Certain voices become symbolic of the times they sing about. For instance, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice throughout her long career represented the ‘Indian’ femininity and Asha Bhosle that of female desire. Is the voice crafted to represent these ideals or is it a chance that a certain voice fits the demands of times? It is a bit of both. There are elements of careful crafting – of pitch, choice of songs that the singers themselves make and what the market offers. KK, who passed away on June 1, represented the voice of the post-liberalisation generation.  

Born in 1968, KK began his singing career in the 1990s, which was a watershed moment of change for Indian popular culture. There was an influx of culture from around the world into India with the liberalisation of the markets. With the coming of newer varieties of products, advertising boomed, the techniques of advertising also changed. India heard some of the most popular advertising jingles during this period, such as “Humara Bajaj”, “Kuch Khaas Hai Hum Sabhi Me” (Cadbury), “doodh doodh” (Amul), all using music to sell new products. KK emerged from this turn in the advertising industry. He sang more than 3,500 ad jingles before he got a break in Bollywood.

Cable television became a popular phenomenon in the 90s. Zee TV, the first privately owned television channel was launched in 1992; MTV India set up shop in 1996. Cable TV in those days was all about youthful programming, as they were the early adapters. Shows like Just Mohabbat, Hip Hip Hurray addressing the teenage audiences were very popular. These shows represented the trials and tribulations of middle-class kids growing up in the 90s. Unlike the pre-liberalisation era popular television, these shows had youth from the cities, studying in English-medium schools, and addressed the first set of youth issues of newly globalised India. They have gained cult status and have a lot of nostalgic value for the millennials of Hindi speaking world today. One distinct aspect of these shows were their signature title songs; both Just Mohabbat and Hip Hip Hurray were sung by KK. His voice thus aired the aspirations and worries of the young adults of the 90s.

Indie pop as a broad phenomenon emerged out of the above-mentioned changes. There was new non-Bollywood music which found space in the private television channels. MTV became a medium through which indie pop reached its young audience. KK launched an album titled 'Pal' with Sony Music in 1999. It was an instant hit. The album was set to music by Leslie Lewis, who was a popular ad jingle composer along with being an indie pop musician himself. The content of the album also represented a shift in the thematics of interest in Hindi music, it celebrated friendship and nostalgia. This theme again addressed the young adults getting ready to transition from school to college, it sang of the pain of growing up. KK’s "Yaad ayenge ye pal" became a must play in all the school and college farewells. His second non-Bollywood album 'Humsafar' was released in 2008 where the singer also turned a composer.

In terms of the sound, indie pop was distinct from earlier Bollywood dominated sometimes by heavy orchestration and other times by influences of classical music. This music was characterised by the use of keyboard and a tinge of western vocals. This aesthetic of indie pop also crept into Bollywood in some offbeat films like Jhankar Beats. Released in 2003, this film was set in the advertising world and sang about friendships, nostalgia and ad professionals who wanted to keep up with their music as life changed. The music of the film was different from the regular Bollywood films and had a tinge of reverence to cult musicians like RD Burman and the irreverence of an indie band. KK voiced “Tu Aashiqui Hai,” which keeps playing at different points in the film. It draws its aesthetics from carol singing and won a national award. It expressed the love and longing of the 90s generation. He also sang the new version of the old song by Kishore Kumar “Hume tumse pyaar kitna” with Amit Kumar (Kishore's son) for the film.

Later on, KK's career like many others of the indie pop generation took a Bollywood turn, and indie pop itself was slowly assimilated into Bollywood for some time. He sang many popular Bollywood songs such as “Tadap tadap” from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), “Tu hi meri shab hai” from Gangster (2006) and many others from multiple languages, garnering him a much wider audience. 

The indie pop aesthetics in Bollywood were reflected to a certain extent in the successful combination of Emraan Hashmi and KK. In most of these songs it is KK’s voice which dominates the instrumentation. However, KK’s indie pop association is so strong that in many of his memorial messages on Twitter, he is called the “90’s singer” and his song from the first album “Hum rahe ya na rahe kal” has gone on to represent his work. KK’s indie pop days brought him close to the 90s generation and this repertoire of music continues to circulate and represent the voice of the millennials.

With inputs from Dikshya Karki

Yamini Krishna works on film history and urban history and currently teaches at FLAME University. Dikshya Karki is an independent film scholar. Views expressed at the authors’ own.