of our father and Leelaji,Sudhakar Sharma and Javed Akhtar will be writing there for us,” tells Amit.

Disappointed with the way songs are treated as item numbers these days,Amit with this website,wants to bring back harmony,melody and lyrical value to music. “We need to bring the poetry back,” he says,raring to use technology to recreate the magic of his father’s music and connect with fans.

The two are also working towards a concert across the world called “Do Kishore”,an audio visual show on their father. “It is a tribute concert that will have the industry speaking about our father,his music and our songs,” they say. But while that still has time,it’s the biopic of Kishore Kumar that’s got Amit interested. “We’ve had one session with director Anurag Basu and I couldn’t have wished for a better actor than Ranbir Kapoor to play his part,” says Amit.