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 Kishore
Kumar (August 4, 1929 - October 13, 1987), born as Abhas Ganguly, was a
Bengali Indian film playback singer (Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Assamese,
Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Oriya) and actor. He also worked as producer,
composer and lyricist but is chiefly remembered as one of the three
leading male playback singers in Bollywood (the other two being Mohammed
Rafi and Mukesh). He sang extensively with the songbirds of Bollywood -
Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
Although he is known primarily for his singing talents, he was also
successful in his acting adventures which gave birth to several hilarious
comedies, including Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, Half Ticket, Padosan, Baap Re
Baap, Pyar Diwana (1973), and Hungama (1971) . He was also a serious
actor, fact known to a few die-hard fans, in films like Naukri, Bandi,
Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein, Door Ka Raahi. He wrote lyrics, gave music,
produced movies, directed then, wrote dialogues and scripts. There is "at
least" one classic movie in each of this department.
Childhood
Kishore Kumar was born in a Bengali family as Abhas Ganguly, in the small
town of Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. His father Kunjalal Ganguly was a
lawyer by profession and was from a middle-class family, whereas his
mother Gouri Devi hailed from a wealthy family. Kishore was the youngest
of children born to his parents. Ashok Kumar was the eldest son, followed
by Sati Devi, the only daughter in the family. Next was Anoop Kumar, and
five years younger to Anoop was Kishore.
When Kishore was still a child, his elder brother Ashok Kumar became a
star actor in Bollywood. The effect of filmdom was evident on Kishore the
kid. He was a great fan of K. L. Saigal and used to imitate his singing
style. Often his parents would ask him to ape his brother's Ashok Kumar's
song Main ban ka panchhi and reward him for doing that. Anoop Kumar,
Kishore's elder and Ashok's younger brother also forayed in Bollywood
after Ashok became a star.
Initial days in Bollywood
Kishore Kumar followed his elder brothers' footsteps and came to Mumbai to
pursue a career in films as a singer. At this juncture, elder brother
Anoop's career wasn't shaping up well, because he was a poor singer. (In
those days, actors who could double up as singers were in great demand.)
Once Anoop went to Austria, from where he brought some records to learn
singing. Once, as he was entering the house, he heard a yodelling voice
coming out of a room. Annoyed, he thundered "Who touched my records?" But,
when he entered the room, he found that it was Kishore's voice! Kishore
had learnt yodelling from Anoop's Austrian records.
Kishore wanted to become a leading singer in Bollywood and disliked
acting. Moreover, Kishore didn't have any formal training in singing or
music. Kishore had to act in a few films, due to his brother Ashok's
contacts in the industry. His initial films flopped. But he continued
acting, as he would get to sing songs that were picturized on him. At this
stage of his career, Kishore used to copy K. L. Saigal's style. Once
Sachin Dev Burman came to Ashok Kumar's house. He heard K. L. Saigal's
voice coming out of the bathroom. Impressed, S. D. Burman asked Ashok who
was singing. Hearing the answer, he waited until Kishore had finished
bathing. He had a little talk with Kishore and, while noting that he
appreciated his singing, he advised Kishore, "Don't try to ape K. L.
Saigal. Apers never make great artists. You should develop your own
singing style." After this, Kishore Kumar developed his own trademark
singing style, which was completely different from the styles of Rafi,
Mukesh and Saigal. He used to yodel in many of his songs. Sachin Dev
Burman became his mentor and guide. S D Burman, who had never heard
yodelling before, used to call it "gala tod ke gaana" ('break-throat
singing'). Yodelling became Kishore's trademark, and the media described
his singing style as "yodelling at the moon".
Kishore becomes a known face
Kishore never wanted to act, but he was too afraid to rebel against his
elder brother Ashok Kumar, who was hell-bent on making him a popular
Bollywood hero. After his initial films flopped, Kishore decided that he
would act so badly in the forthcoming movie that no producer would ever
again ask him to act in a movie. As a result of this decision, Kishore
started acting in a strange, funny way. But instead of rejecting him,
movie buffs were delighted to see a hero who could make them laugh. His
style was a welcome change from the sober, romantic and tragic traditional
heroes of Bollywood. Thus, Kishore became comedy-film producers' first
choice. In the late 1950s, he used to run from one studio to another,
recording songs, acting, composing music and sometimes even writing
lyrics! He even produced and directed some movies.
