The Legacy Continues

Following in Kishore’s footsteps,Amit became an acclaimed Bollywood playback singer between the ’70s and the ’90s,with hits such as Kasme Vaade,Gol Maal,Love Story and Tezaab. The death of his father,followed by composer RD Burman’s death,made him withdraw from the industry. “After dad,responsibilities hit me. I had to take care of my house and family,” he says.

Amit is now back in Bollywood with his father’s hit number Naino main sapna from Himmatwala. “I am not in this rat race. I left all this behind almost a decade ago. But when somebody asks me to sing for their film,I do it,” says Amit,who had been requested to sing this number by the film’s director,Sajid Khan. The feedback has been encouraging. “I have been following the comments on YouTube. Most of them are good,but one of the comments said that I sounded pretty old,” he says. But like his father,Amit remains unaffected by negativity.

Kumar is now working on the concept of an online music store alongwith his stepbrother Sumeet Kumar. They intend to begin with an album by Amit,who has already recorded eight songs for it. Three of them have been arranged by Sumeet and one is written by Sumeet’s mother,Leena Chandavarkar. The launch is planned for March. “The Internet is changing the way we access music. It was Sumeet’s idea that we start an online store instead of selling CDs,” says Amit.

His company,Kumar Brothers Music,will also promotes “Bhadra Sangeet”,a neglected form of Indian classical music. “We need to promote classical music also; it is,after all,a part of our culture,” says the singer. Through this company,Amit also wants to encourage new singers and composers,and keep his father’s legacy alive.