HE has been a household name for the past three decades as far as local Hindi music is concerned.
Sine 1987, he has provided listeners an array of Hindi devotional songs such as “bhajan” and “kirtan”.
Anil Kumar, 61, took time out earlier this week to talk to this newspaper about his journey to stardom in the local music industry.
His journey started on a small note in 1986 when he moved from Ba to Suva and there was no looking back for him.
Originally from Vatulaulau in Ba, Kumar started his remarkable journey of composing kirtan and bhajan songs — fulfilling his childhood interest and passion for music.
Known by many as the first man to introduce “kirtan” in the country in 1987, Kumar said he enjoyed singing and performing for the audience who loved the particular Indian genre.
“I started singing kirtan and bhajan in 1987. I also often sing “lok geet” as well. People have always said that I was the first person to start kirtan in the country but I can’t say it from my side,” he said.
“I had interest in singing from a very small age during the ‘Ramayan’ gatherings every week. I had a lot of Sai Baba devotees who were my friends back then and when I came to Suva, I started to compose my own kirtans and bhajans.”
According to Kumar, he had a very tough upbringing because his parents were very poor as he was growing up.
None of his family members had experience or knew how to sing or compose Hindu devotional songs.
Kumar’s first album was released in 1987 titled Kirtan Volume One by South Pacific Recordings Ltd (SPR).
From that time, he never looked back and during his singing career, he released 35 albums until this year.
His latest album released by Exotic Fiji Ltd titled “Kirtans by Anil Kumar Collection of 80’s” last month had 10 tracks and was widely accepted by the Hindi devotional music lovers in the country.
Some of the other popular albums he released are “Binti Din Dayal”, “Vaanar Senha” and “Jai Ho Krishna Kanaiya Ki”.
He has performed in nearly all the districts around the country and took his exceptional singing skills to grace the audience in New Zealand as well.
“I performed in NZ in 2010 and again in May last year. There was a very big support from the public there. In Fiji the support and the following is also good,” he said.
“People in the country want to hear these types of songs, mostly the older generation. I have also performed many stage shows around the country.”
When Kumar moved to Suva in 1986, he started working as a bus driver with Tacirua Transport Ltd and then later worked for the then Vatuwaqa Transport (now known as the Central Transport Company Ltd) before joining Blueline Transport (Citiline Transport).
“I left my job as a bus driver for some years before I joined the Central Transport again. I stopped driving the buses last year in July and I drive a taxi part-time now,” he said.
Kumar said it usually took him one to two days to compose an album which mostly would include 10 to 12 tracks.
“I don’t sit down and compose a track. I compose while I am driving and humming to myself. Sometimes, I have encountered situations where, I get so much into my love for singing that I forget to take the right route for the passengers,” he said.
His talents are well known to the Hindi devotional music fans through his ability to play nearly all the Indian musical instruments which include harmonium, dholak, kartaal, tambourine and the dhantaal to name a few.
With his extraordinary singing talent, Kumar was also honoured and rewarded for his hard work, dedication and devotion to the music industry.
In his illustrious career, he won multiple awards, with the most famous being in 1990, when he won his first “Vakalutuivoce Award”.
“I won the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for kirtan at the Radio Fiji Two Artist of the Year Awards in 2016,” he said.
In 2010, Kumar was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award at the Fiji Music Awards by Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
“I feel happy and proud when my work gets appreciated and mentioned because I grew up in a poor family and I had never thought I would be doing this and getting recognition. Even my family didn’t expect all this,” he said.
When it came to the standards of kirtan being sung in the country, Kumar said nowadays, there was a new trend emerging where Hindi musicians followed the movie songs.
“Mostly all the kirtan and bhajan being sung are taken out from the movies. This also includes the melody, music, lyrics and the rhythms as well,” he said.
“The younger generation want things to be done in a new way but the older generation don’t like this.
“People come down to see you perform your own tracks and that’s why I compose and write my own kirtan.”
Kumar said in the late 80s and 90s, musicians received a lot of royalty when their songs and albums were released on cassette tapes.
“We used to get a lot of royalties then but since the introduction of the compact discs (CD) it is easier to dub and the royalties have gone down,” he said.
With so much contribution from his side towards the development of music in the country, Kumar is not planning to stop anytime soon as he continues to perform and sing for the people who have come out to appreciate his compositions and dedication towards the music industry.
