A Post By Manzar Gul Wazir

28 Jun 2008, 0043 hrs IST, V Lakshmi,TNN
A singer who has a day dedicated to him and winner of five Filmfare awards, Kumar Sanu, who, a la Lata Mangeshkar, refused to accept anymore to make way for the younger lot, was in the city to receive a different kind of award — the Sanskriti Kalashree award from Sanskriti, Rajasthani Cultural association. Speaking exclusively to Chennai Times, said he had stopped accepting awards as he felt he must make way for the younger generation. But, does he now feel that the younger lot has left him stranded? No, he asserts. "No one can cover my presence in the industry. Sure, they can tread ahead of me. I don't have any complex. I'm happy that the youngsters have an interest in music," he says. When asked if he was renamed Kumar Sanu for Bollywood's sake, he accepted saying, "My name originally was Kedarnath Bhattachraya. My father used to call me Chanu because I had milky white complexion and Chanu is a Bengali milk sweet. It was Kalyanji-Anandji who thought it would be apt to change Chanu into Sanu." The singer, who has the record for the most number of songs in a month and in a day, says, "Records are made without notice. I can't tell you what my next record will be," he says. His music meanwhile is being used in therapy. Jab Koi Baat from Jurm is being used to treat breast cancer in a patient. She is made to listen to the song at least 30 times in a day and doctors are happy that she is showing signs of recovery. "If I can save lives through songs, there is nothing greater than this," he adds. What many may not know about Kumar Sanu is that he has a day dedicated to him. "Mayor Richard Turner of Dayton Ohio has declared March 31 as Kumar Sanu day," he says. The proclamation was read out in front of him. However, what gets to him are reality shows. When asked what he thought of them, he says, "What's after No.1? These reality shows only produce singers and actors who can do stage shows. They strive so hard to emerge winners that they forget to put efforts into their real career. Playback singing requires a different persona and attitude. These shows have produced hardly three or four singers like Sonu Nigam and Shreya Goshal in 20 years." The singer has a movie release up his sleeve and he's picked up four kids who were boot-polishers in Goregaon and put them through a vigorous workshop for three months. For the movie he plans real life sequences with Mitun da and Kashmira Shah. On Chennai, Kumar Sanu says, "I won't say Chennai is too hot but the only problem I face here is the language. But, I love the dosa-chutney so much that I have had it for breakfast, lunch and now for dinner."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_Buzz/I_love_the_dosa-chutney_in_Chennai_Kumar_Sanu/articleshow/3172316.cms