Bonding with Benny

Benny’s been there and done that in most languages and finds Telugu very melodious; a candid chat with the multi-faceted singer

Singer Benny Dayal Photo: Nagara Gopal

There was a time in movies when singers’ career lasted for decades. Voices like Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar or even SP Balasubrahmanyam or P Susheela down south enthralled generations of music lovers. As variety becomes the name of the game, it’s difficult in today’s scenario to discern one voice from the other.

Even in the sea of similarity, some singers bring to their music, an innate individuality which simply stands out and Benny Dayal is one of the few voices which have struck a chord irrespective of the language or genre he sings in. Having crooned for popular Hindi movies like Yeh Jawani Hain Diwani , Bang Bang and Befikre , he has sung in diverse languages including all the south Indian languages as well as in Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali. Ask him about his ability to sing effortlessly across multiple languages and he deadpans, “I really don’t know. I have this unique ability to switch on and switch off which makes it easy for me. I speak Hindi, English, Malayalam and Tamil but I understand bits and pieces of the other languages I croon for, so I remember parts of the song and go with the flow.”

The 34-year old who has sung for popular Telugu films like

Sardaar Gabbar Singh and

Rebel among others feels that Telugu is a very musical language so it’s really not difficult to dabble in it. “It’s not at all a harsh language” he opines and adds, “One of my first songs in Telugu was for

Ye Maaya Chesave . I had already sung for the Tamil version, but when I recorded the same song in Telugu, Gautam Menon remarked that it was sweeter than the original. Every language has its own intrinsic quality – just like Tamil is very poetic and Malayalam is very meaningful, Telugu is very melodious.”

One of the biggest platforms for budding singers in today’s age are reality shows which have mushroomed dime a dozen. A common criticism these shows face, is that they infuse false hopes in many youngsters and leave them high and dry after they end. Benny who has been a part of reality music television says that the onus is as much on the contestants as the show to provide a unique selling point to their voice. He adds, “Earlier people had thorough grounding of classical and folk traditions, but now it’s only film music. So, when the participants sing a song exactly like the singer has sung it, they are not bringing anything new to the table. They need to add their own personality to the song. Only then, will they be successful.”

He gives the example of one of India’s biggest singers, Arijit Singh and says, “Arijit is undoubtedly India’s best singer today and though, he is a product of reality television he didn’t win the contest he took part in. He is popular today because he has a distinct voice unlike anyone else. Young singers shouldn’t try to blend in, they need to be themselves and bring out their own speciality to the fore to be successful.”

Is 2019 an exciting time to be a musician with the influx of genres and platforms which Internet offers? “We are living in exciting times.” he smiles and adds, “I don’t know where we are headed towards but it’s a good time to make music. Everyone should keep making music.”

In the city to play for a concert, Benny says that there isn’t much difference between playing live and recording in a studio as both of them require the same effort and energy. Having worked with some of the best composers in the country from Rahman to Shankar-Eshaan-Loy, he signs off saying he would like to work with composer Amaal Malik in the near future.