Puneeth Rajkumar death: Videos of Ajmal Mughal, a 35-year-old mechanic from Lahore, became a hit on social media after he was spotted singing Kannada songs in which actor Puneeth Rajkumar starred.
“I used to get abusive messages and hate messages, but now am getting a lot of comments appreciating my singing skills,” said Ajmal Mughal, a Pakistani singer whose videos went viral after he was spotted singing Kannada songs in which actor Puneeth Rajkumar starred.
The 35-year-old mechanic says he runs a shop in Lahore. Besides the songs of Puneeth Rajkumar, he also sings other Kannada melodies. Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone, Mughal said, “I heard that Puneeth Rajkumar was not just a good actor, but also a great human being. It is a great loss. Art doesn’t have borders and I am also as devastated as Kannadigas across the world with the demise of Puneeth Rajkumar.”
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“I have been uploading songs since 2012 and the comments section would often be flooded with abuses and hate messages. Many used filthy language to abuse me just because I was from Pakistan. But after the demise of Puneeth Rajkumar, my videos went viral and I have been receiving comments of appreciation and invitations to sing in Kannada music reality shows,” he said.
Mughal has been singing Kannada songs for close to a decade now. A big fan of Sonu Nigam, he added, “I came to know that Sonu Nigam had won the Filmfare Awards South for best male playback singer for ‘Ninnindale Ninnindale Kanasondu Shuruvaagidhe’ from the movie Milana in 2008. I fell in love with the song. It took me one and a half months to learn the lyrics and start singing songs.”
“As I followed Sonu Nigam, incidentally, I also started following songs of Vijay Prakash and Puneeth Rajkumar. This made me sing Vijay Prakash’s song ‘Bombe Heluthaite’ from the movie Rajakumara. I used to watch the movie’s making video which used the song and it was really cheerful and he instilled positive vibes,” he said.
Mughal said he selects songs based on the melody and feel. “Though I do not understand Kannada, I could feel those words, which made me sing at least 10 Kannada songs… I take at least 30-45 days before I sing it properly. I have to listen to it many times, write down the lyrics and then practice enough before singing,” he explained. At present, he is working on SP Balasubrahmanyam’s song ‘Jotheyali Jothe Jotheyali’ from the movie Geetha starring Shankar Nag.