Apart from S D Burman, Khemchand Prakash was another composer who
recognized Kishore's singing talent early. He composed Kishore's songs in
the movie Ziddi. Ziddi's songs established Kishore as a singer.
Incidentally, it was at Khemchand's studio, where Kishore met Lata
Mangeshkar, with whom he sang many duets later. Lata was going to
Khemchand's studio and Kishore was also bound for the same place. Lata
thought that some loafer was following her! It was only after reaching the
studio that she realized the 'loafer' was Kishore, Ashok Kumar's younger
brother. Soon, many other composers like Ravi realized that Kishore had
potential to be a good singer. Many lyricists, including Majrooh
Sultanpuri and Shailendra became ardent admirers of Kishore.
S D Burman established Kishore as the voice of popular actor Dev Anand
when he got him to sing for Dev Anand in the movies Taxi Driver and Paying
Guest. After S D Burman fell out with Lata Mangeshkar in 1957, he gave
patronage to Asha Bhosle. Till this time, duets were not very popular in
Bollywood. Once S D Burman told Majrooh Sultanpuri "We invest so much
energy in recording duets, and nobody likes them". Majrooh replied "The
mistake is ours. We lyricists never write any good songs that couples
would love to hum." S D Burman and Majrooh went on to work together on the
most popular duets in the late 1950s. S D Burman, Majrooh, Asha and
Kishore worked together in many movies including Kishore's  production
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), in which Kishore Kumar, Madhubala, Ashok
Kumar and Anoop Kumar acted. The songs Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si, Haal
kaisa hai janaab ka, Paanch rupaiya baara aana became very popular. They
were also heard in Dev Anand's Paying Guest (1957) and Teen Deviyan. The
song Mana janab ne pukara nahin from Paying Guest was a smash hit among
the guys. Asha and Kishore became famous for singing 'casual' duets like
Chhod do aanchal, zamaana kya kahega, Aye nigah-e-mastana, Aankhon mein
kya ji, Arre yaar meri, tum bhi ho gajab, Chhedo na meri zulfein. Majrooh,
Asha and Kishore also recorded popular duets with composer Ravi in the
movie Dilli Ka Thug (1958) - C...A...T...Cat maane billi, Hum to mohabbat
karega.
Majrooh Sultanpuri and Shailendra were favorite lyricists of Kishore. He
got them to write songs in his productions. In those days, musicians
would recommend lyricists to producers. The musician duo Shankar-Jaikishan
had promised Shailendra that they would recommend him to all the
producers, but they didn't keep their promise. Shailendra sent them a note
- Chhoti si yeh duniya, pehchaane raaste hain; Kahin to miloge, phir
poochhenge haal (The world is small, the roads are known; we shall meet
somewhere, then I would ask you - "How do you do"). Shankar-Jaikishan
realized their mistake. They made a song out of the above words and got
Kishore to sing it.
Majrooh penned most of Kishore's hit songs in his initial days, most of
them with S D Burman, for Dev Anand - Hum hain raahi pyaar ke, Maana
janaab ne pukaara nahin etc.
Kishore was interested in composing music as well. It is said, along with
Kalyanji Shah (of Kalyanji-Anandji fame), he introduced electronic music
to Bollywood. The electronic sounds in some of S D Burman's music are
credited to Kishore (he assisted S D Burman sometimes). Sometimes, Kishore
would compose music himself and write lyrics too. In 1961 movie, Jhumroo,
Kishore wrote, composed and sang Main hoon jhumroo. This song is a very
nice example of his yodelling ability. Kishore could sing in female voice
too. In Half Ticket (1962), he sang "Aake Seedhi Lagi" in male as well as
female voice. The song was written by Shailendra and composed by Salil
Chowdhury.
