Singer Benny Dayal, known for his peppy hits, broke onto the scene a decade ago, with back-to-back hits, from Pappu Can’t Dance Saala and Nazrein Milana (Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, 2008) to Kaise Mujhe (Ghajini, 2008) and Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hai (Yuvvraaj, 2008) and others.

The singer shares that he was supposed to make his debut with the song Behka Behka, also from Ghajini. “I was working as an HR professional in a corporate firm. At that time I was offered to sing the track, [but] I told sir (A R Rahman, the film’s composer), ‘I’m at work and I’m unable to come now immediately for the recording’. I was really sad, but then Kaise turned out to be beautiful eventually,” the 38-year-old shares.

Shedding more light on Kaise Mujhe — a wistful romantic melody that struck a chord with audiences — he recalls, “Before Ghajini’s recording happened, he (Rahman) had recorded the song with just a melody. He had no intentions of composing it for the film. He asked me to sing the track. When the work for the movie started, he played the melody to Aamir (Khan, who played the protagonist) sir. Aamir sir loved the melody and wanted to use it in the movie. He also said that he wanted the same singer to sing the song. When I sang the song, I didn’t even know where the song was going,” Dayal recounts.

Talking about his synergy with the music maestro, Dayal says: “It was A R Rahman who actually identified the true potential of my voice. Initially, when I was being approached or I used to approach composers, I felt like a lot of them were clueless. They didn’t know which actor’s face my voice would suit. However, I always have faith that I am good at what I do,” says Dayal.