Born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly on 4th August, 1929, this great
singer known as Kishore Kumar, affectionately called Kishore Da, was one of
those very few singers who took risks and experimented with different styles of
music. Considered to be a legend in Hindi film world, this multi talented
persona has excelled as a playback singer, actor, composer, lyrics writer,
director, producer and script writer. The songs of Kishore Kumar have an
extraordinary blend of romance, emotions, naughtiness and melancholy.
Kishore Kumar was born in a small place known as Khandwa located in the state of Madhya Pradesh. He was born in a typical Bengali family and was the youngest among his siblings. His father Kunjilal Ganguly was a lawyer by profession and his mother Gauri Devi was from a well-to-do family. Kishore was the youngest in the Ganguly family, preceded by Ashok Kumar, Sati, & Anoop Kumar. Sati was married to Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was the brother of film-maker Subodh Mukherji, and Bollywood actors Joy Mukherjee & Deb Mukherjee. Sati's son, Shomu Mukherjee, went on to marry Tanuja, and who subsequently gave birth to Kajol and Tanisha. Tanuja is the sister of Nutan, who, in turn, is the mother of actor Mohnish Bahl. Tanuja and Nutan are the daughters of the famed Shobhna Samarth. Sati was also aunt-by-marriage to Ram Mukherjee, who would subsequently marry and give birth to Raj Mukherjee and Bollywood actress, Rani Mukerji. Ashok's daughter is noted Bollywood actress, Preeti Ganguli, who is married to comedian and character actor,Deven Verma. Ashok's grand-daughter is actress, Anuradha Patel. When his eldest brother Ashok Kumar became an actor, Kishore Kumar was still quite young. Later on, his second brother also ventured into movies to become an actor.
Kishore Kumar also started to show interest in music and often mimicked the great K.L. Saigal. Though he did not have any formal training in music, he decided to pursue it and followed his brothers to Mumbai. It was his dream to become a famous playback singer and be counted among legends. He would often go to the studios and ask producers if he could sing on the movie's soundtrack. Initially he could not develop a style of his own but nevertheless he perfectly imitated K.L. Saigal. Once, the great S.D Burman had come to Ashok Kumar's house to meet up when he heard Kishore singing. He actually thought it was K.L. Saigal singing and inquired if he was there too! When he came to know that it was Kishore singing, he truly appreciated and encouraged the young lad to continue refining his voice but at the same time, develop a style of his own.
Kishore kept this advice in mind and went on develop his own signature style. He perfected yodeling, a unique style he heard amongst the Austrian music collections of his brother Anoop. In Hindi film industry, his yodeling turned out to be widely popular and became a trademark of Kishore Kumar. His songs sounded absolutely natural, like laughter. He used to incorporate non-sensical terms into his songs and give it an entirely new feel. The ability to transform his voice according to not just the scene but also the actor is something that was truly incredible of Kishore. He has sung soulful songs for Dev Anand and also fun filled songs for Rajesh Khanna.
After Rajesh Khanna went out of the scene, Kishore Kumar belted out chart topping hits for superstar Amitabh Bachchan. When R.D. Burman stormed the music world, Kishore Kumar re-surfaced with hits like Roop Tera Mastana and many other melodious songs. Some films that deserve a special mention are Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, Kinara, Dream Girl, Anurodh, Sharabi, Mr. Natwarlal, Gol Maal, Dostana, Manzil, Padosan, Shalimar, Khatta Meetha, Kasme Vaade, Ghar, Don, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Dilli Ka Thug, etc.
Kishore Kumar was born in a small place known as Khandwa located in the state of Madhya Pradesh. He was born in a typical Bengali family and was the youngest among his siblings. His father Kunjilal Ganguly was a lawyer by profession and his mother Gauri Devi was from a well-to-do family. Kishore was the youngest in the Ganguly family, preceded by Ashok Kumar, Sati, & Anoop Kumar. Sati was married to Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was the brother of film-maker Subodh Mukherji, and Bollywood actors Joy Mukherjee & Deb Mukherjee. Sati's son, Shomu Mukherjee, went on to marry Tanuja, and who subsequently gave birth to Kajol and Tanisha. Tanuja is the sister of Nutan, who, in turn, is the mother of actor Mohnish Bahl. Tanuja and Nutan are the daughters of the famed Shobhna Samarth. Sati was also aunt-by-marriage to Ram Mukherjee, who would subsequently marry and give birth to Raj Mukherjee and Bollywood actress, Rani Mukerji. Ashok's daughter is noted Bollywood actress, Preeti Ganguli, who is married to comedian and character actor,Deven Verma. Ashok's grand-daughter is actress, Anuradha Patel. When his eldest brother Ashok Kumar became an actor, Kishore Kumar was still quite young. Later on, his second brother also ventured into movies to become an actor.