The lean patch in Kishore's career
After his wife Madhubala's death in 1969, there was a lean patch in
Kishore's career. Most of his films as an actor flopped. Very few of his
songs from this phase are memorable - Zaroorat hai, Zaroorat hai (Manmauji
- 1962), penned by Rajinder Krishan and composed by Madan Mohan) stands
out from this period. Mohammed Rafi and Mukesh were the favorites of most
music composers, so Kishore never got to sing very good songs. A few of
his songs picturized on Dev Anand and composed by S D Burman, got him
recognition - Gaata rahe mera dil (Guide 1965, a duet with Lata), Yeh dil
na hota bechara (Jewel Thief 1967), etc.
In 1966, S D Burman's son Rahul Dev Burman burst into the music scene with
superhit score of the movie Teesri Manzil. He had got Rafi to sing all the
songs in the movie. But, later R D Burman (also known by his pet name "Pancham")
gave great patronage to Kishore Kumar. Their first hit movie together was
the laught-riot 'Padosan' (The Neighbour). In this movie, Kishore Kumar
played the role of Sunil Dutt's guru. Sunil Dutt's role was of boy who was
in love with his next-door neighbour, a girl obessed with singing. To
impress the girl, he gets his guru to do 'playback' for him. Kishore Kumar
did the 'playback' in the movie, both on-screen and off-screen. Kishore
and Pancham created the superhit song Mere saamnewali khidki mein. In one
scene, there was a verbal fight between Mehmood (who acted as the girl's
guru) and Sunil Dutt/Kishore Kumar. Kishore insisted that it would be
boring if the dialogues were spoken in a plain manner. Mehmood fully
agreed with him. So, Kishore, Mehmood, lyricist Rajinder Krishan and
Pancham sat together and came up with the 'musical fight' - Ek chaturnar,
karke singaar. The song, sung by Kishore and Manna Dey (who sang for
Mehmood) became very popular.
The superstar era
In 1969, Shakti Samanta produced the movie Aradhana with newcomer Rajesh
Khanna. The composer was Sachin Dev Burman and he had divided songs
equally among his favorite singers - Kishore, Mohammed Rafi and Lata
Mangeshkar. Kishore sang the romantic duet Kora kagaz tha yeh man mera
with Lata. S D Burman fell ill before he could record all the songs. He
had already created the tunes for the songs Roop tera mastana and Mere
sapnon ki rani. R D Burman took the responsibility of completing the
recording. In doing so, the tunes were created by S D Burman and the
instrumentation was that of R D Burman. Pancham got Kishore Kumar to sing
these two songs. These two songs became overnight hits and launched
Kishore's playback singing career. Kishore Kumar got his first Filmfare
award for the sensual song Roop tera mastana.
The Burmans single-handedly made Kishore the numero uno playback singer in
Bollywood. They got Kishore to sing for all the leading heroes - Rajesh
Khanna, Randhir Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, and Sanjeev Kumar among
others. S D Burman and Kishore worked together in many of Dev Anand's
movies. In 1970, Dev Anand's directoral debut, Prem Pujari, flopped. But
the songs penned by Neeraj, Phoolon ke rang se (Lena hoga janam hamein)
and Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye (duet with Lata) are still popular. Neeraj,
S D Burman, Lata and Kishore came together again for the Shashi Kapoor
starrer 1971 hit Sharmilee, for which they recorded Khilte hain gul yahan,
Aaj madhosh hua jaaye re, O meri sharmilee. S D Burman also got Kishore to
sing for the 1973 Dharmendra-starrer Jugnu, where Kishore sang Pyaar ke is
khel mein.
In the 1970s, R D Burman got Kishore to sing virtually every remarkable
tune he created for the male voice. The single Tum bin jaaoon kahaan (Pyaar
Ka Mausam - 1969; lyrics by Majrooh), which was also sung by Rafi, proved
that Kishore could sing as well as Rafi, even though he wasn't classically
trained. Songs like Yeh shaam mastaani (Kati Patang - 1970; lyricist -
Anand Bakshi) made Kishore extremely popular among the youngsters. In
1971, Pancham and Kishore collaborated on many memorable tunes, ranging
from the romantic Raat kali ek khwab mein (Buddha mil gaya; lyricist
Majrooh) to the tragic Yeh kya hua, Chingari koi bhadke, Kuchh to loge
kahenge (Amar Prem; lyricist Anand Bakshi; picturized on Rajesh Khanna).
