MUMBAI: Music is an indefensible part of Indian movies, and so are the playback singers. Starting from the yore, singers have been revered for being an impeccable voice for their on-screen counterpart. However, there have been times, when singers have doubled up as actor too. Whether they have been successful or not, is a matter of luck, but some of them dared to be different. Let's have a look at six such amazing singers.
Kishore Kumar: Most loved singers of the yore, Kishore Kumar doubled up as an actor too. If one can’t forget his songs like Chingari Koi Bhadke sung for Rajesh Khanna, one can’t forget his lively performances in Chalti Ka Naam Gadi and Jhumrro too. The best thing about Kishore Kumar was that he was known to be not formally trained in music or acting, making him a natural. List of his hit songs is long and classic. Kishore Kumar could be possibly termed as the only artiste, who had equal command over singing as well as acting and had flourishing careers in both.
Sonu Nigam: The golden voice that has given playback to most of the superstars in Hindi film Industry and even Kannada film industry, has had an acting stint in films too. The parallel career, however, was not as accomplished as his singing career. He played lead roles in films like Love in Nepal, Jaani Dushman among many others.
Vasundhara Das: The light eyed girl in Monsoon Wedding and Hey Ram is a well-known singer too. She has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada movies and sung in these languages too. Her first song was with none other than A R Rahman for the movie Mudhvalan, which was later remade in Hindi as Nayak. Her song, Shakala Baby was retained and picturised on Sushmita Sen.
Shruti Hassan: Daughter of well-known actor Kamal Hassan, Shruti started her career as a singer and graduated being an actress. With a unique husky voice, Shruti used to sing for an all-girls band The Extramentals, before she made her debut with the movie Luck. She has sung in multiple languages like Tamil, Telegu too and received awards too. She made her singing debut in her teens for her father’s movie, Thevar Magan and was composed by legendary Illyaraja.
Himesh Reshammiya: A cult singer, the quirky composer made his acting debut in Aap Ka Suroor, with a lot of pomp. The movie has however gone down history, for its weird story and weirder acting. Himesh gained a lot of popularity for his songs, but his acting career is nothing much to speak about. His next film, Karzzz, a remake of Rishi Kapoor classic, was equally disastrous, in both acting as well as music department, unlike the original.
Aditya Narayan: Son of famous playback singer Udit Narayan, Aditya started his acting and singing career both as a child. An adorable kid in Jab Pyar Kisse Se Hota Hai and Pardes, was also the adorable voice in Rangeela. He has been a host for a music reality show and acted in a film called Shaapit, his adult career as a singer and actor both, is however yet to take right momentum.