Kunal Singh – Tamil film actor of ‘Kadhalar Dhinam’ (‘Dil Hi Dil Mein’) Fame

Kunal Singh (1977 – 2008) was a Tamil film actor best known for his debut flick, Kadhalar Dhinam, released in 1999. The movie was dubbed in Hindi and released as ‘Dil Hi Dil Mein’, best known for its romantic tracks tuned by A. R. Rahman. In his brief career of nearly one decade, he acted in 19 films, including the partially dubbed and remade version of Kadhalar Dhinam in Hindi as Dil Hi Dil Mein. Yet he couldn’t achieve success as an actor, and is better known as a one-hit wonder. In 2008, while he was working on his Bollywood project, Yogi, he was found hanging from the ceiling in his Mumbai apartment.

Kunal Singh – Tamil film actor of ‘Kadhalar Dhinam’ fame

He shot to fame with his debut flick – Kadhalar Dhinam

Kunal Singh hailed from Haryana. He got his first break through Tamil romantic film, Kadhalar Dhinam directed by Kathir which told about love through internet chatting. It was a fresh idea long back in the late 1990s, when internet era had just started to come into existence. His charming looks, cute smile and long hairstyle made him a youth sensation once the movie was released. He tasted success at a very young age of 22. However he couldn’t sustain his success in career later, and his movies flopped one after another. He also moved from lead roles to supporting ones, and to sustain in the industry he even worked as an assistant editor. Many of his films got shelved and a few had delayed release. He had just turned to producing when everything went wrong.

After a series of flops, he was found hanging

He was found hanging in his apartment by actress Lavina Bhatia. Though she was detained by police, they couldn’t find a motive for homicide and hence was released. Though his father challenged the case which appeared to be suicide then, it was later closed as a case of suicide. Kunal had earlier attempted suicide by slashing his wrists, a few months earlier. He was aged only 30-31 when he was found dead on February 7, 2008. He had just started a production company Balagiri, and was working on his debut project as a producer – Yogi. 

As a lead actor, he tasted success through Kadhalar Dhinam and Paarvai Ondre Podhume, and in parallel/supporting roles through Punnagai Desam and Devathaiyai Kanden. Varushamellam Vasantham, Pesadha Kannum Pesume, Super Da, Enge Enadhu Kavithai, Pesuvoma etc are some of his released films. He was also seen in a couple of Hindi releases – Gangotri and Mai Baap. Nanbanin Kadhali in 2007, was his last theatre release, where he played a supporting role.

His name can be included in the long list of One-hit wonders of Indian cinema, but had a miserable death. He was married to Anuradha, and there were rumours of his alleged affair with his co-star, which resulted in frequent arguments between the couple. He has two daughters.

Kunal Singh – Some interesting and amazing facts

The very popular Enna Vila Azhake/E Nazni Suno Na song featuring Kunal Singh aside Sonali Bandre

1. His full name is Kunalkrishna Singh. His father worked in the military and is a retired lieutenant colonel.

2. He was 2 years younger to his co-star Sonali Bandre in Kadhalar Dhinam. However, their screen chemistry was so amazing that the age difference never showed on screen.

3. He was a black belt in Karate.

4. He committed suicide just 1 week before Valentine’s Day. Interestingly his debut movie title is also the same (Kadhalar Dhinam), the single movie which made him a youth icon.

5. He took this dreadful step within 10 minutes. His co-star Lavina Bhatia later stated that it was just 10 minutes when she had gone to the fresh room, and when she returned, he had already taken his life.

6. The mystery of his death is still to be unfolded. Suicide note was also not found. Hence, it’s unknown why this actor committed suicide at a very young age of 29-30.

7. Youth went crazy over his hairstyle after the release of Kadhalar Dhinam, and later it became a trendsetter.

8. He belongs to the long list of Indian actors who marked their screen debut with an impressive performance; their debut movie also fared well, but later got the tag of ‘One-hit wonders’. Like many, he is best known for his debut performance, though he owns a few more hit roles to his credit.

9. He also belongs to the long list of Indian celebrities whose mortal remains were taken to Cooper Hospital of Juhu for post-mortem, and were declared suicide; Divya Bharati, Parveen Babi, Jiah Khan and most recently Sushant Singh Rajput and Sameer Sharma. Except for Divya and Parveen, all were ‘reportedly’ found ‘hanging in their apartment’. No suicide note was retrieved for Kunal, Sushant and Sameer, and hence their cases remain mystery puzzles. 

Also read: Similarities of the cases of Sushant Singh Rajput and Kunal Singh