1972 saw hits like Meri bheegi bheegi si (Anaamika, picturized on Sanjeev
Kumar), O Mere dil ke chain (Mere Jeevan Saathi; lyricist Majrooh;
picturized on Rajesh Khanna) and Kanchi Re, Phoolon ka taaron ka (Hare
Krishna Hare Rama; picturized on Dev Anand).
Even after so many hits, only the Burmans gave patronage to Kishore Kumar.
Other composers like Shankar Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, etc. used to give him
second-rate songs. In 1972, Pancham got Kishore to sing for a newcomer in
the movie Bombay To Goa. The 'newcomer' was none other than Amitabh
Bachchan and thus Kishore became the voice of the next great Bollywood
superstar as well. The song Meet na mila re man ka (Abhimaan 1973)
established Kishore as Amitabh's singing voice. Hit after hit followed,
and Kishore, Amitabh and Pancham became all the rage. Before buying an
audio cassette, people would make sure that there was at least one Kishore
Kumar song in the album. Producers would insist on using Kishore Kumar as
a hero's singing voice. This forced other music composers like Laxmikant
Pyarelal ("LP") to sideline Rafi and adopt Kishore as their lead singer.
LP and Kishore had many hits to their credits in the 1970s, including Mere
dil mein aaj kya hai (Daag 1973; lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi), Mere naseeb
mein aye dost, Naach meri bulbul (Roti), Chal chal mere haathi (Haathi
Mere Saathi) etc. Most of these songs were picturized on Rajesh Khanna and
penned by Anand Bakshi. The team also recorded many songs in Amitabh
Bachchan starrers e.g. My name is Anthony Gonsalves (Amar Akbar Anthony).
LP also got Kishore and Rafi to sing together in many films like Dostana,
Kranti, Ram Balram etc. LP will be chiefly remembered for the duets that
they recorded with Lata and Kishore - Achchha to ab hum chalte hain, Kal
ki hansi mulaakat ke liye, Gore rang pe na itna gumaan kar, Ti kitne baras
ka etc.
The duo of Kalyanji-Anandji also adopted Kishore as their lead singer in
the 1970s. The team produced many hit songs in movies like Dharmatma
(1975), Laawaris, Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Kabeela, Johnny Mera Naam and Don
among others. The Kishore-Asha duet Vaada to nibhaya from Johnny Mera Naam
was a superhit. The songs O Saathi Re (Muqaddar ka Sikandar) and Khaike
Paan Banaraswaala (Don) became extremely popular as well.
In 1975, S D Burman went into a coma, while Kishore was singing Badi sooni
sooni si hai zindagi (Life is lonely) for the movie Mili. He died some
time later. R D Burman completed the score of the movie. R D Burman
continuted with his patronage to Kishore. He got Kishore to sing for both
Dharmendra and Amitabh in the 1975 bumper-hit Sholay. Manna Dey was called
in only when a sequence required both the heroes singing together (Yeh
dosti hum nahin todenge). In 1970s Kishore sang in many of Dev Anand's
not-so-successful movies under the baton of R D Burman - Warrant (1975),
Heera Panna, Shareef Badmash etc. Although these films did average box
office business, the music was always hit. The songs like Ruk Jaana O
Jaana (Warrant) and Panna ki tamanna (Heera Panna, duet with Lata) and
Neend chura ke raaton mein (Shareef Badmash) were chart-busters. Even
while recording intricate songs of Aandhi (1976; lyrics by Gulzar),
Pancham used Kishore's voice, instead of using somebody trained in
classical music. They recorded many more beautiful songs, including the
title song of Agar tum na hote and Humein tum se pyaar kitna. Their
comatose songs like Mere naina saawan bhado, Chingari koi bhadke, O maajhi
re made them popular among the mature audience as well. Of course, Kishore
also sang Pancham's trademark 'peppy' pop numbers picturized on young
heroes like Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. Kishore and Lata sang trendy
numbers in Sanjay's first movie Rocky - Kya yehi pyaar hai, Hum tumse mile
(lyricist: Anand Bakshi). R D Burman and Kishore worked together in many
movies including Aapki Kasam, The Burning Train, Apna Desh, Dharam Karam,
Takkar, Seeta Aur Geeta, Joshila, Kasmein Vaade, Rampur ka Laxman, Kaaliya
etc.