Kishore Kumar also started to show interest in music and often mimicked the great K.L. Saigal. Though he did not have any formal training in music, he decided to pursue it and followed his brothers to Mumbai. It was his dream to become a famous playback singer and be counted among legends. He would often go to the studios and ask producers if he could sing on the movie's soundtrack. Initially he could not develop a style of his own but nevertheless he perfectly imitated K.L. Saigal. Once, the great S.D Burman had come to Ashok Kumar's house to meet up when he heard Kishore singing. He actually thought it was K.L. Saigal singing and inquired if he was there too! When he came to know that it was Kishore singing, he truly appreciated and encouraged the young lad to continue refining his voice but at the same time, develop a style of his own.
Kishore kept this advice in mind and went on develop his own signature style. He perfected yodeling, a unique style he heard amongst the Austrian music collections of his brother Anoop. In Hindi film industry, his yodeling turned out to be widely popular and became a trademark of Kishore Kumar. His songs sounded absolutely natural, like laughter. He used to incorporate non-sensical terms into his songs and give it an entirely new feel. The ability to transform his voice according to not just the scene but also the actor is something that was truly incredible of Kishore. He has sung soulful songs for Dev Anand and also fun filled songs for Rajesh Khanna.
After Rajesh Khanna went out of the scene, Kishore Kumar belted out chart topping hits for superstar Amitabh Bachchan. When R.D. Burman stormed the music world, Kishore Kumar re-surfaced with hits like Roop Tera Mastana and many other melodious songs. Some films that deserve a special mention are Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, Kinara, Dream Girl, Anurodh, Sharabi, Mr. Natwarlal, Gol Maal, Dostana, Manzil, Padosan, Shalimar, Khatta Meetha, Kasme Vaade, Ghar, Don, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Dilli Ka Thug, etc.
Kishore
made a record by being the only singer to have sung in more than 90 films for a
single hero. Kishore sang in 91 films for Rajesh Khanna. His closest friends were Rajesh
Khanna, R.D.Burman, S.D.Burman, Mohammad Rafi. He has sung 327 duets with Lata Mangeshkar. At 440, only Mohammad Rafi has sung more duets with
Lata. He refused to lend his voice to Amitabh Bachchan in period 1982-1987 many
times, when the latter refused to do a guest appearance in a Kishore-produced
film and this affected Bachchan's career as many of his films flopped post
1983.
In
the film Zamana (1985) Kishore sang the
solo songs for both the male heroes Rajesh Khannaand Rishi Kapoor but in the duets between
the heroes, Kishore very specifically told that he would sing only the lines
which the character played by Rajesh Khannawould be required to sing in the
film.So Mohammed Aziz and Shailendra Singh became the voice of Rishi Kapoor in the film for the songs
Kisko Kahe Hum Apna and Gora Gora Rang Hai respectively .
He
was the Highest Paid Indian Playback Singer from 1970-1987.
When
he refused to endorse former Indian Prime Minister's 20 point Program during
the 1975-1977 Emergency, he was banned from the Government-controlled media
namely All India Radio and Vividh Bharati. Even duets with his voice were
censored. He was not the only one in Bollywood, as others like I.S. Johar, Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha openly condemned Mrs.
Gandhi's regime. After the emergency, her political party (Congress) was
overwhelmingly ousted by the electorate in favor of the Janata Party.
When his popularity began to diminish during mid 80's, he retired and wanted to return back to Khandwa, his native place. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. On October 13th 1987, co-incidentally the birthday of his elder brother Ashok Kumar, Kishore suffered a heart attack and breathed his last. His untimely and unexpected death shocked the entire nation.
When his popularity began to diminish during mid 80's, he retired and wanted to return back to Khandwa, his native place. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. On October 13th 1987, co-incidentally the birthday of his elder brother Ashok Kumar, Kishore suffered a heart attack and breathed his last. His untimely and unexpected death shocked the entire nation.
Spouse :
Ruma Guha Thakurata (1951-1958) (Divorced) (1 Child – Amit Kumar)
Madhubala
(1961-1969) (Death)
Yogeeta Bali
(1976-1978) (Divorced)
Leena Chandavarkar (1980) (1
Child –Sumit Kumar)
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