New musicians like Rajesh Roshan, Sapan Chakravarthy (Pancham's
assistant), Bappi Lahiri and others also preferred Kishore to any other
singer. Rajesh Roshan's first hit movie Julie had memorable numbers sung
by Kishore and Lata - Bhool gaya sab kuchh, Dil kya kare jab kisi se etc.
Rajesh Roshan worked with Kishore in many other movies like Do Aur Do
Paanch (1980), Manpasand etc. Sapan Chakravarthy recorded the popular Tum
bhi chalo, hum bhi chalien (Zameer) with Kishore and Asha. Bappi da,
notorious for lifting western numbers, got Kishore to sing many of his
popular songs like Chalte chalte, Aaj rapat jaayein (duet with Asha), Pag
ghunghroo(Namak Halaal - 1982; picturized on Amitabh), jahan chaar yaar (Sharaabi
- 1984).
Last years
Kishore's son Amit Kumar was already a popular singer in 1980s, thanks to
patronage by R D Burman and Rajesh Roshan. But Kishore was still around,
singing for established and young heroes alike. Kishore Kumar and Amitabh
had some misunderstanding in mid-1980s. Kishore was producing a movie and
Amitabh (who was a Bollywood deity by then) was supposed to do a
guest-appearance in the movie. Amitabh arrived at the shoot, but left
after few minutes, asking his secretary to tell Kishore that he wouldn't
act in the movie. Kishore got upset and decided never to sing for Amitabh
again. Incidentally, Amitabh's films started flopping after this and he
faced the worst phase in his Bollywood career. He made a comeback many
years later, through the popular television series, Kaun Banega Crorepati
(Hindi version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire).
Kishore sang for Anil Kapoor in his first movie, Woh Saat Din. He also
sang for him in his first superhit movie Mr. India. LP gave the music for
both the movies. In 1987, he sang some really nice songs for R D Burman in
the movie Saagar - Saagar jaisi aankhon waali (based on Raga Yaman) and
Saagar kinaare dil yeh pukaare (duet with Lata). The songs were penned by
Javed Akhtar.
In 1987, Kishore decided to retire from Bollywood and go back to his
roots, his village Khandwa, and in October 1987 he breathed his last. His
last wish to go to Khandwa was fulfilled as his body was taken to his
birth place for cremation after embalmment.
Kishore's personal life
Kishore Kumar married four times, to Ruma Ghosh (1950-1958), Madhubala
(1960-1969), Yogeeta Bali (1975-1978) and Leena Chandavarkar (1980-1987).
His son Amit Kumar also became a singer in almost the same style, although
could not touch the heights achieved by the father. Kishore's second son,
Sumit Kumar has also sung in films.
Filmography
Some of the important Hindi films in which Kishore Kumar acted are:
1954 Naukri
1956 Bhagambhag
1955 Baap Re Baap
1957 Aasha
1958 Jalsaaz, Chalti Ka Naam Gadi, Dilli Ka Thug
1960 Bewakoof, GirlFriend, Mehlo Ke Khawab
1961 Karodpati
1962 Bombay Ka Chor, Manmauji, Naughty Boy, Rangoli, Half Ticket . *1963
Ek Raaz
1964 Bagi Shehzada, Dal Mein Kala, Bavre Nain, Mr X In Bombay, Ganga Ke
Lahren
1966 Pyar Kiye Ja, Akalmand
1967 Duniya Nachegi, Payal Ki Jhankar, Hai Mere Dil
1968 Padosan, Do Duni Char
1971 Hungama
1973 Pyar Diwana
Bandi
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